Expanding Your GarageBand Loop Library
19 March 2004 Matt Willmore Skip to comments
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Apple's new GarageBand application comes with some awesome loops, but Matt Willmore shows you how to get even more loops for your collection. Become a musician overnight!
For a mere $49, iLife '04 is quite a deal. Add in Apple's new GarageBand software, and now it's practically a steal. GarageBand is bringing to the masses what previously was only available to musicians with fairly deep pockets - a usable, solid music composition program that gives the user both support and freedom, and included tools out of the box to extend the flexibility. Ignoring how GarageBand actually allows you manipulate the audio once you bring it in, adding tracks in the first place remains the first step.GarageBand allows you to do this in three distinct ways:
- Digitial input (aka MIDI signals via any MIDI device - USB/MIDI keyboard, synth, controller, etc.)
- Analong input (aka anything through Line In - electric guitar, microphone, pickup, etc.)
- Loops, both included with GarageBand (and the Jam Pack), and your own
Theory
Most people have not thought of external loops as something to use when composing in GarageBand - after all, don't you have enough already? GarageBand by default gives you over 1,000 loops, and Jam Pack installs over 2,000 more. It's unfathomable to imagine that even 10-15% of those loops will see the light of day, simply due to sheer volume.This works fine for people new to music entirely, or even those who are content with what GarageBand and Jam Pack provide. But, say that you heard this vocal quote that you'd like to integrate into your piece; or, you found this hot loop on an 80's web site that would sound perfect in your ambient track. What if you made a drum loop that matches perfectly, but it's not part of GarageBand? Fortunately, you can do all of these things (and more) without spending much money at all, if any. There are a number of tools on the market for OS X than can significantly extend the abilities of GarageBand (and the artist's creativity), all the time focusing on the idea of "loops."
By definition, a "loop" doesn't have to be something that's played over and over again in a song. No one says that when you pull a loop from GarageBand's included collection that it has to repeat over and over. Sure, it has the ability to, and it works well for that, but it's not a prerequisite. Now that we have that covered, let's get to the good stuff.There is a vast array of loops available online, often for free. Programs similar to GarageBand are certainly not new to the market. The first version of Logic was available in 1993, and is still running strong to this day (even more so as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple since June 2002). Musicians have always had enjoyed swapping creations and samples, and the Internet was a natural trading forum for it. As a result, there are numerous web sites where you can find the perfect loop for your composition, for little or no money. Here are a few starters: Like I said, there are many more out there. A quick Google search for free loops should yield plenty of results.
Soundtrack Loop Utility
Once you've found the loop(s) you've been looking for, is it straight to GarageBand from there? Not quite. Although you certainly can take those audio files and bring them right into GarageBand, you might want to make a detour to Apple's Soundtrack Loop Utility (SLU). SLU is part of Apple's Soundtrack app, available as part of Final Cut or as a separate app. However, you can download the AppleLoops SDK for free from Apple's web site, which contains the SLU. SLU will be installed in /Applications/Utilities, and accompanying documentation and examples can be found in /Developer/Apple Loops SDK.What is the Soundtrack Loop Utility? Simply put, it transforms WAV and AIFF files into the Apple Loop format, preferred by GarageBand (and Soundtrack, of course).
If the file is some other format (such as MP3), you can use an app such as SoundConverter to change the sound files to AIFF format.
An Apple Loop file is simply an AIFF with additional metadata in the file header. Outside of programs like Soundtrack and GarageBand, this is unimportant. However, the only reason that the loop browsing system in GarageBand and Soundtrack works is because of this metadata. When you are looking for a loop in either app, selecting a genre, instrument, or mood will refine your search. All you're doing is selecting loops that match keywords (eg. R&B, Electric, Drum Kit, Ensemble, etc.). SLU is there to help you assign keywords to loops you want to add to GarageBand.
You may happen to find loops online that are already in the Apple Loop format (like some of the example sites above). This just means that the authors have already put the loops through SLU and assigned keywords! You can still open the loops in SLU and modify the keywords if you like, but all the hard work is essentially done for you.
When you first open SLU, you might not recognize the interface - everything's smaller and dark gray. Not to worry, though - this is just the Soundtrack/Final Cut interface, which SLU is designed to work with. SLU will initally ask which file you'd like to open, and will display the elements of that file in the first tab, "Tags". If this file is not an Apple Loop file, it will guess at some of the tags. For example, it will assume it's a loop if the file is between .5 and 30 seconds long - if not, it'll assume it's a one-shot (not looped). It will also guess at the BPM. Also, make sure that the key listed in t
When you use SLU in Soundtrack, it will adjust the BPM to the project's BPM, but not so with GarageBand. You'll have to set it yourself, or let GarageBand adjust it when you use it.
At this point, you can set the various tags of your file. There are three areas you can edit: Property tags, which includes basic audio information; Search tags, which define the genre and primary instrument; and, Descriptors, which set the "moods". Both the Search and Descriptor tags are used when you're browsing or searching for a song in GarageBand.
While this feature is useful, it leads to some discouraging features that you can find in Soundtrack but not in GarageBand. In Soundtrack, you have much more flexibility in how you search for a particular loop. You can search by name/genre/instrument/mood, of course, but you can also search by the folder the loop is in. All GarageBand loops are stored in /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Apple Loops; within that folder are seperate folders for each set of loops: Apple Loops for GarageBand, Apple Loops for GarageBand Jam Pack, and SingleFiles if you decide to import any into GarageBand's loop library.
With GarageBand, you can't simply search for "SingleFiles" and fine all the loops that you added yourself, whereas you can with Soundtrack. In addition, you can't set a custom genre or mood, like you can alter ID3 tags in iTunes. I don't know if this is a limitation of the Apple Loops format, or of GarageBand/Soundtrack, or something entirely different. GarageBand will not include the Author, Copyright or Comments fields in keyword searches you perform. So, you can't group-assign (yes, you can group-assign fields in SLU) the Comments field to "Joe" and expect to find anything when you search for "joe" in GarageBand. What this leaves for us who want to add our own loops to GarageBand's libary is to include a custom word in the name of the file.
Once you set your tags, move on to the second tab, "Transients". This tab serves as a place to mark beats and other important points in the music. If SLU has never seen this file before, it will guess, and usually do a decent job. You may have to alter the mark setup, though. You can also define the transient division here, which will tell the application interpreting the file (say, GarageBand) how to musically read the audio. Different divisions can result in different interpretations; you can change it while playing the file and see what I mean.The bottom of the the SLU window contains playback controls so you can sample the audio with different transient and key settings. You can also change the key, BPM, and dB level to test the file. These changes will not affect the file itself, but are just there to allow for sampling.
If you're sampling a loop in SLU and the key sounds different, check the key in the bottom panel. Make sure it matches the key in the File Info area of the "Tags" tab.Once you're done with the file, save it. If you brought in a WAV file it will save it as an AIFF. Either way, the icon will change to the Apple Loop icon, although you can still play it just like any other AIFF file. To add the file(s) to GarageBand, make sure GarageBand's window is viewable, and drag the file(s) into the loop area. It will tell you that it is adding the loops (by copying them into /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/SingleFiles), and then indexing the files - GarageBand makes and references a series of text files in /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Apple Loops Index. After a bit (more if you have the Jam Pack installed) you will be ready to go. You don't need to restart GarageBand to search for the new loops. Since the indexing takes a bit of time, you might want to wait and import a set of new loops all at once, just to save some time.
A Note on Doggiebox
Another cool app that can be used with GarageBand is Zygoat's Doggiebox, an excellent beat sequencer for OS X. Doggiebox can help anyone create solid, professional drum kit sequences that can be exported straight to AIFF, for input into SLU or straight into GarageBand. It's flexible and pretty intuitive, but a decent review of Doggiebox is really beyond the scope of this article. If you'd like to see us review Doggiebox, let us know.
Matt Willmore is a founding partner of MacZealots.com. Matt is also a Resident Assistant at Owen Hall and does Mac support at ECN, and is active in PUMUG. He can be reached at .
Reader Comments (12)
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#1) On March 19, 2004 10:34 PM
thanks for the info!
Good introduction to Apple Loops
#2) On July 4, 2004 2:09 AM
great column, keep it up!
#3) On October 8, 2004 11:33 AM
I’d like to know if you’ve found a way to create your own custom Instruments names in the SLU. I’d like to be able to find all my loops from 3rd party libraries depending of their source.
Thanks!
Daniel
#4) On June 10, 2005 3:08 PM
I was just introduced to your site by a friend. I’m impressed. It’s very clean and professional, and the information I read on loops was easy to understand. But I’m not quite fulfilled. Do you have anything on how to expand the Voice library of GarageBand? I have access to numerous instrument samples and would like to incorporate them. Buying the Jam Packs is undesirable, since most of what I’d buy, I don’t want.
Jim Hayes
#5) On July 25, 2005 2:28 AM
Jim -
I’m sorry to say I don’t know of any way to expand the voice library of GarageBand, although it’s a very valid question. I’m afraid that to do what you’re asking you may need to invest in a more substantial application like Logic Pro (not even Logic Express has a voice transformer). GarageBand is like a cheap American car inexpensive and all-purpose, but doesn’t really excel in any area. I’ve included the link to Logic below. Let me know how this turns out for you!
http://www.apple.com/logicpro/
#6) On July 27, 2005 4:17 AM
Due to a technical mishap, some aif files related to the original loops that came with Garageband1 in OSX have disapeared. Does anyone knows if these are available to download out there.
Also if I reinstall OSX, will it wipe out everything currently in Hard driveDue to a technical mishap, some aif files related to the original loops that came with Garageband1 in OSX have disapeared. Does anyone knows if these are available to download out there.
Also if I reinstall OSX, will it wipe out everything currently in Hard drive<
Thanks in advance
#7) On August 6, 2005 9:34 PM
orson2 -
If some of the files have been deleted, it’s best just to reinstall them from the original media. If you don’t happen to have it anymore just pick up the new iLife ‘05; you’ll appreciate the improvements in GarageBand 2.
#8) On August 30, 2005 10:03 PM
Hey, great sight Matt. Just wanted to let your readers know that the SoundConverter app, while good, costs $10 per machine. A cheaper way around this problem is to do the following with your sound files.
1. drag or import the files to iTunes
2. Option click your mp3’s or ogg’s, whatever then select “convert selection to aiff”
3. Then your SLU is ready to go!
Not as easy, but for those on a budget who don’t want to be constrained this is an economical way to create loops and loop regions. I will point out the the encoder prefs on iTunes will have to be set to “AIFF”, and that you will need to insure that it is 44mhz at mono.
peace,
erik
#9) On November 7, 2005 1:10 PM
I have an M-Audio Radium keyboard and I have been trying to figure out if I can assign loops or samples that I have created to individual keyboard keys to trigger them live. Insights anyone?
#10) On November 11, 2005 11:30 AM
Hi, I bought Jam pack 4 Orchestra for Garageband, installed it onto my G5 and in Soundtrack, it works fine, I can access every instrument but in Garageband I can’t, only the original instruments can be used.
I’d be please of any help, I bet it’s something simple like folders in the wrong place etc!
Many thanks
#11) On January 12, 2006 12:13 PM
I have the same question as Gram. How do I assign AIF files to individual keys?
#12) On March 6, 2006 8:22 PM
Thanx, Matt. This is some great info for adding more files to my Garageband and Logic Express. Keep it up! And again, thanxs a mil!