MacSTAC: GarageBand Readings

Whether you're a professional musician wanting to work creatively in

GarageBand or you're a curious iLife '06 owner who's always wanted to

try your hand at composing or recording digital music, you can find

real-life advice, technical tips, and step-by-step guidance in the

newly updated GarageBand 3/iLife '06 editions of three Take Control

ebooks:

* "Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand," by Seattle musician

Jeff Tolbert, helps beginning and intermediate users learn how to be

playful and work creatively with GarageBand's editing and mixing

features while creating tunes. The ebook features linked-in audio

song samples so you can listen while you learn. (Although "amateur"

might be too optimistic a description of my tune-making abilities, I

was able to use this ebook to get a feeling for what it might be like

to do panning and mixing for a rock group - great fun!)

* "Take Control of Recording with GarageBand," also by Jeff Tolbert,

covers making musical compositions with vocals, guitars, drums, MIDI

keyboards, and much more, with a look at getting the most out of your

gear (or buying more gear), real-world studio recording techniques,

using a mic, and applying effects. Linked-in audio song samples help

you more easily understand concepts discussed in the ebook. (I was

especially impressed with how Jeff not only gave lots of tips for

using real "instruments," but he also inspires the reader to

improvise with whatever objects might be available to create sound

effects and to harness GarageBand's features to the reader's creative

desires.)

* "Take Control of Podcasting on a Mac," by podcaster Andy Affleck,

looks at podcasting from A to Z, covering how to get started, pros

and cons of different software options, how to use several popular

programs for recording and editing (including GarageBand 3), and how

to publish and promote a podcast.

Not all our GarageBand-related content comes in ebook form! Tune into

Andy's "Take Control of Podcasting" podcast for the latest tips and

news from the world of podcasting:

MacSTAC