Compatible with external prerecorded audio, GarageBand lets you import files
of AAC (unprotected), AIFF, CAF, MP3, WAV and Apple Lossless formats.Asweestablished,youaren’tconfinedto
onlyaddingsupportedaudiofileformats.
YouwillalsoinevitablywanttoaddMIDI
filestoo,whichis a standardisedformat
containingnota waveform,butdatafor
softwareinstruments.Theseregionsare
renderedgreenin GarageBandandoffer
greaterflexibilityovereditingandswitching
betweentheapp’sLibrarypatches.MIDI
filesarecommonlyexportedbyother
DAWs,ormusiceditingsuites,plusoften
freelysharedonline– sohere’showwe
addthem...Importing MIDI files
1
MIDI movement
With your MIDI file viewed in Finder or on
the desktop, click-select and drag the file into
an existing software instrument track or the
empty space below.2
Tempo information
Before the green MIDI tracks in the file are
imported/shown, you are given the choice of
maintaining the project’s tempo or adopting the
new tempo information stored in the MIDI file.Step-by-step Import audio and MIDI files
1
Open project
So to begin, you want a new or existing
project open. You can choose to have audio
or software instrument (MIDI) tracks created or
GarageBand will add them automatically.4
Adding MP3
Regardless of format, audio files of each
type can be simply dragged and dropped into
your project. With AIFF and CAF examples
added, we’ll import the MP3 clip as before.2
Finding files
Browse to your media files within Finder.
In our example we have four of the leading
formats. We’ll start by simply dragging the AIFF
clip into the bottom of the Tracks area.5
WAV support
As long as they are of supported bit
rate, WAV files are also compatible for import.
Again, it’s as simple as dragging the file into the
workspace to import into a new track.3
Drag and drop
Drag and drop the file in and it will appear
imported within a new track, with the region
coloured brown. Next we’ll drag in the CAF
sound clip in precisely the same way.6
Same difference
AAC and Apple Lossless files are
compatible too, with the new imported audio
tracks open to the same manipulations such as
looping and edits you might apply to any other.