Build a song in GarageBand for iPad
You build a song in GarageBand by recording Touch Instruments and arranging your recordings in Tracks view. You can also add Apple Loops (prerecorded drum beats, bass lines, and other background parts) from the Loop Browser. A GarageBand song can have up to 32 tracks and be up to 2000 bars long.
Tracks view is organized into horizontal rows called tracks. Each track contains the recordings of one Touch Instrument, which appear as rectangular regions. To the left of each track is a header with an icon for that track’s Touch Instrument. You can add, reorder, duplicate, and delete tracks, and control the sound of a track in several ways. You can also edit regions in a variety of ways to build your song arrangement.
At the top of the screen is a ruler that shows bars and beats. The left edge of each region aligns with the bar or beat on the ruler to show where it starts playing. The playhead is a vertical line that moves across the ruler as the song plays, showing the part currently playing. You can move the playhead to hear a different part of the song.
Each song has a tempo, key, and time signature that last for the entire song. You can change these song settings, turn the count-in on or off, and change the metronome sound.
The following sections give more information about specific tasks for building a song in GarageBand: