Make music in iOS

Make amazing tunes on iOS — even if you can’t play an instrument

WE LOVE GARAGEBAND on our iPad and iPhone: it’s tons of fun, easy to use, and it works brilliantly with GarageBand and Logic Pro X on the Mac. (Check out our Make Music on Your Mac feature in ML182.) That means it’s as happy in a serious music production workflow as it is being poked and prodded by a young kid on the sofa.

We use it to demo songs or capture musical ideas before turning them into finished songs in Logic; but it’s as easy for complete novices to experiment with unusual instruments and make beats.

There are lots of great music apps for iOS and iPadOS, with faithful reproductions of vintage synths rubbing shoulders with all kinds of beat makers and loopers. You can use many of them to record into GarageBand. Look for Inter– App Audio apps in the App Store. Once installed, you can then use that app by choosing External in GarageBand’s sound browser and picking the app you want to get audio from. CARRIE MARSHALL

Do some drumming

Let’s add some drums. Tap on the “+” sign at the bottom left to add a new track and swipe until you see Drummer. This enables you to use GarageBand’s automated drum machine, which can sound exactly like real–life drumming.

See the drums

Go back into Tracks view (the third icon from the top left) and you’ll now see two tracks: your original looped synth part, and your new Drummer track. Double–tap either one and choose Edit if you want to change the notes or pattern.

Look for loops

GarageBand creates a new section and, if you’re using Drummer, it automatically puts a new Drummer section in it. Now let’s add some loops from GarageBand’s excellent library. Tap the Loop icon towards the top right.

Build some beats

If you’d rather make beats, swipe along to Drums and tap Beat Sequencer. This enables you to build beats by tapping where you want each part of the drum kit to play. Tap at the bottom– left corner for a different drum kit.

Bring the bass

Add a new track, choose bass and look for the Autoplay control — it can play the instrument for you, and there are four patterns. If you prefer you can play each individual note by tapping Notes. Use either option and record a bass line.

Adjust and add FX

Find a loop you like and drag it below your tracks to add a new one. Select any track and tap the Mixer icon at the top left to adjust how it sounds, add echo and reverb, and adjust where it sits in relation to the other tracks.

Adjust the drums

We’ll stick with Drummer. You can adjust lots of things from here: the drum pattern preset, the patterns for each bit of the kit and our favorite bit, the controller that enables you to make the drums louder or more complex.

Add a chorus

Return to tracks view, which now has three individual tracks. Let’s add another song section to our project, such as a chorus. To do that, tap on the “+” sign at the top right, just above your first track. Now tap on Add.

Share your song

Tap the page icon (top left) and GarageBand will save your song. You can export your project by long–pressing it and choosing Share. You can export it as an audio file, ringtone, or project to send to another GarageBand user.