GarageBand project to MIDI

Drop a GarageBand project to get its MIDI, or select a file — it opens in the studio, ready to export.

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How to get the MIDI out of a GarageBand project

GarageBand cannot export MIDI. It can share a song as MP3, AAC, AIFF or WAV, and it can hand the project to Logic, and that is the whole list — the notes you played stay inside the .band. This reads the project and gives you the arrangement as one Standard MIDI file, with your track names on it.

  1. Add your .band: A .band is a package — a folder that Finder shows as one file. On a Mac pick it with "or choose a project folder"; anywhere else, or from iCloud, drop a zip of it (right-click → Compress). GarageBand for iPhone and iPad saves the same package.
  2. It is read in your browser: GarageBand and Logic write the same project document, so the browser's Logic reader reads the .band on your machine. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed.
  3. Take the MIDI: The project opens in the studio and downloads as one Standard MIDI file at the project tempo — a named track per software-instrument track.

More ways to work with your music

Try our online tools to separate, transcribe and convert — Doseedo does it all.

Questions about the GarageBand project to MIDI converter?

We have answers.

Do I need an account?

No. The project is read in your browser, like the Logic, FL Studio, REAPER and Cubase converters — nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored.

My .band dropped as an empty file

A .band is a folder, and a browser cannot take a folder by drag. Use "or choose a project folder" and pick it, or zip it in the Finder and drop the zip.

Does it work from an iPad or a Windows PC?

Yes, from a zip of the project. GarageBand for iOS shares a project as a .band; zip it from the Files app, or send it to a Mac and compress it there. Nothing here needs GarageBand or a Mac.

What about Drummer and Apple Loops?

Drummer tracks are not MIDI in the file and are not written. Apple Loops that are MIDI loops (green) are notes and come across; audio loops (blue) are recordings and do not.

Try our free GarageBand project to MIDI converter

  • Why GarageBand has no MIDI export, and why this works anyway

    Share → Export Song to Disk writes audio; there is no File → Export → MIDI, and dragging a region to the desktop gives you a copy of the region, not a .mid. The notes are in the file all the same: a GarageBand 10 project is laid out exactly like a Logic Pro project — the same Alternatives/000/ProjectData document — and that document is what gets read here. The same reader that opens a .logicx opens a .band.

  • Software instrument regions are the MIDI

    Keyboard, Smart Instrument, Touch Instrument and software-instrument tracks store their regions as notes, and those come across with their timing, velocity and the project tempo. Audio recordings, Apple Loops that are audio, and Drummer tracks hold no notes to write: a Drummer region is a set of settings GarageBand turns into a performance when it plays, so it is not in the file as MIDI.

  • Projects from GarageBand '11 and earlier

    GarageBand 6 ('11) and before used a different document, which this cannot read. Open the project in GarageBand 10 or later — it upgrades on open — save it, and drop that. A project GarageBand 10 upgraded keeps the old document beside the new one, which is fine: the new one is what gets read.

Try these Doseedo tools