leveling audio vocals

[elementse7en!]

Originally Posted by datniggabeon1

this may seem like a dumb ass question to you guys. Is there any way that I can level the vocals on garageband? The first 20 bars are good, but the last 12 bars a just a little bit lower.

you need to keep your mic placement the same. it can affect how loud the input goes in, that also means you have to place your mouth in the same area of the mic. other than this, check all of your tracks, so that their volume,compressor, and limiters are all leveled around the same.

[trickg]

Originally Posted by datniggabeon1

this may seem like a dumb ass question to you guys. Is there any way that I can level the vocals on garageband? The first 20 bars are good, but the last 12 bars a just a little bit lower.

Yep - you can click the little triangle to the left of the track, and that will allow you to automate some things about that track - specifically the volume. You can set volume point and drag the volume up or down, just like you can with the master track. I recently did this with a two-part flugelhorn duet I recorded where the two parts were trading off the melody and harmony. I wanted the melody line up but the harmony part lower, so because it traded off, I used the automation controls for the volume of the track to get the right overall volume and balance for each track where it needed to be.

Another solution would be to duplicate the track (under the "Track" menu - this doesn't duplicate the recorded portion - only the conditions of the track being duplicated as far as EQ, effects, volume, compression, etc. The track itself will be blank.) and find a good break point right before you need the volume bumped, and then cut and paste the portion of the original track into the new track and bump up the volume on the second track. As long as you don't do it right in the middle of a sung note, you should be fine and overall it will sound seamless. That's how I did it before I learned about the automation controls.

[datniggabeon1]

ya i didnt feel like re-recording the shizznit..but thx trickg this is actually hella fun

[BFSound]

I use garageband to record our band practices. Just a stereo vocal track and stereo instrument track (drums, guit, bass, keys) And like mentioned above you can drop down the volume control and place point in where you want to increase or decrease to volume in any length. It functions like the pan.

[trickg]

Originally Posted by datniggabeon1

ya i didnt feel like re-recording the shizznit..but thx trickg this is actually hella fun

I've had a great time doing small recording projects in Garage Band. A friend of mine has a massively powerful Mac with Digital Performer and tons of studio equipment, mics and tricks, but for my level of knowledge I like Garage Band because I can get some decent sounding final products using little more than my two humble mics (MXL V67G and a Shure SM57) plugged into my Blue Icicle XLR to USB converter. I need to sell some gear before I get the next piece of the puzzle - a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. I'm still learning though and every time I sit down with it I make another "light bulb" kind of discovery about what I'm doing and how I'm doing it.

Good luck with it!