GarageBand to another DAW: keep the sound, edit the notes

The short answer. If you have Logic Pro, open the GarageBand project in it: Apple says the tracks, tempo, key, instruments, mix settings and effects translate directly, and then you can export MIDI from Logic. If you don't, export the song as a stereo audio file with Share, Export Song to Disk, and keep the project file. Apple's GarageBand pages we read document MIDI import, not MIDI export.

GarageBand is where a lot of Mac projects start, and the question "how do I take this somewhere with more control?" has a few honest answers. This guide covers the routes Apple documents, what each keeps, and where to be careful. We read Apple's GarageBand and Logic Pro user guides on 4 October 2026. We did not run the steps ourselves.

Pick the route by what you need

Route 1: open it in Logic Pro

Apple's GarageBand projects in Logic Pro for Mac says to update to the latest versions of both apps, then:

1. In Logic Pro choose File, Open (Command-O).
2. Browse to the project. GarageBand saves to ~/Music/GarageBand by default.
3. Select the project and click Open.
4. In the Save dialog, choose a place for the new Logic Pro project and click Save.

Apple says this works for projects from GarageBand for Mac, iPad and iPhone. Logic creates the number and type of tracks the project used, takes the tempo, and sets the key signature from the project's key. Software instrument parts are played by Logic's own counterparts, mixing data and effects with their settings come across, and GarageBand patches translate one-to-one so you can reach the individual plug-ins in them. When you save it, it is saved as a Logic Pro project in the place you chose in step 4.

The limits Apple states: Logic projects can't be opened in GarageBand, and the two GarageBand bus effects are replaced by PlatinumVerb and Echo on busses 1 and 2.

Then get the notes out

Once the project is in Logic, use Logic's export for MIDI regions. The steps, including the preparation Apple asks for and the Format 0 and Format 1 options, are in Move MIDI and stems between DAWs. If a part came from a Session Player, convert the region to a MIDI region first, as Logic Pro's AI features explains.

Route 2: export audio

Apple's export page says to choose Share, Export Song to Disk. You can rename the file, choose where it goes, choose AAC, MP3, AIFF or WAVE and a quality setting, and tick the box to export only the cycle area or the length of the selected regions if Cycle is off. The whole project or the selected part is exported as a stereo audio file, with silence at the start and end trimmed.

For a reference you will line up against, use WAVE or AIFF and keep the default start so the file begins where you expect. Apple's page doesn't describe a one-file-per-track export. If you need a single instrument on its own, mute the others and export again, and repeat for each. That's our workaround, not an Apple feature, and the trimmed silence means you should check that each file starts at the same point.

Route 3: the notes, without Logic

Apple's Import audio and MIDI files page covers getting MIDI into GarageBand, by dragging a .mid from the Finder onto a software instrument track. Apple's sharing list, in Intro to sharing, has the Music app, AirDrop, Mail, export to disk or iCloud, CD, GarageBand for iOS and compressing a project. It doesn't list MIDI. We found no Apple page that documents a MIDI export in GarageBand for Mac, so don't expect a menu item. Search results offer workarounds from third parties. We haven't tried them and don't recommend one.

Route 4: add your own parts around the audio

A stereo file is audio, not notes. A DAW can't turn it back into editable notes unless it has an audio-to-MIDI tool, and results from those vary. monody has none. It imports WAV, AIFF, FLAC and MP3 as an audio track, and writes new editable notes beside it:

1. Export the song as WAVE.
2. Import it into monody and set the project tempo to match the song.
3. Ask for a part around it, or write one in the piano roll. The assistant works from the project's notes and settings and, with Finish, measurements of a render. It doesn't listen to the audio the way you do, so tell it the key and what the part should do.
4. Move the new notes back out as a .mid if you want them in another DAW, as in AI basslines you can edit.

monody doesn't open GarageBand projects or split stems, and it runs on macOS only. The Free plan has a limit of 8 tracks.

Check the move

• Compare track count and tempo with the original.
• Play both versions from the same bar at the same level.
• If the bus reverb sounds different in Logic, that is the PlatinumVerb replacement Apple describes.
• Keep the original GarageBand project untouched until you are happy with the new one.

Sources

• Apple Logic Pro: GarageBand projects in Logic Pro for Mac
• Apple GarageBand for Mac: Export songs to disk, Import audio and MIDI files, Intro to sharing

Checked on 4 October 2026.