Problems creating notation from scratch using the edit function of GarageBa

Question

I am using garage band to write music. I open
a blank loop with a grand piano system instrument and
begin editing. I encounter the following problems:
1. The software does not allow me to enter any note
below middle c on additional or ledger lines that
should be available below the stave of the treble
clef.
1.1 Connected to this issue is that it is very
difficult to write music that contains subtleties.
This directly affects the way the music sounds. The
program substitutes accidentals in the stave
conditioned by the key signature. For example writing
Chopin in GarageBand as opposed to the written sheet
music is the difference between buying a designer
dress in a Bond Street Boutique and buying a cheap
copy in Primark. "Brins Bungalo" Tutorial claims
that
Garageband "is an application suitable for both the
dabbler and the conservatorially trained."
2. When there are many notes to be entered in a bar
garageBand is not flexible to accomodate the notes
required, Notes are clustered in a bunch makiing it
difficult to read what has been written (preventing the composer checking that it has been written correctly).
3. When there are many notes to be written in a bar
e.g. more than, say four notes, (lots of quavers or semi quavers) the
program does some strange things which I am unable to
control:
a) groups unrelated larger notes with the smaller
notes and will not allow them to be separated;
b) changes the value of notes already entered;
c) sometimes splits the note being entered into two
smaller notes joined by a tie;
d) accidentals appear on notes entered or notes
already entered without my instruction;
e) it changes note values, filling up the bar, to the
value of the time key before I have a chance to finish
entering the remaining notes that I want to place in
the bar;
4. How is one able to enter "dynamics" (symbol marks
of expression). I know it is possible because many of
the preloaded loops have these expressions evident
within them. I have tried consulting GarageBand Help but this has proved impossible to fathom.
Can anyone help?
iMac   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

Answer 1

You have my sympathy as I also wanted to enter notes on a stave but GB is simply not designed to do it.
You can do an amazing amount with GB but complex scoring is not really possible. You can't print a score btw.
In answer to some of your questions,
Expression cannot be added using the scoring facility. You need to go back to the piano roll view and use the expression/modulation/pitchbend/footswitch parameters.
I think you're possibly doing something wrong as I've just done a little test and I've entered a C0 without a problem.
I've also not had problems moving notes about and getting the right length or having GB fill notes to the end of the bar.
This is how I do it.
Create a software track.
Double click on the track to get the track editor.
Press record and use the the keyboard on the piano roll to enter a note. You've now created a recording region. You can't enter notes outside a recording region so you might need to drag it out to the required size.
Swap to note entry. That gives you the double stave. Drag the grey bar that separates the arranger area from the track editor upwards. This gives you more space on the stave.
Command click anywhere on the stave and a note will appear. Just move that note to wherever you want it and click to set it in place. You can always move it again by left clicking on the note and dragging it.
Accidentals will depend on the key you've set for the song and what notes you're entering. In D for instance you won't get an accidental for F sharp but you will get one for A flat.
Let us know how you get on.
If this still doesn't give you what you need then I suggest a dedicated notation package. Create a midi file from the package and import into GB for final tweaking.
Cheers
Dick