Set up your DAW

GarageBand

GarageBand is easy to connect — there is nothing to configure inside GarageBand at all. GarageBand doesn't accept virtual control surfaces the way the bigger DAWs do, so Jude drives it through macOS accessibility instead: the same system that lets VoiceOver operate any Mac app. You grant one permission, open your project, and Jude connects on its own.

GarageBand version: Jude is validated against GarageBand 10.4.14 and later. Older GarageBand releases lay out their controls differently and some commands — record-arming in particular — may not land. If your GarageBand is older, update it from the App Store before your first session.

1. Pick GarageBand in Jude

Open Settings → DAW and choose GarageBand.

2. Grant the accessibility permission

The same settings panel shows the permission status with a Grant access button. Click it, and macOS opens System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility — turn Jude on there. This is a one-time step; macOS remembers it.

3. Open your project

That's it. Open your GarageBand project and the DAW light in Jude's header turns green. If GarageBand isn't running yet, Jude simply waits and connects the moment your project opens.

Good to know in GarageBand

  • Recording more than one track at once: GarageBand hides per-track record buttons by default. Turn them on with Track → Configure Track Header and enable Record Enable — then "arm the drums and the bass" works across tracks.
  • Input monitoring works by voice here. Ask the engineer to turn monitoring on or off for a track and it happens — GarageBand exposes the switch directly.
  • Markers live on a Marker track. GarageBand has no markers of its own, so the first time you ask for one, Jude adds a muted track called Marker. Each region on it is a marker, named like the region and as long as it. Jude keeps this track out of its own track list. Leave it muted, keep its name, and don't record on it. A marker without an end is one bar long.
  • Arrangement sections count as markers too ("go to the verse", "loop the chorus"). Jude reads them from your saved project, so save after you change them. Add and remove sections in GarageBand itself.
  • Hands off for a moment. Some things Jude does in GarageBand work the way VoiceOver does: arming a track, picking a sound by name, moving a track and setting the cycle range bring the window to the front for a moment, renaming or selecting a track borrows the keyboard for a moment, and adding a marker with an end moves the mouse pointer onto the Marker track for an instant. If you type or move the mouse during that moment, the change may not go through. The engineer will tell you when that happens, and asking again fixes it.

Next: Talking to Jude — what to say, and what the engineer can do for you.