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These are the steps I followed to record the songs of my composition.

  1. Write a melody using Musescore with determined scale, key, time signature and tempo by selecting voice option.
  2. Write lyrics against the notes in each bar.
  3. Write chords, bass and other instruments, including intro and interlude, using various instrument sounds in Musescore.
  4. Final score is ready with intro, 3 verses, chorus and interlude with various instruments.
  5. Separate each instrument in Musescore and save each file individually, eg. Save voice in separate sheet, save chords (Guitar/Piano) in separate sheet, save each interlude instrument (flute, trumpet, piano, harp, xylophone, guitar, bass guitar) in separate sheet.
  6. Export each sheet of individual instruments to .wav format in Musescore.
    Now all instruments in the song and the melody voice also ready in more than 10 individual .wav files.
  7. Open empty project in GarageBand and import the .wav file of each instrument one by one of full song.
  8. Insert drum part in GarageBand using GB drumset for entire song.
  9. Insert voice in GarageBand using GB voice option and connect USB Focusrite recording bundle and record the vocal.
  10. Export the song in .mp3 format from GarageBand.

The sound volume of the song is 30% lesser when I playback the recording compared to any other song of any album or any download from internet. Even at full volume in different music system, my file is heard at low volume.

Question: Is there any equaliser setting in GB which will help to improve the volume of song or is there any issue in this method of song recording. Help me to improve the song volume. Can moving to Logic Pro help to resolve this issue?

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4
  • Check this out and/or search for "mastering in GarageBand": blog.macformusicians.com/2011/06/13/…
    – Todd Wilcox
    Oct 1, 2017 at 18:27
  • Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but have you tried the master volume slider in the upper right corner? I know some people using GB that thought the volume slider was just for the application, and not the actual master volume of the track.
    – Rick
    Oct 3, 2017 at 13:49
  • Hi Rick-I am not able to find any master volume slider in upper right corner? Can you please tell me the options in detail?Or can you give a screenshot.
    – robert winsly
    Oct 5, 2017 at 18:49
  • This is the slider I'm talking about: i.stack.imgur.com/qd3pO.png
    – Rick
    Oct 10, 2017 at 12:07

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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A much simpler way is to save from MuseScore directly to an .mp3 file. To do this, go File > Export. Then, change the file extension to .mp3. This will bring up a message saying you need to locate the lame_enc.dll - and for more details, check the handbook. If you visit the online handbook at this page, it tells you to go here to download it. If you then go back to export, and follow the instructions to locate lame_enc.dll, then MuseScore can export to mp3, and shouldn't lose 30% volume.

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0

Hard to say without hearing the track, but I would assume that the 'density' of the musical arrangement is low. Or that there are a few isolated peaks, which define the maximum level after normalisation or compression are applied. Or even just that you haven't turned the master volume up enough.

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-3

The first thing you want to do is to normalize when saving to MP3: that way the loudest part in the track is played as loud as an MP3 usually is.

The second thing is that the loudest part in the track (maybe search for it?) is not noise like switching a microphone on or off or switching phantom power on or off or clapping your hands for synchronization purposes: all such transients should be removed before exporting the result.

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2
  • It might be a start, but people spend years learning how to master tracks for release or radio
    – Tetsujin
    Oct 1, 2017 at 17:48
  • No. Why normalizing was ever invented I don't understand. The asker really needs to understand what mastering is and how compression and limiting are used.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Oct 1, 2017 at 18:24

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