To record a podcast in GarageBand, create a new project, add an audio track for each microphone, set your input device and recording level, hit record, then edit the takes and export the finished episode as an MP3. GarageBand ships free on every Mac, so you can go from a bare project to a publishable file without spending a cent. This guide walks through the whole workflow the way a friend would talk you through it at their desk.
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Why GarageBand is a genuinely good podcast recorder
GarageBand gets dismissed as a toy because it sits next to Logic Pro, but for spoken-word audio it does everything a beginner needs. It records multiple tracks at once, has a clean editor for cutting mistakes, and includes stock EQ, compression and a noise gate — the three processors that turn a raw voice recording into something listenable. The catch is that it is Mac-only. The iPhone and iPad version can record voice too, but its layout differs, so this tutorial focuses on the Mac app.
Before you open anything, get your microphone connected. A USB mic plugs straight into the Mac; an XLR mic needs an audio interface in between. If you are still deciding on hardware, our guide to the USB mic vs audio interface question breaks down which route suits a podcast, and the audio interface setup walkthrough covers drivers and connections.
Create the project and choose the right template
Open GarageBand and click New Project in the startup window. You will see template tiles — Keyboard Collection, Amp Collection, Voice, and so on. Pick Empty Project for the cleanest start, or the Voice template if you want two ready-made vocal tracks with presets you can strip back later. When you choose Empty Project, GarageBand immediately asks what kind of track to add. Select the Audio option labelled “Record using a microphone or line input” (the one with the microphone icon), not the software-instrument option, then click Create.
At the bottom of that track-type dialog you can set the input and output. If you are not sure yet, leave it and adjust in the next step — it is easier to see the controls once the project is open.
Set your input device and recording level
GarageBand does not automatically pick your mic, so tell it which device to listen to. Open GarageBand > Settings (called Preferences on older macOS versions) and click the Audio/MIDI tab. Set the Input Device to your USB microphone or interface, and the Output Device to your headphones or interface. Always monitor a podcast on headphones — open speakers bleed into the mic and cause echo.
Now select your audio track and open the Smart Controls panel (the dial-shaped button at the top left, or press B). The recording settings here let you choose the track’s input channel and set the level. Speak at your normal volume and watch the meter on the track header. You want the loudest peaks landing somewhere around two-thirds up — comfortably short of the red. If it clips into the red you will get distortion that no plug-in can fix, so pull the input level down until peaks sit safely below the top. Getting this right at the source is called gain staging, and our gain staging explainer is worth a read if the meters feel confusing.
Turn on input monitoring (the small monitoring icon in the track header or Smart Controls) if you want to hear yourself in the headphones as you speak. If you hear a distracting echo or latency, switch monitoring off and rely on the natural sound in the room instead.
How to record a podcast in GarageBand, step by step
With levels set, recording is the easy part. Here is the core loop:
- Silence the metronome. Click the metronome icon in the control bar at the top so it is off — you do not want a click track under a conversation. Turn off the count-in from the same area if it is enabled.
- Arm the track. Make sure the track you want to record onto is selected and its record-enable button (the circle in the track header) is lit red.
- Position the playhead. Move it to the start of the timeline so your recording begins at bar one.
- Press the round red Record button in the control bar (not the spacebar — spacebar only plays). GarageBand starts capturing and lays down a region as you talk.
- Press the spacebar or the Stop button to finish. Your take appears as a coloured region on the track.
Recording two people on separate mics? Add a second audio track (Track > New Track, or the + button), set its input to the second mic’s channel, arm both tracks, and record them together. Keeping each voice on its own track is the single biggest quality upgrade for a two-host show — you can then balance and edit each person independently. If your budget stretches to it, our notes on recording a podcast at home cover mic choice and room setup that make these takes cleaner before GarageBand ever touches them.
Edit out the mistakes, ums and dead air
Editing spoken word in GarageBand is mostly cutting and nudging. Zoom in with the slider (or the + key) so you can see the waveform clearly. To remove a fluffed line, place the playhead where you want to cut and press Command + T to split the region, split again after the mistake, click the bad chunk and hit Delete. Then drag the following region left to close the gap, or hold and slide it into place.
Trim the loose ends of any region by hovering over its edge and dragging inward — handy for shaving silence off the top and tail. Work in passes: one listen for hard mistakes, a second for pacing. Resist over-editing, because a conversation cut too tight starts to sound unnatural.
Clean up the voice with stock EQ, compression and a noise gate
You do not need extra plug-ins to make a voice sound professional — GarageBand’s stock processors handle it. With your voice track selected, open Smart Controls and look at the plug-in area (the EQ display and the plug-in slots in the inspector). Three tools do the heavy lifting:
- Channel EQ — roll off the low rumble below roughly 80 Hz to remove desk thumps and handling noise, and add a gentle lift around 3–5 kHz if the voice sounds dull. A little goes a long way.
- Compressor — evens out the gap between loud and quiet delivery so the listener is not constantly reaching for the volume. Start with a modest ratio and pull the threshold down until you see a few decibels of gain reduction on the peaks.
- Noise Gate — tucked in the track’s plug-in list, it mutes the track when no one is speaking, cleaning up background hiss and hum between sentences. Set the threshold just above the noise floor so it opens the moment you talk.
The built-in Vocal presets in GarageBand’s library are a fine shortcut — load one, then tweak. If you later want more control than stock offers, a dedicated broadcast voice chain or de-esser from a maker like FabFilter or iZotope is a genuine step up, and Plugin Boutique is a good place to compare them. For most podcasts, though, the stock chain is more than enough, so do not feel pushed into buying anything to get started. If you want to sanity-check your final loudness, run the file through our free audio tools before you publish.
Export your episode as a shareable MP3
When the edit sounds right, export. Go to Share > Export Song to Disk. In the dialog, choose MP3 as the format — it is the podcast standard and keeps file sizes small — name the file, and pick a quality setting (a higher-quality or 192 kbps-style option is a safe choice for voice). GarageBand can also export AAC, AIFF or WAV if your host needs a lossless master, but MP3 is what most podcast platforms expect. Click Export, and you have a finished episode ready to upload.
One habit worth building: keep the GarageBand project file itself, not just the exported MP3. If you spot a mistake after export, you can reopen the project, fix the region and re-export in seconds.
Common problems and quick fixes
No sound when recording? Check the Input Device in Settings > Audio/MIDI actually points at your mic, and that the track’s input channel matches the physical input your mic is plugged into. Recording is too quiet? Raise the input level in Smart Controls or the gain on your interface — do not just crank it in the mix afterwards, as that lifts the noise too. Hearing an echo in your headphones? Turn input monitoring off, or lower the buffer if you are on an interface. Distorted, crackly audio? Your level is clipping into the red — pull the input down and re-record that section. For a broader primer on the software itself, see our roundup of the best free DAWs for beginners, and the wider podcasting and voice hub for more recording guides.
Frequently asked questions
Is GarageBand good enough for a professional-sounding podcast?
Yes. Plenty of published shows are recorded and edited entirely in GarageBand. Its multitrack recording, editor and stock EQ, compressor and noise gate cover everything a spoken-word episode needs. The limits you will hit are workflow conveniences rather than sound quality, and by then you would be ready to move up to Logic Pro anyway.
Can I record a podcast in GarageBand with two people on separate mics?
You can, as long as each mic reaches the Mac on its own input — typically through a multi-input audio interface. Add one audio track per mic, set each track’s input to the matching channel, arm both, and record simultaneously. Two USB mics on one Mac is trickier, because macOS usually reads only one USB audio device at a time unless you build an Aggregate Device in Audio MIDI Setup.
What format should I export my podcast in?
MP3 is the standard for podcast distribution — it is small and every hosting platform accepts it. Use Share > Export Song to Disk and choose MP3 at a solid quality setting. Only export WAV or AIFF if your podcast host specifically asks for a lossless master to process on their end.
