Begin by downloading and opening the GarageBand file from the bottom of the page (Don't just click the name of the file. Click the downward pointing arrow instead to save it to your computer).
Objective: Learn the basic editing features of GarageBand while working within the means of musical form. You will arrange the given song and continue exploring timbre by exploring and changing the instrument sounds.
Procedure:
1. First, play the material that is given in the file. Observe, that the sections of the song are labeled at the top. Also look at the "ruler-looking" bar at the top. This bar indicates the measure numbers and the space between each measure. Watch the playhead (red line) move across the arrangement to indicate which part of the music is playing.
2. Locate the drum loop. It is the 4th track and is a green colored bubble called a region. Loop the drum region by pointing your mouse at the upper right of the drum loop region. Your pointer will become a circular arrow. Click, hold, and drag the end of the region to repeat the loop over and over. Do not just copy and paste. Extend the loop through the end of measure 10.
3. Click on the region in the flute track to select it. Use the edit menu at the top of your screen and select copy (or press command and C together). Move the playhead to the beginning of measure 11. Again using the edit menu select paste (or command V). You should now have two regions on the flute track verse/chorus 1 and verse/chorus 2.
4. Do the same thing as step 3 with the accompaniment and bass tracks. You can hold shift and click on each region to complete this task for both tracks together.
5. Place the playhead at measure 17 and select the flute, accompaniment, and bass tracks (hold the shift key while clicking the three regions). Use the edit menu and select split (or command T). This divides the region into two separate regions one larger and one smaller. Click anywhere off the tracks to deselect them.
6. Now select the smaller regions of the flute, accompaniment and bass tracks that you created in measures 17 and 18. Copy and paste these regions to the first two bars to create an introduction. Listen to the arrangement.
7. Select the regions of the flute track that make up measures 11-18. Use the edit menu and select Join (or command J). This makes the two regions one again.
8. Finally, using what you have learned, create a coda or ending to this arrangement. Your coda needs to be a minimum of two measures long.
If you finish early, you should experiment with percussion loops, adjusting the track volume and pan, and/or employ various DSP (digitial sound processing) effects such as reverb. You may also choose to further arrange the song by adding additional sections to the song such as an interlude.