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GarageBand can run your third-party effects and instruments.

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R is for Record

The key to getting your ideas into GarageBand lies in the Record button. Once you've chosen an instrument and jammed some ideas, it's time to record them.

A single click is all that's required to make GarageBand leap into recording life, with a red bar appearing on the track you've selected showing you that your performance is going in. If you're recording a Software Instrument, you'll see little lines appear, indicating notes; if you're recording audio, you'll see a graphical waveform of your part instead.

If you're in the mood for a jam to see which ideas work best, simply put GarageBand into Cycle mode before you record. Then the program will loop round a particular part, creating a take for each attempt. Simply compile your favourite bits to create the perfect take.

S is for Share

Once you've created your masterpiece, why not share it with the world? Sharing files is easy, and you can do it in a variety of ways.

Once you've finished your track, you can send it directly to iTunes so that you can start building a library of your own music. Alternatively, you can save it as a ringtone ready for use in your mobile.

The podcasting potential of GarageBand means that you can also send your latest podcast directly to iWeb for use on your website, or you can export your song as an MP3 or AAC file. If you choose not to compress the file to either of these formats, you'll end up with a CD-quality AIFF file, or you can save your song as an archived project via the File menu, which means all files and instruments can be transferred to another computer.

T is for Typing

Hang on, GarageBand isn't a word processor, is it? Well, no, but that's not to say that your computer's keyboard can't act as a rather handy note input device. If you don't have a dedicated MIDI keyboard controller, don't panic – GarageBand is ready to let your computer's keyboard step into the breach. You can use either the basic Keyboard or more advanced Musical Typing options to let you record notes and phrases directly from the QWERTY keyboard – particularly great for laptop users who don't want to lug a keyboard around wherever they go. If you're using the Musical Typing keyboard, you can even add pitch bend and sustain information!

T is also for 'takes'. Remember that there are layers of recordings that you can make on any track. To record multiple takes, simply drop into Cycle mode and play away.

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