Starting a New Podcast Project in GarageBand

To open GarageBand, click on the GarageBand icon on the dock at the bottom of the screen click on the magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of the screen and start typing “GarageBand.” When it shows up in the search, click on it to open.

Once it opens, you will see a template selection screen.

Scroll down to find the Podcast template and then single click it to select it. Do not double click it or you will skip selecting your microphone. *Note that the podcast template is only available on Media Commons computers. 

After selecting the Podcast template, look at the bottom left-hand section of this window. You will see a Details button. Click on this to access more GarageBand settings.

The Input Device section here will allow you to select a microphone from which to record. If you are in the Media Commons, you will want to look for the Blue Snowball microphone. If you are using your own microphone, it will show up here. If you are just recording through the built-in microphone on your laptop, you can select that as well.

Once you’ve selected your microphone, click on Choose in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.

You will then be asked to select a Track Type. Select the microphone – the second icon in the row – and then click Create in the bottom right corner. This will start a new voice track.

You’ve now created a new GarageBand project! The interface will look like this:

Before you record, you will want to adjust a few pieces of the interface to make it easier to record and navigate.

First, click on these two buttons in the top left corner to collapse two of the sidebars.

Next, you want to turn off the Metronome and the Count-In timer, which are located in the middle-top of your screen. Click the purple buttons to turn them off.

To the left of these buttons is a display to show beats and time. We want to change this to Time. Select the arrow on the right-hand side, and then choose Time from this list.

Your GarageBand interface and project should now look something like this:

This provides you with the ideal setup with which to record your podcast.

Now, to make sure you’re project is saved, navigate up to the File menu in the top left corner of your screen and click. Select Save or Save As from this list.

This will bring up a window asking you what you want to name the project and where to save it.

Type the name you wish to call your podcast in the Save As: box. Then, on the left-hand sidebar, select Desktop to save it out to your main screen.

Click the Save button and your podcast will be ready to go.

If you’ve saved your project to the Desktop, you will find your project file on the main Desktop screen of the computer. Your project file will look like this:

To learn how to backup and restore your GarageBand projects, please read the tutorial on Backing Up / Restoring a GarageBand Project.