How To Use Drop C Guitar And GarageBand To Make Powerful Riffs

If you haven't tried Drop C Tuning yet, then you have to start now! It's just like drop D, only every string is dropped down one note from that.

Drop C Tuning: C-G-C-F-A-D, where "D" is the skinniest string. Piece of cake.

Once you are in Drop C Tuning, it's time to start shredding! Open up GarageBand or some other audio editing program and connect your guitar output to the input of your computer. In my case, I have a Digitech RP 250 that serves as a middleman.

When creating a powerful electric guitar riff, you need to build a simple repeating bassline. This will serve as the foundation for the track. On top of that, lay down a couple of guitar tracks. Make one of them bass-heavy, and the other one light. In other words, one riff is played on the lower strings, C and G and the other guitar riff is played on the upper strings, F, A and D. Compress each of the guitars differently. I have a rock bass compression on the low guitar in this song and I have a telephone effect compressor on the other guitar.

Choose a drum kit and create a badass drum beat like the one I have on this track. To make it sound more stadium-like, add some reverb and compress the entire track with a punchy bass effect.

Play around with it. The idea is to keep all the instruments separate, so that you can pick them out one by one. However, at the same time you gotta make sure everything blends well. It's a challenge but the final product is worth the work!