https://soundcloud.com/thetryingartist/sets/garageband

This is how it all started. Rearranging pre-made Garageband loops. For those who don’t know, Garageband is a basic music programme on Macs, which offers thousands of recorded riffs or chord sequences, all in the same key, for you to have fun arranging and editing. Once I started playing my own instruments, I continued to record using Garageband for a good few years. But the only thing I actually played in all four of these songs is the piano solo at the beginning of the first track. Which, you know…

It brightens up your day though, no doubt.

Perhaps the greatest creative input I had in these pieces was the choosing of the name. ‘Converted from the Israelites’ is interesting. I have absolutely no idea where that came from. Converted to what? The song itself is elusive… dreamy… offering no concrete answers.

I’ve included these because Garageband, even when I was solely using its loops, taught me the basics of editing audio files, using effects, mixing, and structure/texture in music.

There are (or were before I lost most of them) a huge number of Garageband songs. I picked three of the best ones, and one of the funniest ones.