Hi.
I'm new to Librivox and have been asked to edit my 1-Minute Test by lowering the dB to 89dB and to also record in Mono, not Stereo.
I'm also just getting familiar with the new version of Garage Band (10.3.2) and have run into obstacles completing my editing tasks. The Librivox forum Wikipedia help page for Garage Band only shows steps and screenshots from an earlier version of GB and thus I cannot answer my questions.
Here are my questions:
1) I'm being asked to present my mp3 using a decimal of 89db, but GB 10.3.2 only shows that the range runs from -infiinity dB to +6dB. How do I set the track so that the dB is correct?
2) How can I take an existing recorded track and make sure that it is recording (and recorded) in Mono (other than just seeing a single waveform in the track)? Or is that it the only way to tell?
Thanks!
billyp
Garage Band 10.3.2 Questions
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annise
- LibriVox Admin Team
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- Joined: April 3rd, 2008, 3:55 am
- Location: Melbourne,Australia
It's always been difficult to get help from GB users as most people find Audacity better for voice work - it's a while since I tried to get good instructions from users and maybe the newer versions are better, but the recurring reply I got was "Tell them to use Audacity. I started using GB and wished I'd changed earlier"
But hopefully things have changed and it is now possible to save not in stereo, just don't be disappointed if you don't get help, we still want you, and would love to help, we just may not know the answer.
Anne
But hopefully things have changed and it is now possible to save not in stereo, just don't be disappointed if you don't get help, we still want you, and would love to help, we just may not know the answer.
Anne
what i answered and saw the last days in 1 minute tests, most people with macs use audacity, too.
some record in gb, and export the file to edit it in audacity - which is a lot of work..
what i saw in the old gb-tutorials, you have to set the correct settings in several places of gb, to get the export dialogue to acceptable results.
in audacity, it's more the other way round, there are just two settings to be made, the rest you can change in the export dialogue.
what i can say, is: apple has wonderful helppages, also regarding garageband.
but i cannot link the english version, as im austrian...
...so, it's all very complicated for me, too.
and last but not least, im not a gb-user, also.
and i have to say it: i would prefer to use audacity and checker, as they both run on this platform.
(im using ubuntu linux and i love to use them...)
some record in gb, and export the file to edit it in audacity - which is a lot of work..
what i saw in the old gb-tutorials, you have to set the correct settings in several places of gb, to get the export dialogue to acceptable results.
in audacity, it's more the other way round, there are just two settings to be made, the rest you can change in the export dialogue.
what i can say, is: apple has wonderful helppages, also regarding garageband.
but i cannot link the english version, as im austrian...
...so, it's all very complicated for me, too.
and last but not least, im not a gb-user, also.
and i have to say it: i would prefer to use audacity and checker, as they both run on this platform.
(im using ubuntu linux and i love to use them...)
cheers
wolfi
reader/12275
wolfi
reader/12275
Garageband doesn't seem to be made for such simple recordings as we need for archive/LibriVox 
For help, you might find something here:
https://support.apple.com/garageband
But Checker is supposed to run on a Mac, too, as it is just a little Java Script and therefore independent from the platform. It tells you all you need - volume, bitrate, sample rate, noise, channels, ...
For help, you might find something here:
https://support.apple.com/garageband
On my system (Linux, but it shouldn't be too far from the new Mac OS) I can right-click on a file in the filemanager and have a look at the properties. If it has 1 channel, it's mono, if it has 2, probably stereo
But Checker is supposed to run on a Mac, too, as it is just a little Java Script and therefore independent from the platform. It tells you all you need - volume, bitrate, sample rate, noise, channels, ...
Thanks to everybody for the information. This is a very responsive and helpful forum.
After all that's been shared, I'll try Audacity. I've used it before and do find it easy to use.
Thanks again and I'm glad to be working with all of you.
billyp
After all that's been shared, I'll try Audacity. I've used it before and do find it easy to use.
Thanks again and I'm glad to be working with all of you.
billyp
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LikeManyWaters
- Posts: 787
- Joined: January 15th, 2018, 2:50 pm
- Location: Arizona
Hi billyp,
I've been using GarageBand successfully for several books now and will try to help.
I'm using 10.3.2 now. (I just updated and it looks the same).
I'm using macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 on a 2013 MacBookPro using the built-in microphone.
I use my walk-in closet as a "recording studio" for it's echo-absorbing qualities.
Under your Mac's System Preferences; Sound; Input; make sure "use ambient noise reduction" is checked. It sounds so much better.
Basically, you have to combine using iTunes and GarageBand to get a mono file.
First, open iTunes, go to iTunes Preferences...
in "General" tab click "Import Settings..."
Import Using: MP3 Encoder
Setting: Custom
Stereo Bit Rate: 256 kbps (i know, we want mono, but you have to do it this way)
UNcheck: Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding (VBR) Quality: Highest
Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz
Channels: Mono
click OK, click OK, click OK
In GarageBand:
Make sure you have joined all the edited regions of your track.
(command+A selects all regions in a track and command+J joins them together.)
Make sure the track you wish to export is selected and unmuted.
(The track region will be blue with a white border when selected and unmuted.)
Make sure any other tracks are muted.
(I keep multiple chapters in the same file as different tracks and mute them when not working with them.)
Share menu, "Song to iTunes..."
Title: (this should be the final name for your file, i.e. - fromjesttoearnest_01_roe_128kb WITHOUT .mp3 on the end)
Quality: Highest Quality (this should be already the default)
CHECK: "Export cycle area only, or length of selected regions" (important if you keep multiple tracks for chapters)
iTunes will open automatically when export is finished and start playing your file.
Select file in iTunes that was imported.
(Stop it from playing and click on it to select this file. It will be named with your "Title" given in GarageBand.)
go to File, Convert, Create MP3 Version
(iTunes will have created a second file, THIS is the mono file)
Select newly created file, "right click" (ctrl+click) choose Show in Finder...
Now you know where the new MONO file is. It will automatically have the .mp3 extension added.
I move mine to a separate LibriVox folder on my desktop.
Then, i delete the file imported into iTunes (as it is a .m4a file and not useable by LibriVox) to keep iTunes uncluttered.
To check if the mp3 is indeed correct, select it and "control+click" choose Get Info
under More Info: tab it should say Audio channels: 1
You can also run it through Checker to confirm all the other specs too.
Opening GarageBand for the first time:
New Project, choose "Empty Project" (not "Voice" as it adds some effects you don't need)
choose Audio, Input: input 1 (should already be selected)
My instrument is connected with: Built-in Microphone, click "Create"
Double-click Track title ("Audio 1" is default) and re-name as you please (Chapter 01, etc.)
Every time I add a new Track I hide a couple of thing that pop-up:
under "VIEW" I "hide library" "hide smart controls" and "show editor"
At the top, I slide the Master Volume to +2.0 dB (but you may not have to do this, my voice is just quiet).
________________
OH, just saw that you've switched to audacity in your one-minute test thread.
But if you decided to try GB again, maybe this will help.
Being a bit of a MacHead, I definitely find GB nice to work with once I got the initial settings right & learned how to do it.
I've been using GarageBand successfully for several books now and will try to help.
I'm using 10.3.2 now. (I just updated and it looks the same).
I'm using macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 on a 2013 MacBookPro using the built-in microphone.
I use my walk-in closet as a "recording studio" for it's echo-absorbing qualities.
Under your Mac's System Preferences; Sound; Input; make sure "use ambient noise reduction" is checked. It sounds so much better.
Basically, you have to combine using iTunes and GarageBand to get a mono file.
First, open iTunes, go to iTunes Preferences...
in "General" tab click "Import Settings..."
Import Using: MP3 Encoder
Setting: Custom
Stereo Bit Rate: 256 kbps (i know, we want mono, but you have to do it this way)
UNcheck: Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding (VBR) Quality: Highest
Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz
Channels: Mono
click OK, click OK, click OK
In GarageBand:
Make sure you have joined all the edited regions of your track.
(command+A selects all regions in a track and command+J joins them together.)
Make sure the track you wish to export is selected and unmuted.
(The track region will be blue with a white border when selected and unmuted.)
Make sure any other tracks are muted.
(I keep multiple chapters in the same file as different tracks and mute them when not working with them.)
Share menu, "Song to iTunes..."
Title: (this should be the final name for your file, i.e. - fromjesttoearnest_01_roe_128kb WITHOUT .mp3 on the end)
Quality: Highest Quality (this should be already the default)
CHECK: "Export cycle area only, or length of selected regions" (important if you keep multiple tracks for chapters)
iTunes will open automatically when export is finished and start playing your file.
Select file in iTunes that was imported.
(Stop it from playing and click on it to select this file. It will be named with your "Title" given in GarageBand.)
go to File, Convert, Create MP3 Version
(iTunes will have created a second file, THIS is the mono file)
Select newly created file, "right click" (ctrl+click) choose Show in Finder...
Now you know where the new MONO file is. It will automatically have the .mp3 extension added.
I move mine to a separate LibriVox folder on my desktop.
Then, i delete the file imported into iTunes (as it is a .m4a file and not useable by LibriVox) to keep iTunes uncluttered.
To check if the mp3 is indeed correct, select it and "control+click" choose Get Info
under More Info: tab it should say Audio channels: 1
You can also run it through Checker to confirm all the other specs too.
Opening GarageBand for the first time:
New Project, choose "Empty Project" (not "Voice" as it adds some effects you don't need)
choose Audio, Input: input 1 (should already be selected)
My instrument is connected with: Built-in Microphone, click "Create"
Double-click Track title ("Audio 1" is default) and re-name as you please (Chapter 01, etc.)
Every time I add a new Track I hide a couple of thing that pop-up:
under "VIEW" I "hide library" "hide smart controls" and "show editor"
At the top, I slide the Master Volume to +2.0 dB (but you may not have to do this, my voice is just quiet).
________________
OH, just saw that you've switched to audacity in your one-minute test thread.
But if you decided to try GB again, maybe this will help.
Being a bit of a MacHead, I definitely find GB nice to work with once I got the initial settings right & learned how to do it.
Last edited by LikeManyWaters on December 30th, 2018, 9:45 am, edited 3 times in total.
April
There'll be for sure others to come who use GarageBand, so thank you so much for that help,LikeManyWaters wrote: ↑December 29th, 2018, 10:10 pm But if you decided to try GB again, maybe this will help.
Maybe one of the admins can put that in the wiki?
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LikeManyWaters
- Posts: 787
- Joined: January 15th, 2018, 2:50 pm
- Location: Arizona
I've just updated to 10.3.2 and it appears to still be just as I described above.
I'm thinking of making a page (googledoc or the like) on how I use GB for LibriVox. If I do, I'll post a link back here...
I'm thinking of making a page (googledoc or the like) on how I use GB for LibriVox. If I do, I'll post a link back here...
April
Hi everyone,
I just found out about this forum through an admin, and it was really helpful! I was having some trouble with my GarageBand recording, and this proved to be ultra useful for me~
I do have one small question that I hope maybe one of you could answer. So right now, my audio is too loud, and I want to reduce the volume by about 3 dB. I did reduce it in the Master Volume Slider, but when I import it into iTunes, the volume is still just as loud. Did I reduce the volume in the wrong way? Or is it some other problem?
Thankss
Sophia
I just found out about this forum through an admin, and it was really helpful! I was having some trouble with my GarageBand recording, and this proved to be ultra useful for me~
I do have one small question that I hope maybe one of you could answer. So right now, my audio is too loud, and I want to reduce the volume by about 3 dB. I did reduce it in the Master Volume Slider, but when I import it into iTunes, the volume is still just as loud. Did I reduce the volume in the wrong way? Or is it some other problem?
Thankss
Sophia
Look if there is some option at exporting or in iTune to normalize or so.
Changing volume with the master usually is already a good idea, but when I export, I do have the option (as well in Audacity as in Ardour) to normalize the file again, so that it is saved with a different volume.
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LikeManyWaters
- Posts: 787
- Joined: January 15th, 2018, 2:50 pm
- Location: Arizona
Under my Mac's System Preferences; Sound; Input, the "Input Volume" slider is exactly half-way. In GarageBand, I have to set my Master Volume slider to +2.0 dB.
What is your system's Input Volume set at? You could possibly slide it a little to the left (decrease it), and maybe that would help in GB.
I know what you're talking about, though. When I export sometimes I have to snatch my earphones out and yell "OW!!!" because it is louder in iTunes than in GB!!! Forgot to turn it down in time!
I have noticed sometimes I have to restart my system if the waveform/sound seems drastically lower than normal, whether due to OS / software updates or hardware issues I don't know.
April
Yes! I found a checkbox for normalization of volume in advanced settings. Thank you so much!moniaqua wrote: ↑January 1st, 2019, 6:06 amLook if there is some option at exporting or in iTune to normalize or so.
Changing volume with the master usually is already a good idea, but when I export, I do have the option (as well in Audacity as in Ardour) to normalize the file again, so that it is saved with a different volume.
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shelleturner
- Posts: 47
- Joined: January 25th, 2019, 10:57 pm
- Location: Washington State
I've been following this post closely and have cut and paste the info to refer to when I start recording with Garageband. thanks
UPDATE 1.29.19: Went with Audacity. Much easier with all the help. Nice program.
shelleturner
UPDATE 1.29.19: Went with Audacity. Much easier with all the help. Nice program.
shelleturner
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ElleDeeEsse
- Posts: 15
- Joined: January 29th, 2019, 8:16 pm
- Location: Sydney, Australia
I wonder if any Garageband super-users might be able to help me. I have made three successful recordings so far. Went to use GB just now and although I have not changed anything, for some reason it is not recognising my voice input (not sure quite how to express that). I have tested the inbuilt mic by using the "dictate to text" feature in System preferences and it worked fine so I know my mic is working. What obscure setting am I missing?