Apple GarageBand 2.0 - Manual (Page 65)

Chapter 10 Mixing and Adding Effects 65
Setting Track Pan
Setting different tracks to different positions in the stereo field (panning) helps make it
easier to distinguish each track in the mix, and create a sense of three-dimensional
space to your song.
In commercial music, the most important tracks (typically the lead vocals, drums, and
lead or solo instruments) are panned to the center or close to center, while other tracks
(the backing instruments and vocals) are panned left and right. Panning tracks no
farther than 50 percent left or right creates a natural sense of space, while panning
tracks to the extreme left or right creates a more unusual, artificial sound.
To set track pan positions:
m For each track, drag the pan dial left to pan the track farther to the left, or drag it right
to pan the track farther to the right. You can also click along the edge of the dial to set
it to a specific position.
Using Volume and Pan Curves
In addition to setting track volume and pan, you can add volume and pan changes
over time using volume curves and pan curves. Making changes over time is called
automation, and GarageBand lets you automate volume and pan changes for each
track.
To turn on a track’s volume or pan curve:
1 Click the triangle to the right of the Solo button in the track’s header.
A blank row for the track’s volume and pan curves appears below the track.
2 From the pop-up menu on the left side of the row, choose Track Volume or Track Pan.
Once you turn on a track’s volume or pan curve, you make changes by adding control
points to the curve, then dragging the control points to change the value for volume or
pan at that point in time.
To add a control point:
m Click the line in the editor at the point in time where you want to add a control point.
To adjust a control point, do one of the following:
• Drag the control point up or down to a new value.
• Drag the control point left or right to move it to a different point in time.
You can use the vertical lines in the row to line control points up with measures and
beats in the timeline.