GarageBand Demo Songs
Probably the best way to get a feel for GarageBand is to load up a demo song. This tutorial shows you how.
System Ultilisation
Some demo songs will push your Mac harder than others. The songs which use Software Instrument tracks rather than Real Instrument tracks (including 'Half Dome') are far more resource-hungry. Watch the colour of the playback head to get an idea of how hard your system is working - this will give you an idea of what to expect when it comes to working on your own tracks.
Open the System Preferences panel and open the Energy Saver panel, select the Options tab and make sure the Processor Performance option is set to Highest. Some desktops default to the Automatic setting, which is not ideal for music work. All laptops default to the Reduced setting when running on battery power. Switch back to Automatic or Reduced at the end of the session or laptop battery life will be affected.
Close the System Preferences panel and launch GarageBand. If you have launched GarageBand before, the most recent project will be opened, otherwise you will be asked if you want to create a new song or open an existing one. Choose Open Existing Song or Project and navigate to the demo songs (in the Application folder if GarageBand was restored, otherwise you will need to copy the demo songs from the iLife Installation DVD over to your hard disk).
Select the song called 'Glide' and open it. After a short delay (depending on the speed of your computer), you should see the song laid out in the GarageBand window. You should see GarageBand start to draw out the waveforms of the recorded parts (coloured purple). The remainder of the parts (coloured green) are Software Instrument tracks.
Press the Play button and listen to the song through once. Note the colour of the playhead to get an idea of how hard the project is pushing your computer (white indicates little or no load, orange indicates moderate load and red indicates excessive load). Note the Master Volume track at the bottom of the GarageBand window, and how it is used to provide a fade-out at the end of the song.
