How to use SONG SECTIONS in GarageBand iOS (iPad/iPhone)

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

All your GarageBand iOS questions answered at studiolivetoday.com/garageband

[@mundungous]

Thanks man. I was getting confused by this. Garageband does things strangely...

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Yes, it does take a little time to get used to how GB operates as you're right - it is quite different to other DAWs!

[@cesarandrade8759]

Ya they do i cant stand it 🏴‍☠️mCzr🏁

[@itsmatka8384]

Took me a while to have a reason to see how to do this. Couldnt believe I missed the all sections button on top. Sheesh Thanks a lot!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Glad it helped. More help is here if you need it. studiolivetoday.com/GarageBand

[@seeitpickitbinit2510]

It’s probably me being Autistic, but I wanted to record a comedy song for over a year, but couldn’t get my head around how to create and organise a precise number of bars and how to work on each of them. I watched probably 10 hours of ‘How to for beginners’ vids and didn’t get even begin to understand it. I never saw one mention of sections. You have literally transformed my understanding of how to organise structure and how to practically create bars which come together seamlessly. The structural composition is missing in every video I’ve ever watched, which is the number 1 thing you need to learn to even start writing a song. Now i have to learn how to edit and then figure out a way of recording, storing and importing those files into garageband on my Iphone. Thanks for gifting a big milestone for me.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Wonderful to hear my friend. I have found the same thing, that many artists simply start creating and let it flow. This method is fine, but I love structure and having my song organised in sections makes things flow much more smoothly for me. Glad you have found the same. You might find some other resources at my GarageBand FAQ that will help with your songwriting and recording journey. studiolivetoday.com/garageband

[@seeitpickitbinit2510]

Pete Johns Thanks Pete, there’s nothing more frustrating than being an ideas engine, waking up every day with tunes and riffs in your head for decades, but never having a tool to allow that material to evolve into a song. You’re a naturally talented story teller💪💪💪♥️

[@deanandthebeans857]

Very useful, thanks Pete!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@prettyboyfreud]

Thanks man! It never fails, I get frustrated with GB, wake up the next morning and have coffee with Pete and find solutions.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Haha! That’s so cool. 😎 Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

[@ShopPoetry]

This is really helpful. Your tips are great and easy to follow. Much appreciated.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@htm1600]

I love using sections to keep my sequences in order. Learning to rename the sections has been a blessing too. Thanks Pete.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Agree Roy. I’m a structured kinda guy so need this sort of structure in my life. 😁

[@FlowerdyPilllow]

Thanks very much mate. Have had garageband on an old ipad for years and never really used it - now I am trying it out and your video has helped enormously! Cheers!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Awesome! I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍

[@davidjohn9006]

Excellent and worthwhile demo

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Cheers David. 🙏

[@57RickH]

I love using sections! Great for practicing/nailing guitar solos in a particular section, by pulling up just that section and playing it 'til you get the perfect take. Another thing I love to do, although not directly related to sections, is to piece together the perfect guitar solo one part at a time using 2,3, or more tracks and, for example, you may have a partial bit of the solo on one track, then another on the next track, etc. 😎🎸

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

🤘😎

[@msongs]

what I need is to copy the whole song and paste it on to the end of the 1st song so I have the second song butting up against the first song on the same levels matching tracks. if I copy the whole song and paste, it appears underneath all the tracks in the first song. the goal is to have the second song part a key change.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

This might help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIGkgZ9rbd1rqtEsi=MmyvOBRPY22H4Zd7

[@Terry212am]

I've avoided using sections out of laziness and old-dogs/new-tricks, but I see now there's no reason to avoid it and every reason to use it. The key part was being able to move a duplicate past an intervening section so that you don't need to have four verses and then three choruses or something. Now I see how to do like a verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus by duplicating and moving.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Totally! You can even completely add sections after the fact - kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4a6Z6B6aqqXh9k&pp=ygUXcGV0ZSBqb2hucyBhZGQgc2VjdGlvbnM%3D

[@cesarandrade8759]

Mines never snap in correctly.Arrrrrg‼️Im already retarded with this shit now im double 🏴‍☠️mCzr🏁

[@Weyovayuhhedzrispektively13]

Greetings Pete ANOTA GEM 💎 Mi was not even aware of SECTIONS but mos def mi gran used dem now. Makes yuh BUILDING SONG way much easier and really improves YUH SONG ARRANGEMENT IDEAS AS A PRODUCER OF ALL GENRES such as mi self. Obrigado Amigo 🤜🏾🤛🏾 💯🇯🇲🇧🇷

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Totally. 🤘😎

[@ronward-strangemachine]

Now I get it Pete, thanks dude!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Thanks Ron - great to hear! And thanks for subscribing. Hopefully you find my content here useful.

[@franciscoherrera5127]

Very helpful. Very very helpful Thank you. Gracias I am using sections from now on

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@lighteningbolt6397]

This vid needs more likes

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Thanks my friend. Maybe I should like it too? 😄

[@vennettegloud3128]

You saved the day, Pete!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Nice! I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍

[@GurpreetSingh-mj4wy]

Your videos are so helpful and easy to follow ! Thanks !

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Thanks my friend. Appreciate it. I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍

[@thisisgini]

Hi Pete! Are track settings different in each section? As in with every section, are the track settings reset?

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hey there. No, the sections don’t really have any impact on track settings.

[@thisisgini]

Pete Johns okay, thank you!

[@PabloDeModeOfficial]

Great video! The only thing we can’t do yet is rename the sections, but that could be done in the next update perhaps. Thank you again for your video.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Yes, I do really wish we could name sections to make things clearer! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@LadyRyuga]

You are awesome thank a million!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@EthanFetter]

Thanks for the help man you earned a sub and like

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Glad to hear it helped.

[@artemi-music]

thanks a lot for your video, spot on

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Cheers my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍

[@melissasstudio_logic-producer]

Hi Pete Johns. Song Sections are really cool it is a good way to get the song structure together.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Thanks for watching Melissa and for your feedback.

[@dsb5440]

How do I get section B to play right after section A like it’s a song

[@coconutcretin3503]

You gotta tap the + and then select all sections which is an option just above section A

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Yup. As suggested just select “All sections”.

[@dsb5440]

Thanks

[@jameskennedy552]

Along with that question how do you mute a loop for one section but keep it umuted for another section? Like for an intro, bridge or pause break?

[@mirllewist3086]

Thanks Mate! Learned a lot!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@robbiefisher-gibb4881]

I’m struggling to figure out how to change the tune of the song from verse to chorus - if you have a video explaining this or any tips then that would be appreciated!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hey there. You can only set one key signature unfortunately. You can use transpose however to move the notes as I show in this one - kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5ickHZuhJqeZtE

[@drnimish333]

Helpful. Thank you

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@Erginartesia]

Haha! This was inspiring. Belt it out!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Thanks my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍

[@synth-studio]

So helpful. Thank you!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@synth-studio]

@@PeteJohnsMusic I’ve already come across a few others. Subscribing now. Thanks again for these super helpful resources!

[@fame4411]

Hi! How do you join sections together? such as section A and B

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

So it’s not really possible. What you can do is change the length of the first section then move the audio over. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4a6Z6B6aqqXh9ksi=hkXPlpcQjtJ8LFiL

[@hArtyTruffle]

I knew if I put section a and section b the point?, one of your vids would come up 👍🏼

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

😄🙏

[@DHinez]

6:34 “we NNEeeeedd!!”

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

😎🤔🤟

[@matiasinsaura250]

Great, thanks

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@sartajsingh9420]

Thanks Pete another amazing learning with you ,Just a request can you please help as when I try to export a minus track from GarageBand to protools because of auto normalisation GarageBand export the file very loud there’s no head room thought I tried putting levels minus 20 DB but when I open in protools file is again same size .How I can get decent levels of export so that I can master it in protools with my vocals .Thanks you so much for your help 🙏🙏. Kind regards Taj .

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hey there. So the benefit of it being normalisation and not limiting is that it is not compressing the track at all. Therefore if you simply reduce the input volume it will bring the levels down and give you more headroom to mix in with other tracks. Other option is to extract the AIF file directly using the method I show in this video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGasm4KiidqJpJI

[@sartajsingh9420]

Pete Johns Thank you so much Pete for your reply will try to do it again hope that will work and will see your refrence video to find other way around thanks heaps 🙏🙏🙏. Kind regards Taj .

[@austintexas9440]

We’re singing along and we’re doong what wer’e doing with the funky loops in garagebanddd!!!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

👍🙏🤘😎

[@TechDethMetalHed]

Is there a way to combine sections like A+B section?

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Sort of. You’d need to move your tracks around a bit. kzbin.info/aero/PLc8Xg_23Wa56T6CswSRUj6Vq-_giaRF1-&si=6C5c3T-0h9Z30_0t

[@markshveima]

This is a great tutorial, and helped me a lot when I found it months ago. I now have a new obstacle. I have recorded a song with 2 bars of silence at the start, and would like to eliminate those bars. I know I can manually drag each track over, but was wondering if there was a way to delete these two bars without having to go through that? I have not been able to find any info on this for iPad, only desktop. Any help you could provide would be very appreciated!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hey there. If it is a 2 bar section then just delete that section. If not, you can tap anywhere blank and use “select all” and then drag everything over at once. studiolivetoday.com/garageband

[@markshveima]

@@PeteJohnsMusic Hey Pete! Thank You so much for the quick reply. I did not make the two bars a section, so cannot delete them, But the select all and drag worked like a charm. Except, now I have two open bars at the end of my song. How would I get rid of those?

[@maximiliankimura1329]

@@markshveima you can change the song section length to 2 bars less than it is currently. I’m sure you’ve already figured this problem out by now

[@markshveima2421]

@@maximiliankimura1329 Thank You so much for your answer. Yes, I did figure it out, but I appreciate you taking the time to check in and let me know. : )

[@micapreci3715]

Now I use sections 😅👍👍👍👍

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Nice!! Welcome to the community. 👍😎

[@9999-z8w]

Is there any way for songs that I almost have finished?

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Try this - kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4a6Z6B6aqqXh9ksi=aThOjTz9JQ-FDiA5

[@MeTeddyCa]

Hey, Mr. Garagebandmaster, here on YT ...you might have a tutorial video in which you explain how to split a completely imported song file of let´s say 120 bars into sections afterwards ? if I try it total chaos and music shreds of confetti arise

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hey there my friend. This one should help you out with this - kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4a6Z6B6aqqXh9k

[@timstagray3680]

Thanks for the review of song sections. I like using song sections. For me it keeps things more orderly, provides easy access to song parts that I might want to re-record in the future and like you mentioned easily move recorded parts to different places in the song of my choosing.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Nice one Tim. Yes, I tend to find myself using them more and more.

[@iwcreativespace]

Hi, how do you export only one section of the song in the current version of GarageBand please? When I do the regular export steps… it saves the full song, even if only the desired section is selected in the Project File.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Unfortunately you can’t select just one section. What I would suggest is creating a duplicate project and then deleting all other sections. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmaTqYdunJ1keqc

[@pablokessel7840]

go to the point!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

👆

[@conartist267]

Hi Pete, I really like sections but is there a way to view 2 sections instead of one or all? Cheers!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Unfortunately not. It’s either one or all. studiolivetoday.com/garageband

[@neesense258]

Thank you!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍

[@neesense258]

@@PeteJohnsMusic i checked - subscribed ages ago! I underestimated garageband on the iPad Pro, the more i learn, the better it gets and your uploads are a great help. Im amazed at how well the ipad records vocals, it’s almost industry standard. All the best, im sure I’ll be thanking you again! Good work mate!

[@vegemite9857]

Hi Pete. How do i preserve my song sections when I share the project to my macs garabgeband, do some work on the song there, and then want to come back to ios to do more? at that point all the sections are gone! thanks

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Yeah good question. I believe that because Mac doesn’t support song sections, once it’s in the Mac format they are gone. One of the annoying lack of consistency issues between the two GarageBands. Maybe ask over at the GarageBand Users Facebook group if you want some more expert opinions. studiolivetoday.com/gbu

[@mineralinsulated]

Hey Pete, thanks for the vid! Just wondering if theres a way that you can put section in after the fact? So if you started with a whole heap of tracks 32 bars long in one section A, could you split them up into four sections of ABCD at 8 bars each? Does the question make sense? Cheeers mate and go Saints!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Yup, you sure can. Check out this video mate - kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4a6Z6B6aqqXh9k Go Crows!

[@mineralinsulated]

@@PeteJohnsMusic brilliant, exactly what i was after! Many thanks.

[@denismorissette7318]

How do you change the letter of the section? For instance, I want Section G to be turned into Section A.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Yeah, you really can’t sorry. I struggled with this today in my show actually. All you can do is move the audio to another section and then re-shuffle the parts. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKisl6ublKaUp5o

[@denismorissette7318]

@@PeteJohnsMusic Yes, that’s the only solution. I find it ridiculous that it can’t be done, but it’s not a big deal, anyway. Thanks.

[@Majician69]

Love you bro lol

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Love you too. 🤘

[@corinthiafriday249]

Hey, great tutorial! I was wondering what would you need to do if you just wanted to repeat and edit the vocals within section B?

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hey there. Not quite understanding the question? Might be something to ask over at the GarageBand Users Facebook group. You can copy and paste from one section to another. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGWQZpd_nr2Gpc0

[@mattybraps7620]

I have a song I want to import into GarageBand but it only does the first 8 seconds of the song. And the song is 4 minutes

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

This idea will help you out with this / kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnO3q2uAarGrm6M

[@carlcaulkett3050]

Hi Pete! This is a very useful video. However, I’ve been trying to use the Song Sections facility within the Drum Sequencer screen, and I’m fast coming to the conclusion that Song Sections just don’t make sense in that context. For example, if I create a second 8 bar section, and switch to it, any pattern I’ve made with the first section selected, still plays. Am I right in my suspicions or have I misunderstood things?

[@carlcaulkett3050]

I’m using GarageBand 2.3.13 under iPadOS 16.1.1, for what it’s worth.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Yes, GarageBand track view works in a linear way which is different to some other DAWs. You might want to experiment with Live Loops mode? kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmXSg3mPbaqFeas Heaps more videos and tips over here - studiolivetoday.com/garageband

[@morganbassett]

What can I do if I already made the song but I wanna separate into sections WITHOUT ACCIDENTALLY DELETING AND IF I DO HOW MAY I GO BACK😭😭

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Try this. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4a6Z6B6aqqXh9ksi=eaWfzQmG0W0U6y_F

[@kiethveseyofficial]

Hay Pete I was wondering could this method be used in other daws?

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Every DAW is a little different. But similar principles can be used.

[@nikkit4969]

Yoooooo..Thank you. The all sections tip was GAME CHANGING 🤳🏽

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Awesome! Glad to hear it my friend. Hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍

[@nikkit4969]

Pete Johns Yess .. I was trying to scissor the regions in half all through my project ughhh 😅. This is easier I can see everything.

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Awesome!

[@cesarandrade8759]

Pete can you be my engineer hahaha‼️This stuff twists my mind up mam its horrible 😵‍💫 🏴‍☠️mCzr🏁

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

You’ll get there! Just keep at it. studiolivetoday.com/garageband

[@NothingButTommo]

Is there not a way i can merge sections/ The maximum section limit is really annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

I’ve never actually hit the maximum personally?

[@michaelhanna9454]

There is no plus button for me 😅😅

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hey there. It's very small but will be there. You might need to make sure you scroll to the right.

[@thestonedrummer6147]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 That’s all I have to say 😆

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

👍🙏🤘😁 Thank you! That’s all I have I say!

[@Damond_Warrior]

Well it I hate them they always reruns instead of continuing

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Hi there. Sorry for the issues with the live stream event. I’m working to improve this for next time. 👍

[@GlancyScott]

Thanks!

[@PeteJohnsMusic]

Thanks so much for the kind donation.