GarageBand to Dorico

GarageBand → Dorico. Drop a zipped GarageBand .band project and get a MusicXML score Dorico imports: every MIDI track engraved as a part.

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 MIDI track engraved as a part Dorico imports: barred, spelled, tied and beamed.

Parts one per MIDI track Notes & rhythm barred, tied, beamed Chords & rests Key & clefs Tempo & sig Tempo changes opening tempo Audio tracks not in a score Dynamics & slurs not invented Mixer & plugins no place in a score
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§ Honesty

Told straight, never silently dropped

Every MIDI track becomes a part with its name, its notes engraved on one timeline at the project’s tempo and time signature: barred, spelled for the key, with chords, rests, ties across bar lines, dots and beams by the beat, and the clef each part’s range needs. A score has no mixer, so plugins, levels, sends and automation have no place in it and aren’t written; the report names what stayed behind. Audio tracks aren’t written, since a score can’t hold audio. Dynamics, articulations, slurs and lyrics aren’t invented: a DAW project has no model for them. A swung part is written as it was played (dotted pairs) rather than marked “Swing”, and a tempo change partway through isn’t written yet: the score takes the opening tempo. 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 Dorico: common questions

Can Dorico open a GarageBand .band file?

Not as a native Dorico 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 engraves every MIDI track as a part in a MusicXML score (.mxl), the file Dorico opens through its MusicXML import.

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 Dorico?

People describe the same job five ways (export GarageBand to Dorico, import a .band into Dorico, transfer the project, open a GarageBand project in Dorico), and none of it needs retyping a note. Upload the .band and it converts to a MusicXML score Dorico imports with every MIDI track as a part and the tempo and time signature intact; audio tracks aren’t written, since a score can’t hold audio.

What carries over from GarageBand to Dorico?

Every MIDI track becomes a part with its name, its notes engraved on one timeline at the project’s tempo and time signature: barred, spelled for the key, with chords, rests, ties across bar lines, dots and beams by the beat, and the clef each part’s range needs. A score has no mixer, so plugins, levels, sends and automation have no place in it and aren’t written; the report names what stayed behind. Audio tracks aren’t written, since a score can’t hold audio. Dynamics, articulations, slurs and lyrics aren’t invented: a DAW project has no model for them. A swung part is written as it was played (dotted pairs) rather than marked “Swing”, and a tempo change partway through isn’t written yet: the score takes the opening tempo.

Do my plugins transfer from GarageBand to Dorico?

A score has no mixer, so plugins, levels, sends and automation have no place in it and aren’t written; the report names what stayed behind. Nothing is faked: whatever doesn’t cross the GarageBand–Dorico 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 MusicXML and not a .dorico?

A .dorico is Dorico’s own format, which isn’t publicly documented, and a file we can’t be sure opens would only look like a conversion. MusicXML is the notation format Dorico imports in full (MuseScore, Sibelius and Finale read it too), so the download is one .mxl you open through Dorico’s MusicXML import.

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 Cubase  ·  GarageBand to Nuendo  ·  Logic to Ableton

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