Garage Band is Apple’s music creation software that lets you create songs using loops, instruments, and vocals. It has become very popular over the years because of its simplicity and ease of use.
Garage Band has great functionality and there are lots of options for ways that you can adjust, amend, and produce the tracks that you create.
You can add a fade-out effect to your song by selecting the Fade tool from the Effects menu.
The Fade tool allows you to control the length of the fade, the speed at which the audio fades out or in, and whether the fade starts at the beginning or middle of the track.
We have put together this useful guide to give you all of the information you need to use the Fade tool and achieve the fade-out effect or fade-in effect that you want. Keep reading to find out how.
Table of Contents
Why Use A Fading Effect?
Using a fading effect on your audio track can be very useful and give you more creative expression when you are making music.
Fading in the track allows the listener to ease themselves into the song, which is ideal if you are trying to create a relaxed or somber mood. If you want to shock your listener or get their attention immediately then a fade-in is not the best effect for you to use.
A fade-out at the end of the track lets the song retreat slowly out of the listener's earshot, which can be a great effect if you don't want the song to have a distinctive ending.
This means that the song will linger in the mind of the listener as if it is never-ending and always playing somewhere.
Fading effects are used by a lot of radio DJs to avoid having any silence between tracks or between the track finishing and the DJ talking. As one track fades out, the next one fades in.
A good DJ will be able to do this seamlessly so the songs blend well together. DJs in nightclubs will also use this effect to keep people dancing and the room filled with music at all times.
Work With The Master Track In Garage Band
The master track is the entire song- the collection of all of the individual sounds, beats, and accompaniments. To access the master track, click ‘track', then select ‘show master track'.
To control the playback volume of the whole master track you can use the volume slider in the control bar to adjust the output volume.
Add An Automatic Fade-Out Effect
One of the most popular types of fading is fade out. This is when the volume gradually reduces to silence at the end of the track rather than having an abrupt ending. You can add an automatic fade out very easily in Garage Band.
Simply click ‘mix', then select ‘fade out'.
You might want to customize the automatic fade out by changing the length. You will need to make sure that you are on the master track by clicking ‘track' then selecting the option to ‘show master track'.
On the master track header, select ‘volume' from the menu.
Once you have added a fade-out to your track, four volume points are added- seconds before the end of the last region in the project, 7 seconds before, 4 seconds before, and then the final one at the end of the last region.
In the volume section of the menu, you will be able to adjust these volume points to change the length of the fade-out. It is very simple- just click on the volume point and drag it to your preferred position.
Manually Add A Fade-Out
You might prefer to add the fade out manually rather than automatically. To do this, you will need to choose the volume option from the menu on the master track header, then add the volume points yourself.
Add them to the end of the volume curve on the screen, moving them around to adjust the length of the fade-out and the depth or intensity of the fade-out.
Add A Fade-In
Another type of fading is fade-in. This is when the track starts with a gradual increase of volume rather than going straight into the music. It can be very effective depending on the mood and project that you are trying to create.
There is no automatic fade-in feature on Garage Band like there is with the fade-out, so you will need to add your fade-in manually.
As above, you will need to choose the volume option from the menu on the master track which gives you access to the volume curve.
For a fade-out, the volume points go at the end of the track. For a fade-in, they are added to the beginning. Add your volume points where you want them on the curve to create the fade-in effect.
You can move them around by clicking on the volume point and dragging it until it is in the correct position.
Using Garage Band On iOS
The above information applies to using Garage Band on a Mac, which is the most popular device to use it on. However, you can use Garage Band on devices with an iOS operating system, but the functionality is more limited.
As Garage Band on iOS doesn't offer a master track you will need to export the song into the Garage Band file before you can fade in or fade out the project as a whole rather than the individual components.
In the mixer window, click the arrow at the top left-hand side of your screen and select the option for ‘my songs'.
Your track will save and you will return to the homepage of Garage Band. From here, you can find the track that you want to edit. Click and hold the selected track to bring up a popup menu, then select the ‘share option'.
Click song, then choose your audio quality.
Once you have done this, click share on the top right-hand side. This will bring up another popup menu. Select ‘open in', then the file will export. You can then select ‘save to files'.
On your device, find the GarageBand folder and select ‘GarageBand file transfer'.
Click Save on the top right.
You can now import the track back into GarageBand and edit it as you would on a Mac.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it, how to fade in GarageBand! That wasn’t as tricky as you first thought, was it? Whether you intend to use GarageBand on your Mac or iOS app, fading in and isn’t too tricky.
With a little practice and some patience, you can use the fade features to create wonderful and unique music. Why not give it a try today?
