You can utilize many features in GarageBand to mash up songs, such as trimming, looping, tempo, and copy and paste. There isn’t one right or wrong way to make a mashup, and part exploring the tools on GarageBand can help you figure it out.
My name is Donovan, and I love recording and producing music. I have a lot of experience working with GarageBand and know many of its tools and features that can help mash up songs within the app.
This post will show you how to mash up songs on GarageBand. I’ll show you the basic steps to get started with this and then provide you with some other suggestions you might want to use to complete your mash up.
Let’s get jamming.
Contents
Key Takeaways
- You need to create separate audio tracks for each song you want to include in your mash up in GarageBand.
- You can use various tools in GarageBand to create a mashup, like trimming, looping, and tempo changes. There isn’t one exact way to make a mash up.
- The process for mashing up songs is slightly different in the macOS and iOS versions of GarageBand.
How to Import Songs Into GarageBand
The first step to mashing up songs is to import them into GarageBand. You need to know how to do this whether you want to mash up songs on your Mac or iPhone. It’s basically the same process as opening files in any other app.
To import songs into GarageBand on your Mac, follow these steps.
1. Open the GarageBand app on your Mac.
2. Select New Project on the left side of the window.
3. Select Empty Project.
4. Select Choose.
5. Select Audio Track from the options that appear. A new project will open up with one track.
6. Locate the song you want to import in GarageBand for the mashup. You can access all of your media files using the Finder. Once you have the song located, drag and drop the file into the track in GarageBand.
7. Create another track and follow the same steps to drag in another song so you can mash them up.
How to Mash Up Songs on GarageBand Mac
Once you have your songs imported into GarageBand, you can begin to mash them together. There isn’t one exact way to do this, but if you follow the tips and instructions below, you can play around with the tools and features.
With two songs imported into a GarageBand project, they will already be mashed up when you hit play. But that doesn’t mean they will sound good. You need to edit the tracks and make adjustments, so the songs actually blend like a proper mash up.
Trimming Tracks
Trimming, also known as splitting, is a first step you can use to cut out specific parts of a song you want to include in the mashup. You can locate elements of the song like the chorus or bridge you want to highlight and cut these onto a separate track.
To trim a track, position the playhead at the position you want to make the cut, and then press Command T. Go to the end of the section you want and hit Command T again to trim an entire section that you can now move around.
You can also check out my post on how to cut music in GarageBand for detailed instructions on the trimming process.
Copy, Paste, and Delete
Some of the most basic features of GarageBand are also the most effective when it comes to mashing up songs. The copy, paste, and delete features will allow you to move or remove certain song elements to make a better mash up.
After trimming a song section following the steps above, you can click Command C to copy it. Then you can paste the section into a new part of the project by pressing Command V to paste it.
If you want to get rid of a specific section of the song to help with the mash up, highlight the area and then press Delete to get rid of it.
Looping
Looping is another excellent feature in GarageBand you can use to mash up songs. This comes in helpful when you want a particular section of the song to repeat, which is commonly done in mash ups.
You can loop a song by clicking the Loop icon at the end of a track or region. Drag this to the left, and the region will automatically loop.
Adjusting Tempo
Another critical element of putting together a good mashup is getting the songs you want to put together on the same tempo. Most songs have somewhat different tempos, but you can make adjustments in GarageBand to speed them up or slow them down to match your preferences.
To adjust the tempo of a track in GarageBand on your Mac, follow these steps.
1. Select the track you want to adjust the tempo of.
2. In the LCD window in the top center of the screen, click the arrow icon on the right-hand side.
3. Select Beats & Project from the drop-down menu that appears.
4. You’ll now see the tempo listed in the LCD window. You can adjust this up or down to whatever tempo you need to help make the mashup.
How to Mash Up Songs on GarageBand iPhone
The first step to mashing up songs on GarageBand for your iPhone is also to import them into a new project. Follow the steps below to make that happen.
1. Open the GarageBand app on your iPhone.
2. Open a new project using the Voice Recorder option.
3. Add another Voice Recorder track to the project, so you have two open tracks.
4. Click on the Loop icon to access music files from your iPhone.
5. Locate the music file you want to add to your project. This could be a loop, audio recording, or song you have stored in Apple music. Some songs from your library might not be able to import because of copyright issues.
6. Long press the song to drag the file into your GarageBand project.
7. Follow all the steps to add another song to the project so you can mash them together.
The same tips for mashing up a song on your Mac apply to mashing them up on your iPhone. You can trim, copy, paste and loop right within the iOS version of the app.
Check out my posts on how to cut music in GarageBand and how to loop in GarageBand for detailed instructions on how to do this on your iPhone.
To cut, copy, and paste tracks on your iPhone, simply tap the track once, and a menu listing these and other options will pop up. Select the command you want to perform, and you can adjust things from there.
Final Thoughts
Making a mash up is a fun skill to learn to help create cool DJ playlists and new tracks. GarageBand has all the tools you need to make a basic mash up, and all you need to do to get started is import songs into the app.
Like with any other audio editing task, making mash ups can take a while to get good at. Take your time and keep all the tips in this post in mind, and you’ll be able to create mash ups that you and your friends will love.
Do you have any tips or suggestions for making mash ups that I didn’t mention here? Let me know in the comments below.
