Noob question regarding importing

[TASsadar]

Hey all, first things first I hope I ask the question right lol... I may throw around terms incorrectly, and I apologize in advance for my nubness.

That said, i have a question or two.

I bought Ableton because everyone and their mom told me it was easily the best way to go. My experience with electronic music goes only as far as working with midi sequencers, and I love doing exactly that, and figured this program would be the best way to explore what other options are available.

Here is my current goal: I have some recorded songs of just my guitarist friend, using garage band. The goal is to get those tracks into ableton so that I can play around with them.
Questions: What do I do first? Export the projects in garage band in a specific file format? If so, what kind? We recorded this stuff on a mac, and I use a PC with ableton, will this present a problem? Once I have exported the songs in whatever specific file format (i have no idea if that is the right way to say that), then what do I do to bring those files into ableton?

Once again, I work primarily with the midi sequencing, and even there I am like all basics. =) Thanks in advance for helping me if you're able to!!

Todd

[yur2die4]

aif or wav would be good formats to export as.

Once you bring them into Ableton Live, maybe figure out how to warp the guitar bit. This makes it both easier to arrange and easier to play around with in Session View.

[DSPI]

I don't want to sound condescending or anything, but I would take the time to sit down and read the manual.

When I first started using Live I had a million and one questions and constantly googled them only to find that the answer was in the manual, explained in plain and simple terms. After a while of doing this I decided to take the time (and it does take time!) to read the manual properly and now everything is a lot easier and my workflow is so much quicker.

It's definitely worth it!

[Vic Demise]

The manual is ...not so great.
I however found a (used) book: "Ableton Live 4 Power" (By Chad Carrier and Dave Hill) and though it was written for an older version, it is SO well-written, and SO clear, and very little has changed for the most part. It was originally a $35 book, and I got it for like $5!!
You can order a used one from Powells Books- and I'm sure there are later versions, but this one was fine for the noob. VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND.