GarageBand on Mac has no MIDI import menu, but it opens MIDI files just fine: drag the .mid file from Finder straight into the timeline and GarageBand creates a software instrument track for every track in the file. That drag is the only way in, and it only works on the Mac version; GarageBand for iPhone and iPad cannot import MIDI files at all.
The only way in: drag and drop
Look through GarageBand's File menu and you will find no Import option for MIDI, and File > Open refuses .mid files. That confuses people into thinking GarageBand does not support MIDI. It does. Drag the file from Finder into the empty gray area below your existing tracks and GarageBand builds the tracks for you, each part arriving as a green region.
One rule of thumb: always drop MIDI files into empty space, not onto an existing track. Dropping onto a track dumps the content there, and with a multi-part file that means chords, melody, and bass fighting over one instrument.
One track per region: what lands where
A well-made MIDI file keeps chords, melody, and bass on separate tracks, and GarageBand honors that: each becomes its own track with its own region. If the file you grabbed was exported with everything merged onto one track, GarageBand gives you exactly one region with all the parts stacked inside it, and unlike Logic, GarageBand has no separate-by-channel command. Your fix is manual: open the region (press E), select the notes of one part (the top line, for example), cut them, and paste onto a new track. It works, it is just slower than it should be. That is honestly GarageBand's weak spot: fine for using MIDI, clumsy for surgery on it.
Give it a better sound
Imported tracks come in on a default keyboard sound. Select the track and pick a new patch from the Library on the left: synths, keys, guitars, strings. The same notes reskin instantly, which is the entire reason to build with MIDI instead of audio loops. Try the same progression on three patches before you settle; it takes thirty seconds and often decides the direction of the track.
Tempo and key
GarageBand does not interrogate you about tempo the way Logic does. Imported notes simply play at your project tempo, and because MIDI is note data rather than audio, a file written at 80 BPM plays cleanly at 150 with zero artifacts.
To change key, select the region, press E to open the editor, and use the Transposition setting in the Region panel to shift by semitones. Or select all notes (Cmd+A) in the editor and drag them up or down. If you download from FFUNK, set your key once with Key Sync and every file arrives already transposed, so this step disappears.
The iOS situation
GarageBand for iPhone and iPad does not import MIDI files. There is no drag target, no Files app route, no hidden setting. If your workflow lives on iOS, your options are: do the MIDI work in GarageBand on a Mac and continue the project there, or step up to Logic Pro for iPad, which imports MIDI properly. Do not waste an evening hunting for an iOS workaround; the capability is simply not in the app.
When to move to Logic
GarageBand projects open directly in Logic Pro with everything intact: tracks, regions, sounds. The move is one-way (Logic projects do not open back in GarageBand), but if you are importing MIDI weekly and fighting the one-region problem, Logic's Separate MIDI Events command and Region inspector transpose pay for the upgrade in saved time. Our FL Studio guide and Ableton Live guide cover the same workflow if you are shopping DAWs.
Problems and fixes
- The file will not open via File > Open. Expected. Drag it into the timeline from Finder instead.
- Everything imported as one region. The file was exported single-track. Cut and paste parts onto new tracks manually in the editor.
- It sounds like a toy piano. That is the default patch, not the file. Pick a real sound from the Library.
- Notes are in the wrong octave for your patch. Select all in the editor and drag the whole part up or down 12 semitones.
Start with files worth dragging in
GarageBand plus a great MIDI file is a legitimate production setup: the notes are professional even when the DAW is free. FFUNK packs are chord progressions and melodies written by composers with Gold and Platinum records, 100% human-made, and you can audition every file in the browser before downloading. Start the 7-day free trial (card required, cancel anytime), or open a free account with 5 credits a month and drag your first composer-written progression into GarageBand tonight.
