Controlling Garageband

Are you trying to control GB's software instruments with MIDI continuous controllers such as control numbers 0 through 127 (bank select, portamento, legato, etc.) or channel mode or voice messages? Here are some quotations from page 104 of the David Pogue book GarageBand 2: The Missing Manual:

"...GarageBand only records, displays, and edits streams of MIDI information like pitch bend, key velocity, and pedaling."

"Professional music software can record and play back dozens of other kinds of invisible MIDI data."

"GarageBand doesn't record or let you edit these MIDI data types (not that most GarageBand musicians would even care)."

These kinds of MIDI continuous controllers would only be available with software like Logic Express or Pro or perhaps third-party AU plug-in instruments (VSTI's) in GarageBand.

Apart from the two controls you have found, I believe the only other controllable features are Garageband's transport controls. You can get GarageBand's transport controls to work with the Keystation Pro 88 by downloading and installing GarageRemote. I saved the advice of Steve McNally from this forum in May 2005. I think that thread has been removed from discussions. Please find his advice below.

"Thanks to GarageRemote and its very helpful developer, I've got the KeyStation Pro 88 working with (i.e. controlling) GarageBand.
Here's what I've got working now in GarageRemote's config:

F0 7F 7F 06 02 F7 - Play / Stop
F0 7F 7F 06 06 F7 - Record
F0 7F 7F 06 05 F7 - Rewind
F0 7F 7F 06 04 F7 - Fast Forward
F0 7F 7F 06 01 F7 - Home / Start of Track(*)

(*) - For this, I used the KeyStation's transport control marked "Stop" since GBand's Play and Stop are the same command toggled."

Hope this helps.

Well, the original question was not for a midi controller but something that you can operate GB's controls with. That's what the iControl is good for - not more and not less. I admit that it's kind of a luxury to buy this one-application hardware device. It comes in handy when you're recording - easy access to all the buttons, quick muting and soloing of tracks etc. Once you're down to mixing it doesn't help you a lot, since GB doesn't have automation of volume levels (as of this week).

The questions are: "Can I control more elements of garageband by midi-control-issues (for example: to change the track ....)" and "Has someone a table of midi-controls of garageband?" which I answered with David Pogue in my 1/1/06 reply to this topic. The acronym MIDI appears twice in the question. It seemed like a MIDI question to me. I know all about the iControl. I own one. As for MIDI control of GarageBand, it is limited by the fact that GarageBand doesn't have a built-in General MIDI sound set for a MIDI controller to control.

We'll have to wait and see if Musikus is satisfied with either of our answers 🙂

By the way, you CAN automate GB volume levels for each individual track in a mix by using volume curves. You can also do the same for panning by using pan curves. They can be "automated" by setting control points along the V & P curves in the timeline.

M-Audio's iControl is a USB device that mirrors the GB desktop - you can access pretty much all of GB's controls with buttons, knobs and sliders.

The iControl is not a MIDI controller. It is a dedicated control surface for GarageBand, a kind of supermouse. The iControl has a MIDI in port but no MIDI out port.

Fine, so we answered everything.