mp3 volume normalizer linux: How to fix quiet mp3 files

Well, lemme tell ya, this here computer stuff, it ain’t easy. But I gotta figure out this MP3 volume normalizer Linux thing. My grandkids, they put all this music on my little player, and one song is quiet as a mouse, the next one’s loud enough to wake the dead! It’s a real pain in the you-know-what. So, I’m tryin’ to make all them songs the same loudness, ya know? This here Linux thing, it’s like a whole other language. But I ain’t givin’ up!

I heard tell there’s somethin’ called MP3Gain. Sounds like a fancy medicine, don’t it? They say it can fix up these MP3 things so they all play at the same volume. Not just makin’ the loud parts quieter, no siree. It does somethin’ different. Analyzes the whole durn song, like a doctor lookin’ at a patient, and figures out how loud it feels, not just how loud it is. If that makes any sense. And I guess that’s important for this MP3 volume normalizer Linux business.

Some folks say you gotta mess with them tags, these ReplayGain things, in them MP3 files. Like puttin’ labels on jars of jam, I reckon. So the player knows how loud to play ’em. And apparently, this MP3Gain thing can do that without messin’ up the music. Lossless, they call it. Like, it don’t lose anythin’. That’s good, ’cause I don’t want my music soundin’ any worse than it already does!

• First thing, you gotta get this MP3Gain thing on your computer.
• Then, you gotta tell it which songs you want it to fix.
• And then, you gotta tell it how loud you want ’em all to be.
• Then you just let ‘er rip, I guess!

Now, there’s other ways to do this MP3 volume normalizer Linux thing too, I hear. Somethin’ about normalize-audio, and some other fancy names I can’t rightly recall. But MP3Gain, that’s the one that keeps poppin’ up, like a weed in my garden. This one fella said something about “mediamonkey” but that just sounds like silly talk to me. Monkey’s playin’ music? Bah! Although, it does the job “quite nicely”.

Some of these young folks, they talk about “peak normalization.” Sounds like climbin’ a mountain to me. But from what I gather, that just makes the loudest part of the song quieter, and that ain’t really what we want. We want all the songs to sound about the same loudness, start to finish. That’s what this here MP3 volume normalizer Linux is all about, I reckon.

One time, this nice young man tried to help me. He said my music was too quiet, somethin’ about 10-12 dB lower. Don’t ask me what a dB is. Sounds like a disease! But he said that’s why some songs are quiet and some are loud. Commercial songs, he called ’em. Like they’re sellin’ somethin’. Maybe they are! Who knows these days.

Seems like this MP3Gain is the best thing since sliced bread. It’s free, which is always good. And it’s supposed to be easy to use. Now, I ain’t no computer whiz, but I can usually figure things out if they ain’t too complicated. And from what I can tell there is not an easy way to do this in Linux, ‘specially not for us folks who ain’t comfortable with them command line things. You know, them black screens with all the typin’. Gives me the heebie-jeebies!

I just want all my dang songs to play at the same volume! Is that too much to ask? I don’t want to be jumpin’ out of my skin every time a new song comes on. And I don’t want to have to keep fiddlin’ with that volume knob. This MP3 volume normalizer Linux thing, it’s supposed to solve all that. And make my USB stick with all the music on it play nice.

This is important, ’cause I like to listen to my tunes when I’m doin’ my chores. Keeps me company, ya know? And it’s nice to have somethin’ to tap your foot to when you’re shellin’ peas or snappin’ beans. And you can’t do that if one song’s whisperin’ and the next one’s hollerin’ at ya. You need that MP3 volume normalizer Linux to make it all sound right.

So, I’m gonna give this MP3Gain a try. I’ll let ya know how it goes. Maybe it’ll be a piece of cake. Or maybe it’ll be a big ol’ mess. But one thing’s for sure, I ain’t gonna let this MP3 volume normalizer Linux thing beat me. I’m gonna get those songs to play nice, one way or another! I hope it can be done automatically, ’cause I ain’t got all day!