This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Changing a Track’s Instrument
I originally composed this piece on my baby grand piano, then recorded the piano part into GarageBand using a MIDI keyboard and the Grand Piano Software Instrument. However, in the back of my mind I was always torn between recording it as a piano or as an acoustic guitar part. Fortunately, it’s a Software Instrument region.
Not only can you edit Software Instrument regions, but you can also change the instrument itself. Imagine recording a music part like this one using a piano sample, then deciding that you would rather have a guitar play that part—or vice versa. No problem. All you have to do is open the Track Info pane and change the instrument for the track. Really!
- Double-click the top Grand Piano track header.
The Track Info pane opens for the selected track.
- Select Guitars as the Software Instrument, and Steel String Acoustic for the specific guitar.
- Press Cmd-I to close the Track Info pane.
The first track in the Timeline is now called Steel String Acoustic, and the track icon is a guitar.
- Play the Grand Piano region in the Steel String Acoustic track to hear how it sounds with the guitar as the lead instrument.
- Press Cmd-S to save your progress.
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Fantastic! You’d never know it was originally recorded as a piano part.
Now you see how easy it is to change one Software Instrument to another. This is incredibly useful if you play keyboards but not guitar, for example, or the other way around.
I like the guitar as the lead for part of this song, but I miss the piano for other parts. Later on, when we work on song arrangement in Lesson 4, you’ll learn how to break up a lead instrument part into different regions on different tracks. For now, let’s stick with one instrument for the lead.