Can I drag a .band file created on my iPad BACK into GarageBand to edit again?

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Level 1

5 points

Can I drag a .band file created on my iPad BACK into GarageBand to edit again?

Okay, I think the answer to this question is sadly "no," but I want to make sure I'm not missing something...

I've created a song on my iPad in GarageBand. I've exported it as a .band folder (I'm using Windows) and moved it from the iPad to my desktop computer.

Is there a way to then import that .band package BACK to the iPad and use GarageBand to edit the material further?

This seems like such a no-brainer; I'm stunned if it's not possible. I would have assumed the only reason you'd want to export a .band file would be either to edit in the Mac version of GarageBand, or to archive the material onto a computer/hard drive so that it's not taking up space on your iPad. Right now I've got all these songs I've "finished" and have them as m4a files and .band folders; the .band folders are functionally useless.

Thanks in advance for any help.

iPad, iOS 4.3.2

Posted on Jun 16, 2011 8:51 AM

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Answer 1

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

Jun 16, 2011 2:05 PM in response to MattSp

It looks like this feature isn't finished yet. At present the system for "file sharing" with applications in iTunes doesn't let you add a folder, either with the Add... button or via drag & drop. So if you export a project to a .band folder, copy that .band folder from iTunes into a location on your computer, then delete both the project from GarageBand and the .band folder in iTunes file sharing, there is currently no way that I can see to reimport the project to iTunes and then to the iPad.

I feel a bug report coming on...

tt2

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Answer 2

Peteabix

Level 1

0 points

Sep 24, 2011 9:28 AM in response to MattSp

Hi

I finally found a fix for this!

http://www.digidna.net/products/diskaid

This lets you drag and drop garageband folders directly. Has a 14 day trial as well for free.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 3

wschart

Level 1

4 points

Oct 24, 2011 7:54 AM in response to MattSp

There is a workaround for this problem, but I am not sure if it is possible or how to do it on a Windows machine.

On a Mac, you right click, or on a laptop, click while holding 2 fingers on the track pad and select "Show package contents" from the pop-up menu. You then edit the metadata.plist found in the output folder and the projectdata file, changing each instance of "macos" to "ios" and "i386" to "iPad". You can then import this into GB iPad via iTunes. GarageBand on a Mac will open up iPad projects fine, but will change the 2 files mentioned above and so will require editing again if you want to put them back into your iPad.

There is a Youtube clip with more details of the process, which I have just summarized.

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Answer 4

Oct 24, 2011 7:59 AM in response to wschart

That is actually unrelated to the issue in the original post. You can not import a folder into an app via iTunes on Windows. It doesn't matter what the contents of that folder are, you simply can't do it.

I guess your fix could solve the next problem we would run into if importing a folder was possible but we can't get to that step yet.

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Answer 5

wschart

Level 1

4 points

Oct 24, 2011 8:08 AM in response to MattSp

Sorry, as I said, I wasn't sure if it was possible on Windows. Since I am a Mac guy, I have little experience with Windows other than what I was forced to do at work. Just trying to be helpful.

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Answer 6

MattSp Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 24, 2011 8:39 AM in response to wschart

Thanks all--right, I get that you can't move a folder onto an app. But when I open the folder, it's a mess of other folders and it's mostly unclear what I would copy over to the iPad if I wanted to restore a song I've exported for GarageBand. There's a file called "projectdata" but moving it over to the app's listing under Apps doesn't seem to do anything.

I hope Apple figures this out or includes this at some point. It seems odd that you can export files but not import them.

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Answer 7

Peteabix

Level 1

0 points

Oct 24, 2011 8:43 AM in response to MattSp

Hi MattSp

Have you tried http://www.digidna.net/products/diskaid

It worked for me on PC.

You can drag and drop the .band folder into the app where your songs are stored..bypassing itunes...

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Answer 8

Oct 26, 2011 6:16 PM in response to Peteabix

Okay, I just tried it and DiskAid does work. It's extremely simple, too. Very cool. Well worth the price for me because now I can send projects to bandmembers and we can work on songs on our time time and our own iPads.

Hopefully Apple will add this strangely missing feature soon but until then, DiskAid will work.

Thanks!

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