How to increase volume when exporting to Itunes

you need to learn about "mastering"

http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/GBFAQ.html#mastering

Are you using a "finalizing" effect on your master track?

Using a finalizing effect on your master track that includes compression or limiting can raise the overall level. Otherwise, even if you normalize, the difference between the peak and average levels may be so great that even with the peaks as loud as possible, the average volume levels remain low.

With the Information Pane open on the right, you should see two tabs at the top: Software Instrument and Master Track. Select Master Track.

The options for the Master Track are all collections of "finalizing" effects that are added to your entire mix rather than any one particular track. They include effects like reverb which, when applied equally to all tracks, can make them gel and sound like they were recorded in the same room, and compression, which can reduce overall dynamic range in order to allow some form of compensation gain (or normalizing) to increase the overall average level of the track... to make it sound louder.

Different finalizing presets are presented in terms of different styles. They're pretty much self-explanatory. For example, in the Rock folder there's "Rock Basic Finalizer," "Rock More Punch," "Rock Bass Boost," etc.

You should audition ones that look appropriate, compare the way they effect your overall track until you find one you like and then leave it selected.

Next time you "share" your file, it should apply those finalizing effects which, along with normalization, should increase the overall loudness of your track.

If it still isn't loud enough, you could go into the details of the finalizing preset and tweak the parameters. That's where knowing about "mastering" comes into a play.

If you are still having problems getting the track loud enough, there are various 3rd party applications, both plugins and standalone, that might be able to help. But maybe you'll get where you want simply by applying a finalizing preset to the master track.

Good luck!

I've tried all kinds of exporting tonight and no matter what level you export or what format you export to the volume level is always the same. I've compared this new song to some I exported before I got GB 08 and the older songs are a lot louder and fuller. Something is not right with the export. I've tried 6 different exports, one when played in GB you can barely hear it but after export it sounds the same as all the others I exported.

As noticed in the other thread, the normalize function may be acting ironically as a kind of volume safety net, bringing up the peak to the highest value, but with too wide a dynamic range, keeping the average track volume low.

If a louder mix is your goal, the better option is to compress or limit the track, limiting the dynamic range, and then pull everything up with the normalize function to get as much of the sound as close to the top of the volume scale as possible. Theoretically, you should be able to do this with GB's finalizing effects on the Master Track.

However, if you are not able to sufficiently limit the dynamic range, disabling the normalize function and cranking the volume is a workaround.... with a price. It is letting you burst through the top of the volume scale with your peaks, which will potentially clip. But depending on your material, if the clips are too brief to notice, and the overall sound of the track has enough signal to cover the noise, then the momentary clip is a fair price to pay for a cheap and easy path to more volume.

Also, I'm not sure how the metering is calibrated in GB, but it may be that it's conservative, and there's more headroom than the system indicates.

oops - multiple post - weird. (moderator, feel free to delete this one.)

oops - multiple post - weird. (moderator, feel free to delete this one.)

I took off the normalize function and it works great now. Since my songs are so loud anyway I can crank it up without hearing any clipping. I'm not going to push it but I don't mind a clip every once in a while.

Dark1 wrote:
I took off the normalize function and it works great now. Since my songs are so loud anyway I can crank it up without hearing any clipping. I'm not going to push it but I don't mind a clip every once in a while.

Hey, if it sounds good, that's all that's important!

My problem's similar, only with input and output. Once upon a time in yesterday, GarageBand would only pretend to cut my peaks in half for aesthetic reasons or something, but the output was great on both it and iTunes. In fact, iTunes used to play it that little bit louder.

This morning, all of a sudden, it's really cutting my peaks in half and, this is the interesting bit, +only iTunes is cutting the volume down+. If I play the track in Quicktime, it plays back 'normally'.

So my question is twofold: What's going on that wasn't going on yesterday... and what sort of hammer do I need to whack it with to make it stop? I need my tracks LOUDER, not softer!

So far, I've spent twenty minutes on a ten-second scratch track. This is driving me crazy. Help. Please.

turn off "sound check" in iTunes' prefs?

I never check any songs in itunes. I either burn to CD and listen in my car or use quicktime. I don't like all the preferences you can mess with in itunes. It doesn't give you a true sound.