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The primary way I use GarageBand these days is not so much for producing music, but as a practicing tool. I use it for guitar improvisations, learning songs, and solos that I’m working on.
I use the Chrome browser extension, “Sample,” to record part of a song I’m learning from YouTube, and then I load it into GarageBand. I select “Enable Flex,” “Follow Tempo and Pitch,” and then I use the AUPitch plugin to adjust for my guitar tuning. I change the BPM to slow the section considerably.
How to Use GarageBand as the Ideal Practicing Tool
1) Use “Sample” to Record A Clip from YouTube
Click the ‘red’ button as shown here, and then you’ll notice it’ll start pulsing to indicate that it’s recording. When you’re done, either click the red button again or click the Stop button to the right.
2) Edit the Clip in “Sample,” then Download it to your Desktop
Click on the “Download” button which is on the bottom left of the audio waveform square. It’ll go to your browser downloads which is shown down here.
3) Open GarageBand and Select an Empty Project
But you don’t really need to do much; you just have to drag the audio file into the project.
4) Use “Cmd + Shift + i” to Import the Sample
5) Check the Box “Enable Flex” and “Follow Tempo and Pitch”
6) Drop the BPM by 50% to Slow It Down to Practice Levels
For instance, the clip was originally at 120 BPM in the DAW, so putting it to 60 BPM effectively cut it in half. Now I can learn the clip at a speed that’s far more manageable.
7) Use the AUPitch Plugin In Case of Dropped/Raised Tunings
For instance, if I have my guitar tuned to C# Standard, but the clip is recorded with guitars in E standard, I’ll drop the tuning down by -300 cents. 100 cents is one semi-tone.
If you’re in Eb Standard and the clip is in E Standard, increase the Pitch by 100 cents instead.
All-in-all, I think this is a great way to use GarageBand. Lately, I’ve been using this all of the time to practice guitar solos and other sections which I explained at the start of the article.
Do you have any questions, thoughts, or concerns? Let me know what you think in the comments section below.
I’d be curious to hear of any ideas for how to improve this process. Or maybe you have your own way to use GarageBand as a practicing tool.
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- The Secret to Better GarageBand Recordings
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