Apple GarageBand 2.0 - Manual (Page 24)

24 Chapter 2 Working With Songs
3 Set the song’s tempo, time signature, and key as described in the following sections.
Setting the Tempo
Each song has a speed, or tempo. The tempo defines the rate at which beats, the basic
rhythmic pulse, occur in the song. The tempo is measured in beats per minute, or bpm.
You can set the tempo to any speed between 60 and 240 bpm. The default tempo is
120 bpm, which is a common tempo used in popular music.
To set the tempo:
m In the New Project dialog, drag the Tempo slider left to slow down the tempo, or right
to speed up the tempo.
Note: You can change the tempo later in the Time display, or in the Track Info window
for the master track.
Setting the Time Signature
Each song also has a time signature, which controls the relationship between beats and
measures. A song's time signature consists of two numbers separated by a forward
slash, which look similar to a fraction. The number on the left controls the number of
beats in each measure, and the number on the right controls the beat value (the length
of the note that gets one beat).
Tempo slider
Key pop-up menu Time signature
pop-up menu
Scale pop-up menu
Click here to change the tempo.