Without the reference point, “0dB” is essentially meaningless.įor instance, when looking at the Garageband interface, there are other symbols which provide a larger context for what the dB is actually measuring and comparing to.įrom what I understand, “+5dB” means that we’re 5 times whatever 0dB is, and if we’re at “+3dB,” we’re 3 times whatever “0dB” is, and so on and so forth. If you’ve stated that your signal is 0dB, without providing some kind of reference point, you’re just saying that the signal is equal to something, but not really communicating what that “something” actually is. In other words, a decibel is a ratio that is comparing one signal to the other. Truthfully, “0dB” on its own doesn’t actually mean anything, because there has to some kind of reference point for it to mean something. You might be kind of confused as to why it matters that a track exceeds 0dB in the DAW. You can see what “Headroom” looks like in the image that I’ve provided below: In the digital world, anything above ‘0dB’ is considered clipping.įor this reason, it’s important to make sure that you leave a lot of “headroom” in your mixes.įor instance, if you’ve mixed your music and some of the tracks are going above the 0dBFS maximum, there will likely be some problems when the final tracks are cut to mp3, CD, or vinyl.īy headroom, I’m suggesting that when you’re mixing tracks before you’ve even started the process, you should drop down all of the VU meters to at least -3.0dB or perhaps even a little bit more, like up to -6.0dB. It’s kind of like the standard unit of measurement that we use to describe the limit that you can’t go past when making digital recordings. It’s basically the ceiling, it’s the limit. + 0dBFS is the point in decibels, where if you were to go any higher, it would be too much for the software. However, because you’ve eliminated the setting which acts as a fail-safe, you have to pay closer attention to your music, including the VU meters, the number of plug-ins and so on, otherwise, you’re going to have distorted and clipping tracks.Īn additional tip for normalizing audio in Garageband is to avoid setting your VU meters above +0.0dBFS. More on Auto-Normalization And Other TipsĪs I just mentioned, having the auto-normalize function turned off in Garageband’s ‘Preferences’ is going to be what allows you to export your tracks at the desired volume. Garageband has a weird way of doing things sometimes, including for adding silent space at the beginning of recordings (my guide), but we’ll unpack the normalization feature today. In addition to turning off the auto-normalize function, there are other things you can do to increase the total volume as well, many of which I’ve listed in my guide on why your songs are often too quiet. I believe the purpose of it is to provide a simple way of “optimizing” the export that way you don’t have to think so much about what you’re actually doing.Ĭhances are, if you’ve arrived at this article, you’re probably wondering how to get your Garageband exports to sound louder and higher quality as well. I think the option might be there just so that when beginners to the program want to export tracks, they’re guaranteed a way of exporting their music and other audio files without clipping or distortion. MasterClass – Timbaland, deadmau5, Tom Morello, Questlove, Ringo Starr, Metallica, Nas, and Usher Right now, there are 3 deals that stick out to me Singorama – The Complete Guide to Singing Like A Professional I’ve never had the “Auto-Normalize” function turned on since I first learned how to use Garageband and all of its features (which are listed in my guide), not to say that it’s not useful, but it hasn’t been for me thus far.īy the way, I’m always on the lookout for deals in the music industry (there’s usually something if you know where to look). Here’s what you do:ġ) With Garageband opened up, click on the “Garageband” button on the top left of the toolbar.Ĥ) Next to the box that says, “Auto-Normalize,” you’ll notice it says “Export Projects at Full Volume.”ĥ) Uncheck the box so it looks like what you can see in the image below: If you want to export your songs out of Garageband without normalizing all of the tracks, you’re in luck, because it’s actually a pretty simple process that requires only a few clicks.
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