How to Make Musical Notes on the Computer Keyboard With Strokes

Garageband

• 1

  Click the “GarageBand” icon on your desktop or launch it from the “Applications” folder in the dock.

• 2

  Click “Window” and select “Musical Typing.”

• 3

  Click the “Key” button in the top-left corner of the musical typing menu. This opens the musical typing interface. Here you see a map of your Mac keyboard, with the corresponding notes and function keys. For example, the “Z” and “X” keys let you transpose the notes on the keyboard to a different octave, making them higher or lower. The “Tab” key adds sustain to a note.

• 4

  Click “Instruments” in the main GarageBand window to select a new sound. The default musical typing sound is piano, but you can use musical typing to play drums, guitars, brass and an array of other virtual instruments.

• 5

  Strike the keys on your keyboard to sound the notes. Familiarize yourself with the layout of the notes on the keyboard, before recording. The high notes are located on the top row, ascending in pitch from left to right.

Mixcraft

• 6

  Disconnect any connected MIDI devices by removing the USB cable from the port on your PC. Otherwise Mixcraft recognizes the connected device as the primary input, which overrides musical typing.

• 7

  Click “Help” and select “Musical Typing Keyboard.”

• 8

  Play the notes on the computer keyboard to familiarize yourself with the layout. Like GarageBand, the high notes are located on the top letters row, ascending in pitch from left to right. To alter the octave range of the keyboard, hit “Z” to go up or “X” to go down. To increase the entire range of the keyboard by a semitone, hit “C” to go up and “V” to go down.

• 9

  Hit “Record” when you’re ready to make some music.