GarageBand 2: The Missing Manual

Chapter 10. The Speed Chapter

GarageBand, as you may recall from Chapter 1 (or as you may have discovered on your own), is a power hog. It thrives on memory and processor speed, eternally craving more, more, and more. Even a handful of tracks is enough to redline your system, turning the Playhead orange, then red, and finally summoning the dreaded dialog box shown in Figure 10-1 as playback grinds to a halt.

There’s no cause for panic, though. In the end, it’s you who’s made GarageBand gasp for air, by overextending your Mac—and therefore it’s you who can undo the damage, too. This chapter presents the accumulated wisdom of thousands of online GarageBand fans sharing their workarounds, plus Apple’s own suggestions. They’re presented here in decreasing order of importance and urgency. (Better yet, try the first steps first!)

Figure 10-1. Top: When GarageBand starts having trouble keeping up with everything going on in your tracks, the Playhead begins to change color. It turns from white, through orange, and finally to deepening red, as you approach the system-overload point. It’s your early-warning system that your piece is approaching GarageBand BogDown. Bottom: When GarageBand absolutely reaches the end of its ability to process all of the music, this message appears. Time to read this chapter.

GarageBand fans sharing their workarounds, plus Apple’s own suggestions. They’re presented ...