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Touch Bar shortcuts in GarageBand on Mac

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can use gestures to start and stop playback and recording, navigate through your song, adjust track and instrument levels, and play instruments. The controls in the main area of the Touch Bar (to the right of the Control Strip) change depending on what Touch Bar screen you are using and what is selected in the app.

For more information about the Control Strip and Esc button, see MacBook Pro Essentials. To learn more about the Touch Bar, see the Apple Support article Use the Touch Bar on your MacBook Pro.

Toolbar shortcuts

These shortcuts appear in the Touch Bar when you first open GarageBand.

Icon	Name	Description
	Escape	No function in this screen.
	Go to Selection Start	Places the playhead at the beginning of the selected region.
	Play from Selection	Starts playback from the beginning of the selected region.
	Go to Project Start	Places the playhead at the beginning of your project.
	Play or Stop	Starts or stops playback at the current playhead position.
	Record	Starts recording on record enabled tracks at the current playhead position.
	Cycle	Turns Cycle mode on or off.
	Move Cycle Back	Moves the Cycle area backward by its length.
	Move Cycle Forward	Moves the Cycle area forward by its length.

Smart Controls shortcuts

When you tap the Smart Controls button, the following controls appear in the Touch Bar.

Icon

Name

Description

Escape

No function in this screen.

Smart Controls

Switches to the Configuration screen.

Level

Hold the Level button until it becomes a Level slider. Drag the Level slider to adjust the volume of the track. Release the button when you are done.

You can also tap the level button to switch to the Level slider screen. On this screen drag the Level slider to adjust the volume of the track, then tap the Close button to the left of the Level slider to return to the Track Controls screen.

The remainder of the Smart Controls screen shows buttons for the screen controls in the Smart Controls pane. The buttons change for each type of track and available effects.

Figure. Acoustic guitar track Smart Controls and dynamic Smart Controls screen shortcuts.

Figure. Software instrument track Smart Controls and dynamic Smart Controls screen shortcuts.

Figure. Drummer track Smart Controls and dynamic Smart Controls screen shortcuts.

To adjust Smart Controls using the Touch Bar:

Buttons controlling levels (the button has a colored line under the text indicating a slider): Hold the button down until the slider appears and drag your finger to adjust the slider. Release the button when you are done.
You can also tap the button to switch to a slider screen. In the slider screen, drag the slider left or right to adjust the slider, then tap the Close button to return the Smart Controls screen.
Buttons not controlling levels (no colored line under the the text): Tap the button to either access additional buttons, or toggle a control on or off, depending on the button.

Configuration shortcuts

These shortcuts appear in the Touch Bar on the Configuration screen. Note that the fifth button changes for each track type.

Icon	Name	Description
	Close	Returns you to the previous screen.
	Smart Controls	Returns you to the Smart Controls screen.
	Overview	Switches to the Overview screen.
	Keyboard Shortcuts	Switches to the Keyboard Shortcuts screen.

The fifth button on the Configuration screen changes based on what kind of track is selected in the Tracks Area:

Icon	Name	Description
	Audio	Switches to the Audio screen (audio tracks only).
	Keyboard	Switches to the Keyboard screen (instrument tracks only).
	Drum Pads	Switches to the Drum Pads screen (Drummer or drum instrument patches only).

Overview shortcuts

The Overview screen is a representation of the Tracks area, with each track appearing as a thin colored line. The view rectangle shows the part of the song currently visible, with the vertical line showing the playhead position.

Two buttons precede the overview:

Icon	Name	Description
	Escape	No function in this mode.
	Overview	Returns you to the Configuration screen.

To use the overview to navigate through your song:

Drag the view rectangle left or right to move the visible area of the project.
Drag the line to move the playhead.

Keyboard Shortcuts shortcuts

When you tap the Keyboard Shortcuts button , the following controls appear in the Touch Bar:

Icon	Name	Description
	Escape	No function in this screen.
	Keyboard Shortcuts	Returns you to the Configuration screen.
	Go to Selection Start	Places the playhead at the beginning of the selected region.
	Play from Selection	Starts playback from the beginning of the selected region.
	Go to Project Start	Places the playhead at the beginning of your project.
	Play or Stop	Starts or stops playback at the current playhead position.
	Record	Starts recording on record enabled tracks at the current playhead position.
	Cycle	Turns Cycle mode on or off.
	Move Cycle Back	Moves the Cycle area backward by its length.
	Move Cycle Forward	Moves the Cycle area forward by its length.

Audio shortcuts

When you tap the Audio button on the Configuration screen, the Touch Bar shows the following controls:

Icon	Name	Description
	Close	Returns you to the Configuration screen.
	Input	Tap the Input button to access the Input selector screen. Tap the desired input format (mono or stereo) and the desired audio input for the selected track. Tap close to return to the Audio screen.
	Gain slider	Drag the slider to adjust the input gain for the selected track.
	Record Enable	Enables recording for the selected track.
	Software Monitoring	Activates software monitoring for the selected track.
	Level slider	Drag the slider to adjust the volume for the selected track.

Keyboard controls

When you tap the Keyboard button , you can use the Touch Bar to play the current patch on the selected software instrument track.

Tap the keys on the Touch Bar keyboard to play notes.
To adjust the octave range of the Touch Bar keyboard, tap one of the Keyboard Octave buttons to the left of the Touch Bar keyboard.
To limit notes to a musical scale: Tap the Scale button, then tap to select the root note and the mode.
Tap the Close button to return to the previous Touch Bar screen.

Drum Pads shortcuts

When you tap the Drum Pads button, you can use the Touch Bar to play the drums on a Drummer or software instrument track with a drum kit patch.

Icon	Name	Description
	Close	Closes the Drum Pads screen.
	Banks	Selects between three banks of percussion instrument icons.
	Velocity Velocity slider	Tap Velocity button to access the Velocity slider. Drag the line to the desired velocity.
	Drum Pad instruments	Triggers the sound represented by the button.