@ezekialkok,
Hi, I used to do music on garageband and now I'm on Logic Studio.
Manipulate?
The idea of GarageBand, imo, is to help a new user to be cushioned from all the "hi-tech" stuffs a in professional DAW such as Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton, etc. (especially Logic)
1. What can I use my GB for?
-> Tracking (or recording).
-> Basic mixing (vol, pans, use of basic eq, compressor, etc)
-> Usage/Creation of Loops
-> MIDI virtual instruments such as piano, drums, bass, synth pad, etc.
-> and more!
(When you "master" GB, you probably would wanna try out DAWs used by professional as GB don't allow much manipulation, but very good to help amateurs get their music out asap.)
2. How to use GB?
It depends.
Let's say you wanna arrange a full-band for your song:
You may want to
i) RECORD your various instruments on individual tracks. (one at a time OR multiple tracks at once)
ii) Read up on Compression, EQ, etc to enhance your individual tracks
iii)Adding effects but NOT too much: Delay, Reverbs, Chorus, etc.
iv)Prevent "RED" on your gain meters! You'll probably get unwanted artifacts and distortion. (means it'll sound like sh!t)
(this advice goes the same when you're recording. No RED pls!
)
v) If you wanna use apple loops, you gotta make sure two things are there:
1. Your tempo. Set the BPM, then make sure you follow the metronome or drumtrack when you do tracking.
2. Your key. Make sure you set the KEY of the song before you begin with anything (just to be sure.)
There're a lot of stuffs we can tell you.
But the main thing is you gotta go EXPLORE, fiddle around it and START USING IT for your free-time projects before you can actually use it well. It's not that difficult, so all the best with it!