GarageBand to Cubase

GarageBand → Cubase. Drop a zipped GarageBand .band project and get a .dawproject Cubase imports: the real session rebuilt, not bounced to stems.

demo
Private and completely free
Local conversions never leave your browser; uploaded sessions are encrypted and yours to delete anytime. 3 conversions a month free, no account.

Watch the tutorial

Full walkthrough: How to convert your session to another DAW

§ What transfers

What comes across

Every track, clip and note, written into a .dawproject Cubase imports, not flattened to stems.

Tracks Arrangement MIDI every note Audio clips Sample files Track levels Tempo & sig Instruments notes + patch name Region loops placed once Automation not yet Plugin chains not yet
See the full breakdown
§ Honesty

Told straight, never silently dropped

Tracks with their names, levels and mutes; MIDI regions with every note exactly where it was played; audio regions with their files traveling in the project; tempo and time signature. GarageBand’s own instrument sounds don’t come with it: they live inside GarageBand, so each software-instrument track arrives with its notes and the name of the patch it used, and you choose the sound in Cubase. A looped region is placed once rather than looped, and Apple Loops that were never copied into the project arrive as offline clips. Automation and plugin chains aren’t promised on this pair yet. Nothing is silently dropped: every conversion comes with a report of what changed.

§ Privacy

Your music stays yours

Local conversions stay right in your browser: your session never leaves your computer, nothing uploaded, nothing stored. Uploaded sessions move over an encrypted connection into your own private space, with access only you control, and yours to delete anytime.

§ Questions

GarageBand to Cubase: common questions

Can Cubase open a GarageBand .band file?

Not as a native Cubase project. Doseedo converts it: upload your .band (a .band is a package, a folder macOS shows as one file, so zip it first: right-click it in Finder → Compress) and it writes a .dawproject (the open DAWproject format Cubase 14 or later imports) with the tracks, MIDI, audio and tempo map in place.

My GarageBand project is a .band. What do I upload?

A .band is a package: a folder macOS shows as one file, which a browser can’t upload as it is. Right-click it in Finder, choose Compress, and upload the zip; the audio travels inside it. A project last saved by GarageBand 6 (’11) or earlier is an older format: open it in GarageBand 10 (or Logic Pro) on a Mac, save it, and zip that. A FILE named .band is something else: a FabFilter band preset, or a cloud drive’s zip of the package.

How do I export or transfer a GarageBand project to Cubase?

People describe the same job five ways (export GarageBand to Cubase, import a .band into Cubase, transfer the project, open a GarageBand project in Cubase), and none of it needs stems. Upload the .band and it converts to a .dawproject Cubase imports with tracks, MIDI, audio and the tempo map intact.

What carries over from GarageBand to Cubase?

Tracks with their names, levels and mutes; MIDI regions with every note exactly where it was played; audio regions with their files traveling in the project; tempo and time signature. GarageBand’s own instrument sounds don’t come with it: they live inside GarageBand, so each software-instrument track arrives with its notes and the name of the patch it used, and you choose the sound in Cubase. A looped region is placed once rather than looped, and Apple Loops that were never copied into the project arrive as offline clips. Automation and plugin chains aren’t promised on this pair yet.

Do my plugins transfer from GarageBand to Cubase?

GarageBand’s own instrument sounds don’t come with it: they live inside GarageBand, so each software-instrument track arrives with its notes and the name of the patch it used, and you choose the sound in Cubase. Nothing is faked: whatever doesn’t cross the GarageBand–Cubase boundary is named in the conversion report.

Why isn’t there a GarageBand to Logic converter here?

Logic Pro opens a GarageBand project itself (File › Open the .band and it upgrades on open), so there is nothing to convert. This page is for getting a GarageBand project into a DAW that can’t read it.

Why do I get a .dawproject and not a .cpr?

Cubase’s own .cpr format isn’t publicly documented, and a file we can’t be sure opens would only look like a conversion. DAWproject is the open project format Bitwig and PreSonus created together; Cubase 14 or later imports it through its DAWproject import, and Nuendo reads the same file. The download is that one file, with the audio inside it.

Is my project private?

Your project is uploaded over an encrypted connection into your own private space, converted, and is yours to delete anytime.

How many conversions are free?

3 conversions a month with no account; a free account gets 120 credits a month and Pro 2,000 (a conversion is 1 credit), every plan at full fidelity. No watermark, cancel in one click. One conversion is one project translated one direction; a round-trip is two.

More directions: GarageBand to Ableton  ·  GarageBand to FL Studio  ·  GarageBand to REAPER  ·  GarageBand to Pro Tools  ·  GarageBand to Nuendo  ·  GarageBand to Dorico  ·  Logic to Ableton

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