Punkademic’s Comprehensive Music Theory Course (Great for Beginners) When purchasing a new MIDI Keyboard, it’ll likely come with all of the cables necessary for use, including the USB to Firewire Cable, which you can also pick up at Amazon if your keyboard, for whatever reason, didn’t come with it. There are other good ones as well that are half the price, but I have the Apple one, and it’s the one I use, so I recommend it because I know it works from experience. You don’t have to purchase an Apple one, necessarily.

However, as I just demonstrated above, with Apple and other laptop makers opting for USB-C, you may have to purchase a USB-C to USB cable from Amazon. The process for connecting a keyboard into your computer and DAW is identical for nearly all of them nowadays. For MIDI cable devices or older MIDI controllers that don’t have the updated USB capability, use a MIDI to USB interface like M-Audio’s 2×2 MIDISport.

To connect a MIDI keyboard to Garageband, use a USB-to-Firewire cable to connect it to your computer’s USB port and Garageband will recognize it. I’ll walk you through a quick summary on how to do it, followed by a more in-depth step-by-step process.

Connecting a keyboard MIDI controller to Garageband is incredibly simple. If you’re sick of using the Musical Typing keyboard in Garageband, then look no further than this article.

Mini keyboard piano