Q: I recently completed a song in GarageBand, but when I transferred it into iTunes, the volume was much lower than other iTunes songs. A friend suggested that I turn on Sound Check in the iTunes Playback Preferences, as that's supposed to adjust song playback volumes to the same level. But that hasn't really helped. Got any ideas?

A: Sound Check is meant to even out volume differences within a Playlist, so it's not really going to help you. When you are mixing your sound, you should be keeping an eye on the GarageBand master volume, which is at the bottom of the screen, to the right of the transport and time/tempo displays. You should see your audio just barely get to the highest levels, which is indicated by the red left and right meter displays. If you go above the maximum volume (which will likely end up producing nasty digital clipping), the dot at the right side of the display lights up red and stays lit until you go back to the beginning of your song, lower the volumes and play again. If you're getting good levels, mix it and send it to iTunes and see how it stacks up now. If it's closer, you're on the right track. Garage Band allows you to access the Apple (AudioUnits) AUPeakLimiter on a per track basis. However, you can also mix your song to iTunes, then import it back into Garage Band as a stereo track, then use the AUPeakLimiter to maximize the volume of the entire song without exceeding safe levels.