How much compression you’ll want to apply depends entirely on the type of instrument or genre of music you’re working with. You can then raise the gain of your compressed track, having reduced any peaks or troughs in the volume. In a nut-shell, applying compression to a track in Garageband lowers the volume of loud sounds to the same level as the quieter sounds.

In this tutorial, we’ll look at how to get to grips with Garageband’s built in compressor as well as how it works on different instruments. Seeing that it’s back in action, I thought it a good time to update that original article. It wasn’t until the latest 10.0.3 update that Apple added their good old built in compressor Audio Unit back into Garageband ( along with a ton of cool other stuff too). I noted that while it wasn’t the most feature rich of compressors out there, it did a sterling job of getting the basics right.Īfter Apple made the frankly bizarre decision to remove the built in compressor plug in from Garageband 10, we were left with a single incredibly vague Smart Control compressor ‘dial'( I wasn’t a fan of it…) Way back in 2012 I put together a definitive guide on how to get the most from Garageband’s built in compressor. It may not be the most glamorous, flashy or exciting effect in Garageband’s AU plug-in arsenal, but rest assured – the built in compressor is one of the most useful available to you.

How to compress vocals