Recording with Software Instruments in GarageBand

Text and video by Ellie Parcells, Education Resource Center and Student Multimedia Design Center

Whether you’re an aspiring musician looking to create, a video editor in search of royalty-free music or a podcaster in need of a catchy jingle, it can be daunting to think about self-recording your own music, especially if you lack the proper instruments or equipment.  

Thankfully, the music-creation program GarageBand makes the process of self-recording music easy with Software Instruments! Software Instruments allows users to play, edit and record a wide selection of instruments with nothing more than a MacOS or iOS compatible device and a standard computer keyboard or touchscreen.   

In this video, explore software instruments for MacOS via the desktop version of GarageBand. You will learn how to adjust the sound of software instruments and how to record and edit software instrument tracks in post.  

GarageBand can be accessed on any public Mac computer at the Student Multimedia Design Center (SMDC) in Morris Library. You can also borrow equipment, like the plug-and-play MIDI keyboard, from the SMDC that can make recording music with GarageBand even easier. 

This video is part of the weekly series “Multimedia Tips and Tricks,” which shares content in response to frequently asked questions from the Student Multimedia Design Center. We’d love to hear from you. Please share your feedback with us by filling out our survey.