a peak hold circuit for a gain control signal is disclosed for use with an apparatus for recording information on and / or reproducing information from an optical recording medium by scanning the optical recording medium with a condensed light beam . the apparatus includes an adjusting device for adjusting a focusing and / or tracking condition of the light beam , an error detecting device for detecting a focusing error signal and / or a tracking error signal from light of the light beam reflected or transmitted by the optical recording medium , a feedback control circuit for feeding back an output from the error detecting device to the adjusting device , a light quantity detecting device for detecting light quantity of the reflected or transmitted light , a gain control device for controlling gain of the feedback control circuit in accordance with the output of the light quantity detecting device , and a switching device for selectively switching the ouput of the light quantity detecting device to a hold condition or to a through condition .