In this Apple Garageband software tutorial you will learn how to use Garageband to create your own beats from scratch. See how you can use the tools available in Garageband to make beats Make beats online for free with Splice Beat Maker.
Aesthetic music is a style of music, similar to lo-fi, that’s commonly associated with relaxed instrumentals. It’s really soft, easy-listening music that you can listen to while performing tasks that don’t require 100% of your concentration, like working out, cleaning, or studying for an upcoming exam.
Hotel - Lofi Type Beat. Made w/ garageband. Posted by 6 minutes ago. (GarageBand, Cubasis for example) or in AUM I don’t experience audio crackling. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear.
Personally, I don’t listen to aesthetic or lo-fi music when I’m doing chores, however, I certainly enjoy making it and I’ll show you how to do it too. If you want to make your own, understand that making aesthetic music isn’t all that hard, even if you’re using free software like Garageband or a premium DAW like Pro Tools from Plugin Fox.
To make an aesthetic song in GarageBand, record a melody using a soundscape or jazz instrument like piano, electric clean guitar, or an upright bass. Add the rhythm section using a lo-fi drum kit, then fill out the song with other ambient sounds. Make sure the song has a slow BPM (70-100) too.
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to create an aesthetic track in Garageband using what I believe is the simplest method. Simply put, it all comes down to a slow BPM, ambient sounds, soundscape instruments, vintage sound effects, and a lo-fi drum kit. I’ll explore these concepts in detail first and then we’ll explore how to put them into practice (the video below features the finished project as well so make sure to check that out).
What Are the Common Elements of Aesthetic Music?
1) A Lo-Fi Drum-Kit
In my particular case, when I wanted to start making an aesthetic style beat, the first thing I did was I went and got my hands on a Lo-Fi kit. While Aesthetic music and Lo-Fi aren’t necessarily the same thing, they do have similar elements, and one of them is the style of kit they use.
I would say that both lo-fi and aesthetic use the same type of kit and rhythmic patterns. For aesthetic music, I would recommend getting your hands on the Cymatics Lo-Fi kit which comes with melodic loops, drum kits, one-shot loops, melodic samples, and even pre-programmed drum loops.
Tip:
If you really wanted to make it easy on yourself, you could use one of their melodies with a stock drum loop and you would already have a song created, however, this is too easy, and you won’t really learn how to make your own music if you choose to do it this way.
I’ve included the link to the free sample pack that I downloaded from Cymatics at the top. Cymatics, by the way, is a great website with a lot of great, free, sounds that are incredibly useful for making beats (I have a guide on this, by the way) and other styles of music. Make sure you know how to sample, and if you don’t already, don’t fret, because I have a step-by-step guide on how to do it + a short video down below.
2) Natural Minor, Lydian, Ionian and Dorian Harmonies and Melodies
Other features of aesthetic music are natural minor, dorian, ionian, and lydian harmonies and melodies which I’ve explored before in my dedicated guide. People who don’t know music theory will call them sad, chill, happy, and dreamy, respectively.
From what my ear can hear, I would say there are more Minor 7th and Major 7th chords in Aesthetic music, which naturally tend to produce a Dorian or Lydian Vibe (although it depends). I included a brief synopsis of what the modes sound like below.
Important to Note:
Of course, there are other types of chords, modes, and melodies in aesthetic music, including the Ionian sound (regular major chords), but the point is that aesthetic music tends to sound chilled out, mellow, sad, or somewhat spacey. Dorian and Lydian are the best for this.
Minor 7th chords are known for sounding Dorian, compared to Major 7th chords which sound Lydian. If Ionian/Major is too happy, but Aeolian/Minor is too sad, then the Dorian mode is a compromise between the two; it has more of a “chilled-out” sound that’s the brightest among all of the minor sounds.
Dorian, which is characterized as a natural minor scale with a raised 6th degree, has become a lot more popular in the modern hip-hop era, probably due to the influence of the Toronto rapper, Drake. Lydian, on the other hand, tends to sound dream-like, hopeful, ascendant, or spacey, as a consequence of the raised 4th degree in the scale. The raised fourth-degree of the mode can also sound slightly dissonant.
Tip
Dorian = 2nd mode of the Major Scale – Raised 6th degree of Minor Scale
Lydian = 4th mode of the Major Scale – Raised 4th degree of Major Scale
In case you don’t know, a Minor 7th chord is just a regular Minor chord with the seventh note added to it, whereas a Major 7th chord is just a major chord with the 7th degree added to it. For example, think of a C Minor Chord.
C Minor:
C Eb G
To make the above chord a C Minor 7th chord, you just have to add the 7th note from the root which would be the following:
C Minor 7th:
C, Eb, G, Bb
Additionally, it’s important to note that the 7th chord is not only counted up from the beginning of the chord as the root but also the scale, as well. For instance, the notes of the C Minor scale are the following:
C, D, Eb, G, Ab, Bb, C
Notice the way that the B is flat in the key of C Minor. So if you wanted to make the C Minor 7th chord, you would add the flat-seventh to the chord, Bb, making it a C Minor 7th chord.
The same rule applies to the C Major 7th chord. In the key of C major, there are no accidentals (no sharps or flats), so you just add the 7th note of the scale again but there are no sharps or flats on any of the notes of the chord.
C Major Chord:
C, E, G
To make this the C Major 7th chord, just add the B to make:
C Major 7th:
C, E, G, B
The major and minor 7th chords are commonly employed not only in aesthetic music but also in Lo-Fi, so pay attention. Coincidentally, Drake comes to mind when I think of a popular artist whose producers commonly make beats with minor 7th chords. For instance, the song, “With You,” uses Dorian vibes, and many of his other songs do as well.
Aesthetic and lo-fi also use other tonalities, but I’m just pointing out that if you want that chilled out or dream-like sound, minor and minor 7th chords are a great place to start. It’s worth mentioning that other chords like Major and Minor 9th chords are great for this as well, but I digress. Here’s a demonstration of the dorian mode:
3) Aesthetic Songs Commonly Use Jazz and Soundscape Instruments
When it comes to the instruments, you can get really creative and use all kinds of sounds and effects. However, I find it’s best to use instruments that are commonly associated with jazz and other similar styles of music. Some of the most ubiquitous sounds in aesthetic music are the following:
Soft or Regular Piano
I would go ahead and argue that the soft piano, or just a regular piano, is the defining instrument of Aesthetic music. There always seems to be a piano of some kind in Aesthetic tracks, at least in some form or another, whether it’s a regular grand piano, a soft piano, or a ragtime piano. Spectrasonics’ Keyscape (from Plugin Fox) is the best piano library if you’re serious about getting a good piano.
But if you’re looking for something great that doesn’t cost any money, I couldn’t recommend the Soft Piano from Spitfire Audio Labs enough. It’s a fantastic piano instrument, and I’ve explained before that it’s probably the best one I’ve ever used. More importantly, it’s free, and there are some other great features about Spitfire Audio Labs that you definitely don’t want to miss out on.
Electric Clean Guitar (with no distortion)
For the electric guitar – which is quite simple to connect to Garageband using my guide – I would suggest using a clean preset such as the Cool Jazz Combo, or something very similar. Other great ones to use are Dyna-Trem, Dublin Delay, or Clean Studio Stack. Garageband’s Amp Designer has a lot of presets and featuresthat are definitely worth exploring if you plan on using an electric guitar to make an aesthetic track.
One of the most important tips for recording electric guitar into a DAW is to use a metronome or a click-track of some kind. This will ensure your recording is actually on time, and you’ll be in a much better position to create synchronized music when the time comes to add other instruments and sounds.
Grab an iRig HD 2 off of Amazon for a cheap price if you want to get started with recording guitar sounds in your beats. Some guitars are better than others for recording in a DAW, and for that, I would suggest the PRS SE Custom 24 from ZZounds which is very versatile. It can be used for pretty much everything.
Soundscape Instruments
Garageband, thankfully, has a ton of great soundscape instruments, such as String Movements, Event Horizon, Air Bells, Delicate Bells, Antarctic Sun, and Splatter Tables. However, in the case that you’re already sick of what Garageband has to offer, I would highly suggest grabbing Native Instruments’ Komplete 13 from ZZounds if you want the best instruments available (I’ve written about the free version, Komplete Start, in my other article).
Bells
Other great things to use are bells and other instruments that have an ambient vibe. Bells are a great way to add spaciousness, airiness, or even a sweet, light-hearted sound that is a characteristic of ambient music. For example, I used the Hybrid Keys from Native Instruments for this particular tutorial and song.
Some of the bells you can use in Garageband include the Delicate Bells, Splatter Tables, and more, just in case you don’t want to add any more plug-ins.
Xylophones and Marimbas
Get the Xylophone from my other article.
The same thing could be said about xylophones and marimbas. These two instruments tend to produce a very happy, sweet, or chilled out sound, and they’re fantastic to use for Aesthetic music. GarageBand comes with a great marimba by default, however, if you want to get your hands on a Xylophone, I have an article on where to get it (linked above).
Upright Bass
The Upright Bass is another instrument that is commonly associated with jazz music. If you want a jazzy instrument, then look no further than the Upright Bass. This is a great way to add a nice, plucking, low-end with a chilled out and ambient vibe.
4) Aesthetic Songs Commonly Have A Slow BPM (70-100)
I would argue that the last thing to pay attention to when making Aesthetic Music is the slow BPM. As a general rule, aesthetic music is always incredibly slow. Usually between 70-100 BPM, sometimes even slower. If the song was fast, it would sound completely different, like some kind of ambient house music rather than Aesthetic or Lo-Fi.
This is really quite self-explanatory. Either set the BPM around 70-100 in the top center console of Garageband’s interface or just pay attention to how you’ve spaced out the drum kit notes when creating your beat. Without further ado, let’s explore how to use the aforementioned principles and instruments to make aesthetic music.
Making Aesthetic Music in Garageband (Step-By-Step Guide)
1) Making the Drum Beat
As I suggested already above, go ahead and download the Cymatics Lo-Fi Toolkit package and read my article on sampling if you don’t know how to load these sounds into your DAW. Once you’ve downloaded your kits and sounds, you can either do what I said and use the Drum Loops and melodies it comes with, or you can make something up on your own, which I assume is what you want to do if you’re reading this article.
Load up the instrument sounds in Garageband, including the Kick, Snare, Open and Closed Hi-Hats, and potentially a Shaker or a Ride.
Hi-Hats (Open and Closed)
The first thing I did when I made my beat is that I made the hi-hat notes almost immediately simply because they’re the easiest to do and it’s a great way to get started.
You’ll notice how far apart the notes are spaced out from each other. This is what’s going to determine how slow they are, so pay attention to this. I find that when using the standard BPM of 120, you want your hi-hats to be on every other grid-line to sound slow. If you set the BPM to around 70, the notes should probably be on every grid-line.
For the closed hi-hats, I made them a little faster and I also used a stylized hi-hat roll which descends down the piano roll which sets up the Snare to strike right after. Creating hi-hat and snare rolls is pretty easy and I have other tricks that you can use to add more flavor and style to your rhythm section.
Kick
As you’ve probably gathered by now, when making Aesthetic or Lo-Fi music, you want the drums to hit fairly slowly which means there won’t be many notes. For example, when I made my Kick in this particular track, you can see that there are really only around 4 kick hits per 8 bars.
That’s not a lot. And this obviously isn’t a rule, but the point is that there aren’t a lot of kicks just because if there were, it would have the effect of making it a bit faster and aggressive sounding. You’ll also notice in the image below that I extended the kick notes so they’re very long. I did that just so they boom more in conjunction with the 808s.
Snare
The same thing can be said about the snare as well, in fact, the snare hits even less than any of the other instruments in the song, about every third beat.
And that’s pretty much it for the drumbeat. One thing about aesthetic music drum beats is they tend to be quite simplistic and easy to recreate. They’re usually slow, and there isn’t a lot going on in that regard, although of course, there are some exceptions to this.
2) How to Make the Primary Melody In an Aesthetic Song
For the melody, note the first part of the article where I explained the use of the Major 7th and Minor 7th chords. In the track that I created for this tutorial, I was all over those major 7th sounds, because I was going for more of the happy and dreamy sound, rather than the chilled out Dorian vibe. Truthfully, I used a C Major 9th Chord, but it kind of has the same type of vibe as the C Major 7th chord, with a bit of difference.
I also used somewhat of an arpeggiated effect, which, in simple terms, means that we’ve played each note of the chord separately (but let them ring out and mesh together to create more of a sustained effect). I used the same principle for the G Major 9th chord as well, however, I also included a descending line down the C Major scale which hits on every gridline just as a way of spicing it up a bit and making it sound cool.
A) Use the Same Chords and Add Them to a New Instrument Track
Once I created the primary melody using two simple chords, you now have a foundation from which to build something else. For example, you can take those exact same two chords and then load them up into a different instrument to fill out the rest of the track.
You really don’t have to complicate it more than that. This is quite melodically simple, but the point of this is to just fill out the track a bit and get it to sound a bit more “complete,” so to speak. In this case, I actually used a C Major chord and an F Major chord, rather than a G Major chord like I used with the soft piano.
B) Adding Another Melody
I did create another descending melody using the Hybrid Keys from Native Instruments. It’s just a simple bell melody that outlines the notes of the chord but adds a bit more “sweetness” to the track.
3) Adding More Fills to the Aesthetic Song with a Guitar
This part is more optional, but I included it here anyway. For this section, I essentially followed the same principles as the rest of the song, in the sense that I just played some chords in the Key of C Major and then added some other notes to spice things up a bit.
I also added the MAutoPan to get the sounds to oscillate between the left and right speakers so it sounded cool, and I added volume automation to fix the fact that I played some notes louder than others.
4) Adding the Bass
For the bass instrument, I used what I believe is the best boutique 808 plug-in on the market for the price, Initial Audio’s 808 Studio II, which you can find here on Plugin Boutique, and I made the pattern relatively straight forward. Initially, I used the Deep Sub Bass synthesizer but then opted for a much cooler sounding 808.
It sounds great when coupled with a kick drum, especially when the notes and the kick hit right at the same time. Like the other instruments, I just played notes of the C Major Scale, but I matched them so they played at the exact same time as the Kick Drum, that way they slam together and create a cool bass sound.
For the plug-ins, I threw up two different processors, including the Channel EQ and the Compressor and I also made sure there was a slide between some of the notes (I have a guide on how to do this too).
Channel EQ
I eliminated the highs and then I boosted the same frequencies that I attenuated on the kick drum. Explained in another way, in the image you can see above, there is a slight boost around the 200Hz range, which is precisely the same range that I attenuated on the Kick drum, that way there is a room for both of them to co-exist in the mix, and then they compliment each other better.
Compressor
For the compressor, I just used the “Type R Pumping” preset, because I find that it adds some much-needed aggression and fatness to the sound of the 808.
And that’s pretty much it for the main portion of what I did to make the Aesthetic Track. Once you’ve created your song, now you just want to go ahead and mix it, which is an entirely separate tutorial (my guide).
Mixing And Mastering
For the next stage, I adjusted the panning on each of the tracks, which is definitely the easiest part, and then I adjusted the VU meters to ensure that nothing is clipping, and then it was ready for export. If you’re confused about panning, don’t be, because I’ve already explained it simply, as well as mastering too.
Gear Mentioned
1) Pro Tools Lifetime Licence from Plugin Fox
2) Spectrasonics’ Keyscape from Plugin Fox
3)iRig HD 2 from Amazon
4)PRS SE Custom 24 from ZZounds
5) Komplete 13 from ZZounds
6)Initial Audio’s 808 Studio II Synth from Plugin Boutique
In this tutorial today, I’m going to run through some of my favorite instruments to use when making beats in Garageband.
Some of these are plug-ins you’ll have to download, some will require gear, and others just come stock in the software. The vast majority, however, are completely free. They won’t cost you anything.
Regardless, I’ll explain where and how to get the instruments that don’t come stock in Garageband.
Let’s jump into each one – they’re in no particular order.
by the way, I have a list of all the best products for music production on my recommended products page, including the best deals, coupon codes, and bundles, that way you don’t miss out (you’d be surprised what kind of deals are always going on).
1) The Steinway Grand Piano
This is the stock piano that comes with Garageband. When you first open up Garageband and select “Software Instrument,” and the interface opens up on your screen, you’ll be given the option on the left-hand side: “Piano,” and then “Steinway Grand Piano.”
It says on the left-side, “Bass,” “Drum Kit,” “Electronic Drum Kit” and so on and so forth. Click on piano, and then it says, “Steinway Grand Piano.”
Truthfully, stock pianos are never that great, however, with some reverb, delay, and a bit of ambiance, I find that a lot can be done with the stock piano, especially after having learned how to play from PianoForAll (from their website), which is probably one of the easiest and cheapest ways to learn.
For instance, using the Channel EQ on the piano (my guide) can introduce an entirely different mood to the sound. If you click on the Channel EQ, you’ll notice that the mid-ranges have been attenuated (diminished) just a little bit.
What I like to do is actually boost the mids a little bit. I find this gives the piano a more natural sound to it, but that’s just me.
You can see what this looks like in the image below:
If you’re looking for a nice pre-set to try, try this one:
Delay: 3
Ambiance: 4
Reverb: 5
It’s also worth noting that this piano comes with a ton of different presets and patterns that I’ve highlighted in the image below.
These pre-sets can actually be used on every software instrument in Garageband, so give it a shot.
On the top-right-hand corner of the piano’s interface in the Smart Controls, you’ll notice there is a little icon. Click on it, and it brings up a ton of different pre-sets that are awesome.
You can adjust the note order, the rate at which they’re played (speed), and also the octave range.
2) 4 Front Piano
Let’s say that you hate the Steinway Grand Piano and you’re looking for something that imitates the real thing a little more. In that case, I would recommend picking up the 4Front Piano from Plugins4Free and using my guide to install it.
You can customize it using plug-ings the same way, including compression, EQ, reverb, delay, and so on.
This is a really popular option, so I recommend checking it out.
3) DSK Dynamic Guitars
Due to the fact I’ve played guitar my entire life, I’m really not fond of the stock guitars that Garageband has to offer.
I love the Amp Designer (although Blue Cat Audio’s Axe Pack from Plugin Boutique is way better), but the stock VST guitars are not good. Thankfully, we can download plug-ins to fix this issue.
I recommend grabbing the DSK Dynamic Guitars plug-in which you can grab at the same website I mentioned above.
If you don’t like this Dynamics Guitar plug-in, they have other ones like this Nylon string plugin which in my opinion is pretty amazing considering it doesn’t cost money.
4) “Drum Pro” Plug-In From Studio Linked
I can’t praise this plug-in enough (also from Plugins 4 Free), it’s my favorite drum machine plug-in to use, both for its Trap Drum Kit as well as it’s Hip-Hop drum-kits which are pretty sick too.
This plug-in comes with around 20 different kits, and it has some functions on it, including panning, decay, sustain, reverb, attack, release, and volume knobs.
It’s really worth your time to go through each one and figure out the kits and individual instruments that you like.
For instance, I like to mix and match different instruments together. I might use the Kick of the Beat Machine and then the Snare of the Hip-Hop 8 drum kit in Drum Pro.
To mix drum-kits, what I like to do is I create a new software instrument track for each part of the kit.
For instance, one Software Instrument track will be the kick and another one will be the snare. Make sure you remember to label them because otherwise your interface/workspace will be a mess.
5) “Beat Machine” – Electronic Drum Kit
This is a stock instrument that’s found in the electronic drum kit section.
This kit probably has my favorite electronic drum kit kick, and the hi-hats and the shaker sound great as well.
With customization, including reverb, EQ, distortion, compression, and perhaps a bit of a delay, a lot can be done to make these default instruments sound awesome.
An added benefit to using the stock drum kits in Garageband is that it comes with a helpful interface, including delay, reverb, attack, drive, crush, as well as a high and low cut.
As I mentioned above, the kick in the Beat Machine is my favorite, and it’s accessed through the Musical Typing at the C of the first octave, C1.
6) Boutique 808
The Boutique 808s are found in the electronic drum kit section as well, just a few options below the Beat Machine.
The Boutique 808 that comes with Garageband isn’t bad either, and with some compression and distortion, the sound can really be improved (however, if you want a fantastic 808 plugin, I can’t recommend Initial Audio’s 808 Studio II enough).
The vast majority of instruments in the Boutique 808, in my opinion, are useless, however, the bass and the hi-hats are great. I typically use the Bass which is in the third octave of the Musical Typing, C3.
As I just mentioned in passing, using distortion and compression on the Boutique 808s are going to fatten up the sound like crazy, so it’s worth trying out.
As I explained in my guide on making Boutique 808s, in terms of a compressor pre-set that you can try, go for “Type U Aggressive,” and then notice in the Smart Controls interface of the Boutique 808, there is the option to turn up the Distortion, turn it up to about 3.
At some point, I’ll be making another tutorial – in fact, I have since made another one featuring 10 tips – on boutique 808s and bass-lines, because I feel like there is still so much to learn and implement.
7) Bass Guitar
The bass guitar is found within the Bass category, among a few other styles of the bass guitar.
Truthfully, it’s rare that I like to use this instrument in my actual track, however, what I do like to use this for is developing a nice bass-line that’s easy to hear, and then once it’s ready, I change the software instrument track to the Deep Sub Bass synthesizer.
If you’ve been reading my other articles, you’ll know that human beings can hear the frequencies between 20Hz and 20,000 Hz. However, the easiest frequencies to hear are around 1000Hz-5000Hz.
If you try and make a bass-line with a boutique 808 or a Deep Sub Bass synth right off the start, you might find that you’ve created a bass-line that’s off-key. And the reason for that is simple: you just can’t hear the bass as much and don’t know it’s off-key.
Make sure to try out this tactic, moreover, check out my youtube video on the Ample Bass P Lite II which is a great free bass plugin.
8) Deep Sub Bass Synthesizer
You can find this instrument in the “Synthesizer” category and then in the sub-category, “Bass,” it’s around 3/4 way down the list.
And that brings me to the next instrument, the Deep Sub Bass synthesizer. I’ve been crafting the vast majority of my bass-lines lately with this instrument.
With some EQ and distortion, in conjunction with a properly mixed kick, you can have a bass-line that really slams.
If you want to read more about this instrument and how I go about making bass-lines with it, I recommend checking out the two articles I linked above regarding bass-lines and 808s.
9) Marimba and Vibraphone
You can find both of these instruments in the “Mallet” category.
These two instruments are great for happy-sounding tracks. Frankly, I wouldn’t bother using either of these instruments if you’re making a minor-key trap beat or any hip-hop beat that sounds kind of menacing and dark.
These instruments are made, more so, for creating a melody in a Trippie Redd track, rather than something from Dave East.
It’s worth mentioning that with delay, reverb, flangers, and the presets that come with Garageband, a lot can be done to make these sound unique and super cool.
Try out this pre-set just to get your foot in the door:
Delay: 4
Reverb: 7
Ambience: 4
**Arpeggiator: “Bouncing Funk”
**Remember, the arpeggiator is the list of pre-sets that come in stock with every software instrument track on the top-right hand side of the Smart Controls.
10) Flute Solo
You can find this one in the “Orchestral” category, and then in the sub-category, “Woodwinds.”
In the last 5-6 years, the flute has really become one of the most popular instruments for hip-hop producers to use, I believe because of Drake and his choice of producers, but I’m not entirely sure.
Regardless, this is one that’s definitely worth using, moreover, if you want more songs like this, Komplete 13 from Native Instruments is also a fantastic place to go.
However, the annoying thing about this VST is the fact it’s not very responsive to the MIDI Keyboard or the Musical Typing.
I think they did this on purpose to imitate the time it takes to actually inhale and then blow into the flute as if you’re actually playing it in real life.
There’s another flute that you can use as well, which I’ll talk about a bit later in this article.
11) DSK Saxophones
This is another plug-in from DSK, who, in my opinion, make some of the better instrument VSTs which you can find on Plugins4Free. This VST from DSK is a lot better than the saxophone that comes stock in Garageband.
Personally, I enjoy using the Tenor Sax a lot more than the Soprano Sax, the Tenor has a much smoother and chilled out vibe, which is probably what you’ll intend on using it for, rather than the Soprano Sax, which has more of a high-pitched and “wailing” sound to it. With some reverb and delay, possibly even a flanger, a lot can be done to spice up the sound of the saxophone.
12) Air Bells, Delicate Bells, Antarctic Sun, and Splatter Tables
You can find these within the “Synthesizer” category and then in the sub-category, “Bells.”
For this one, I included 4 of them within the same number, because they’re all in the same sub-category.
For each one of these, it’s worth your time to go through and adjust the parameters in Garageband’s interface, for instance, the reverb, delay, and so on and so forth. You can end up making something entirely unique and to your specific tastes.
13) Scream Lead
You can find this one in the “Synthesizer” category as well, and in the sub-category, “Lead.”
Nicelabel pro 2019 serial key. With some customization, in my opinion, it can kind of sound like the classic sound that Dr. Dre used to use in all of his songs from back in 2001 and in the early 1990s.
If you want to try and get this sound, I’d recommend using it in the Third Octave, in other words, “C3” or “C4” using Garageband’s Smart Controls.
Moreover, it wouldn’t hurt to decrease frequencies between 5000Hz and 20,000Hz just to eliminate the shrill sound of it, that’s if you’re trying to imitate the Dr. Dre sound from The Chronic, especially the lead melody from “Let Me Ride.”
Pay attention to the way this sound is mixed, because with some reverb, and the instrument turned down in the mix, you can really imitate that Dre synthesizer that he used to use so much back in the day.
Office 2016 for mac big sur. For this one, I recommend playing around with the “Glide,” “Sub,” and the “Shape” parameters, especially the “Glide.” With the “Glide” function, you can move smoothly between notes and create a really cool effect.
14) Bebob Organ
You can find this one in the category, “Vintage B3 Organ.”
The Bebob organ, or any of the other organs, are more of a complementary instrument in my opinion because they can fill out a track very nicely if the instrument is turned down in the mix and panned correctly while using my guide as a reference.
15) Vintage Mellotron
I included this entire category as one instrument because frankly, nearly every single instrument offered in this category is a killer if you ask me.
Within this category, you have the Cello, Flute (different from the other flute), the Mixed Choir, 3 Violins, as well as the Strings & Flute together.
My personal favorite among these is to mix the Cello and then the Strings and Flute together, but mixing both of these instruments relatively low, due to the fact they can stand out quite a bit.
You also want to pan the cello to about 8:00 pm, and then the Strings and Flute at about 4:00 pm. That’ll open up the mix a little bit and create a song with more room.
16) Erhu
You can find this instrument in the “World” category and within the “Stringed” instrument section.
How To Make A Lofi Beat On Garageband
This is probably my favorite instrument to create melodies in Garageband. I’m crazy about it, I think it’s amazing.
Especially the parameters that come with it, including the “Auto-Vibrato” function which sounds awesome when it’s turned up about halfway.
I’ve used it in a bunch of different songs, and there’s no question that it’s one of my favorites.
When paired with #15 on the list, and mixed accordingly, I think you can come up with some awesome sounds in a track.
17) Guzheng
Like the Ehru, you can find this instrument in the “World” category and then in its “Stringed” instrument sub-section.
From what I understand, this is a traditional Chinese instrument, so if you’re trying to go for some Wu-Tang Clan style beats, particularly the track, “Da Mystery Of Chessboxing,'” then this is definitely the instrument of choice for you.
How To Make A Lofi Beat On Garageband Mac
18) Arpeggiators – Dripping Cycles, Erratic Motion, Glass String Structures, Zen Garden, and Digital Rain Drops
Find these instruments under the Arpeggiator category, and then within the Synth Basics and Synth Bells sub-category.
Regarding the use of the arpeggiators, what I typically do is I create the melody with the 4Front or Steinway Grand Piano first, and then I switch it over to one of the arpeggiators to see which one sounds the coolest.
This is the primary way I use arpeggiators, and I find it’s the fastest way to beef up a song and add a bit of background melody without doing a ton of work.
Different people have different methods, so you could also try and create the melody with the arpeggiator first, however, I typically try and create it with the piano first. I find this works well.
19) A Real Guitar
For this one, you obviously have to have a real guitar and also know how to play it. Nothing beats the real instrument in my opinion – with some exceptions, which is why I recommend my guitar, the PRS SE Custom 24 from ZZounds.
If you’re a guitar player and you’re looking to introduce the instrument you’ve played for years into your productions, I’d recommend checking out this article on how to plug your guitar into Garageband.
Some of my favorite presets and Amps to use are the following:
Find these ones in the Clean Guitar sub-category:
Clean Echoes
Cool Jazz Combo
Dublin Delay
Dyna-Trem
Mystery Chorus
Blue Wave – You can find this one in the Experimental Guitar sub-category which I talked about more in my Amp Designer tutorial.
20) Pads
Find the pads below under the Synthesizer category, and then under the Pads category.
Here are some of my favorite pads to use in alphabetical order:
Airways, Boarding Area, Breathy Vox, Emerald Haze Pad, Ocean Sun Glitters, and Sun Glitters Pad.
Like every other instrument, it’s up to you to figure out how you want to customize the sound.
How To Make A Lofi Beat On Garageband
As I’ve mentioned in passing above, because a lot of these instruments are stock in Garageband, the interface serves the purpose of customization well, so playing around with options like the “Glide” and the “Delay” is going to make a big difference in how some of these sound.
How To Make A Lofi Beat On Garageband Ipad
Each pad comes with its very own set of parameters that you can play around with, and if you want more, you can always grab XPand! 2 from Plugin Fox, which is a very inexpensive plugin that features a ton of similar instruments.
21) Soundscape – “Event Horizon” and “String Movements”
You can find these two instruments within the Synthesizer category, and then under the Soundscapes category
These two instruments kind of serve the same purpose, in my opinion, as the arpeggiators, because they’re extremely easy to use in terms of filling out the rest of the mix without having to do a lot of work.
Just copy the main melody that you’ve created and then open up a new Software Instrument track, select the synth/pad/arpeggiator, and paste it in there to see what kind of effects you can make.
How To Make A Lofi Beat On Garageband Ios
In the case of these two instruments, however, simple chord progressions sound the best due to the way they work.
For instance, if you just play two chords like the C Major and A Minor chord and hold them after one another, it can create a super ambient vibe.
**Mainstage 3 – Not Free
It’s worth mentioning that you can actually purchase more instruments for Garageband in the app store. I believe it’s called Mainstage 3, and I think it costs around $39.99 for the whole thing.
I have to add that I haven’t actually bought it and tested it, but to be honest, I haven’t heard many people talk about this and whether or it’s not good.
I think I might actually make an article on it someday after I try it out.
YouTube Video Tutorial
How To Make A Lofi Beat
Conclusion
All in all, I hope this was helpful for you and you managed to get some solid sounds and instruments from this tutorial. Do me a solid and share this on your social media with your producer friends. I’d appreciate that a lot. Every bit counts.