Garageband Tutorial: MIXING WITH HEADROOM - Mastering Essentials

[@busstopbench]

Your videos are so great! Thank you for all of your assistances! I hope all is well!

[@Afurthyclays]

A very essential, yet overlooked procedure. Thank you. Preach! 😎

[@last3songsbeyond21]

I watched 10 of your tutorial videos and it helped me start with the right thing on my garageband. I thank you for that! Still have difficulty in the mixing up to mastering but i know that following the tips you sahred with us, I can make it. God Bless! 🤟🏼🙏🏼

[@pradeepbandara4490]

Thank you so much sir...

[@robertjohnson7630]

Thank you!!! thank you!!! thank you for this video!!!!

[@58frogs]

I've just tried this exact process on a track I've recorded over the weekend and I'm so impressed with the difference it made (I've posted both the original and remix versions on KZbin under the title "I'll be fine"). I have so much more clarity of every single instrument, the drums stand out more and there's so much less muddiness (a common feature of most of my music!). Thank you again Lewin - it's makes sense now I know how it's done. Keep up the great work!!

[@GaragebandandBeyond]

That is sooooo awesome!!!! I'll go check it it now. Glad I could help.

[@58frogs]

@@GaragebandandBeyond Cheers Lewin!

[@robbietuckermusic]

Another great video!

[@nigelcarren]

Can I be truly honest here, I am rubbish at mastering, so this is the one tutorial I am going to follow 100% as it seems to make sense.... and it if does not work, this is all your fault! 😉 Thank you

[@OKAYIMTURNT]

Ty king

[@abundanciauniversal4298]

Thanks great tips, I really like you videos.

[@joshgatesmusic78]

Hey Lewin great video! I always struggle with my final mixes sounding more quiet than professionally done mixes. Will this trick help with that?

[@TrainerConnor]

I enjoy your videos, Lewin! I have a question for you: Do you have a video on how to make a song utilizing only MIDI (green colored tracks)? Or possibly a way to create a drum track on your own? Thanks!

[@joeeldred8304]

Hey Lewin always enjoy your videos. Question: If your levels are all too high can you turn them all down by selecting them all and turn one down thus not losing your mix. Or can you just turn down the master volume to a correct level then master the track?

[@tjbaysinger8504]

Hey, Lewin. Genuine question. Would you recommend -5dB as a new standard starting point for drum levels? In previous videos you were adamant about leaving drum levels at 0dB and working around that. I know as we learn and practice something, our knowledge and understanding of things changes, so I'm just curious if this may be the case and you are recommending this now as a new safe starting place? I did a recent mix last month with the drums at 0dB and I had a hell of a time trying to find some headroom, so I am open to this new advice. lol. I don't know if I was afraid I would ruin my drum sound if I lowered it, or what. Sticking by the gospel, I suppose. Just curious about the new take on it. I do need to experiment and make mistakes more, that's the best way to learn. Anyway I appreciate all the information you're constantly sharing with us. You've been a huge inspiration and guide in me getting back into recording music. So thank you, Lewin!

[@GaragebandandBeyond]

This method is something that I have come up with over the last year doing “MusicMonday”. Sometimes I still do start with the drums at 0db, but it’s kind of rare to be honest. I will add this: the song that came out this week started at the -5db point on the drums, but ended up at +.7 dB, but starting low definitely helped.

[@tjbaysinger8504]

​@@GaragebandandBeyond Awesome. I will definitely be working on this. Thanks again man!

[@Paul_Stillo]

Hi there! I'm kind of new to the world of Garageband. I've been mainly using my iPhone version and now I'm slowly trying to get used to the OS version. There's still a lot I need to learn! One main difference between the two, of course is the lack of any master faders/meters in the iOS version. I can't seem to find an answer to this, but what is the difference between the main fader at the top of the app's screen and the one that appears when you choose "Show Master Track"? They appear to be independent of each other. Thanks.

[@timjones1240]

This video is gold, thank you for sharing! Btw, is this song available to listen to somewhere? Loving it, recognize Sammy’s voice from “kill you with kindness” !!!!

[@tonygraham4939]

Plenty of headroom and a box of LEGOs in the back room. Ha ha. Just messing😁

[@Paul_Stillo]

Hello again - thanks for the great tips. I can't remember if I asked this already (forgive me if I have)... After you've gone through the work described in this video, do you normally "export projects at full volume" in the GB preferences? Do you save as AIF or WAV? Cheers.

[@Paul_Stillo]

PS... I can't believe how easy you make mastering look! LOL

[@tonygraham4939]

Why don't you like the exciter? They got it in logic? I know you use logic now🤗

[@barneymiller5488]

Question. The only other thing I wished you'd covered here was that final limiter. Is the Garageband limiter a "brick wall" limiter? You say it's okay for it to hit red in the mastering stage, but how do we know if it's actually going over peak? Or is that what we'd need the VU and / or RMS meters for? Also, follow up, I've been reading and seeing all this stuff about "LUFS". It's like a loudness measurement as opposed to "peak". Right? I kinda' get it but do you have any thoughts on that? Great video as always. Thanks Lewin!

[@nathanel9359]

Hi Lewin, great video. I'm just dipping my toes into EQ, mastering, etc. and have a question about headroom/mastering. When recording and mixing, we want -5dB of headroom and absolutely no peaking, but when mastering, it's okay to have peaking as we increase the gain and make the track louder? I can't wait to use what I've learned from this channel to start recording again! Sorry for the late question!

[@GaragebandandBeyond]

Nathan yes you got it! Keep in mind that the -5db is a suggestion, something simple to work around. It's not written in stone anywhere. The overall point is to make sure that you have room to work with. And yes, when mastering you will start hitting the red. It's REALLY helpful if you have some real meters to read. There are some free ones out there. I like the MvMeter2, because you can also read the RMS figures and on that you want around -10RMS for mastering.

[@macjeffff]

@@GaragebandandBeyond You had the limiter selected in the master track. Can you tell us how you had it configured? I was thinking -0.2, but I'm curious how you had yours set. Thanks for your great tutorials!

[@talpluznik8610]

Hey lewin! how do you change the colors of the regions (or how do you get that purple color?)

[@andrewpatterson2708]

Do you want mix with all the tracks, or do u mix down to one track and mix that?

[@GaragebandandBeyond]

You can't mix anything if it's all been reduced to one track. You HAVE to mix all the tracks, before you export it into 1.

[@JDCottonMusic]

So, the mixing pneumonic is “no red in the head” ?