GarageBand project

GarageBand project files are used by the GarageBand music software for the Macintosh platform. As with a number of Mac software files (particularly project files), they are actually directories (folders) that are treated for some purposes by the Mac OS as single files called a Bundle. They can also be found in ZIP-compressed versions, particularly for archival or transferring purposes.

Projects save various audio clips and settings that are part of a particular music project. This makes the projects self-contained, but if the intent is to have people listen to it rather than work with it in GarageBand, you should export it as a WAV or other audio format rather than sending people .band files they don't know what to do with.

The .band file extension seems to be what is currently used, but .gbproj has also been seen, perhaps in older versions of the program.

Apple's more professional Logic Pro software can also open these projects, along with its own Logic Pro project files.

Contents of directory
While the contents will vary by what is in a project and what version of GarageBand is used, this is what is in the sample file linked below:


 * Contents (subdirectory)
 * Pkginfo (file)
 * Media (subdirectory)
 * Images (subdirectory)
 * Recording (subdirectory)
 * Output (subdirectory)
 * arrange_screenshot.tiff (TIFF file)
 * mmetadata.plist (Property List)
 * Thumbs (subdirectory)
 * projectData (XML file)

Sample files

 * Sample .band file/directory, zipped
 * Garageband 2.0 NIN remixes

Links

 * GarageBand official site
 * Wikipedia article
 * What is inside a GarageBand iOS .band project file? (video)
 * Where Are Garageband Files, Instruments, and Lessons Stored?
 * GarageBand for Mac: Create, save, and delete projects
 * GarageBand for Mac: Save and open projects via iCloud
 * Where Are Garageband Files, Instruments, and Lessons Stored?
 * where are GarageBand audio files?
 * MultimediaWiki, showing contents of different .band versions