Something's Too Loud! -- How to prevent clipping without killing creative momentum?

This happens so often...

I start building a rhythm (using soft synths), focusing on drums and bass first, maybe some EP or organ... and then to make things sound less "synth", I send them through Guitar Rig or some other noisy plugin, but then a while later I notice that when I put all the tracks together I'm hitting the red and clipping and it sounds awful. It's usually the bass that does it, especially if I have any sort of reverb or Guitar Rig on it.

One approach to preventing clipping would be to carefully go through each track, adjust the volume until it is loud but not clipping, you know, being really deliberate about it.

However, stopping to carefully fix a mix kills creative momentum. I want the same "noisy" characteristics that I get when adding Guitar Rig or reverb, but I don't want clipping. And I want it fixed *now*; I don't want to have to repeatedly fiddle with levels.

Do you know what I mean? You just want to hit a magic button and have the clipping go away, without "nerfing" the mix, and without having to stop and think.

Is there such a magic button? And is it called a limiter (which I never use, mostly due to the name)? Or is there some other clipping-preventer that I can use? Do I just need to lower the volume of everything?

I know it sounds like I'm being lazy and want an easy way out of a jam caused by my own irresponsible

mixing... and that is absolute right.  I want a quick fix which does not interrupt my creative flow. 

 Is there such a thing?
                
                
            

Here's your magic button.... it's called "Offset Mode". It's the 'O' button. Hit it and you will see a '+' appear after volume and pan on each track. Next quick group all of the audio/synth tracks (don't do the midi tracks) by hitting 'control a', press and hold cntrl then use the mouse to grab the volume of one of your grouped tracks and pull it down say 6dbs or so. This will Offset all tracks together down 6db. You can further adjust how the quick group or other groups react to group changes. eg. absolute, relative, preserve mix gain.. To do this right click the volume area and hit group manager and there you can adjust how the quick group reacts. Hope that helps. Easy way to fix clipping, provide headroom, preserve the gain structure and automation of your mix.... all while maintaining your creative flow. Hope that helps!

By the way, it seems to be reverby bass that is the biggest clipper. I've read places where we're not supposed to put [much] reverb on basses, but when I omit the reverb, the bass doesn't seem to blend in with the other instruments. I find that adding reverb makes the bass sound more "live". Is there a different trick I should be using to get the bass to blend into the mix better?

1. Pull down the master bus fader 3db.
2. Turn up your amplifier.
3. Repeat until satisfactory.

We tend to have our tracks louder than they should be.  A good way to mix is start with all the track's faders pulled down lower than we normally would have them. It then becomes easy to raise each as needed to balance the mix. In other words start low and mix up.  If that wont work for a few tracks that go to their own buss than as a last thing to try lower the trim on that buss. If that is not good enough that is when a limiter should be employed. It should be the very last technique used in order to achieve a balanced mix.  remember it is balance we are really after not loudness. Loudness can be achieved at any time. But should be a concern only toward the end of the mixing process. Or better put off for mastering.





 

Oh no... you gotta leave enough headroom for that stuff. Maybe get your dry input signals set to a good level then when you add your effects take the output gain stuff down within the effect, not your actual input signal. Don't record the effect (there is a process for this but someone smarter than me will have to detail it) just use it for monitoring the track while you play it. Then after you are done recording you have the dry input with all the nuances you would use with the effect and THEN you can add the desired effects and adjust levels in post production. Hopefully that is right and makes sense. It's late and I may be talking through my bum again. Peace.

Tripecac


Sorry, but I'm not actually mixing... I'm in the composing/arranging/recording stage. Just trying to construct ideas. I like "dirtying up" synth patches using Guitar Rig and other noisy effects, but I find that they often make things louder and more likely to clip. Sometimes the clipping isn't evident until I start adding more notes. At that point I want to reduce the clipping quickly, without having to formally mix. I suppose I could lower the faders on everything using the offset method, but I'm wondering if there are other ways to reduce the "loud mud". For example, should I be making reverb a send effect or an insert effect? And how about Guitar Rig? Is there a way to make it easy to adjust the dry/wet value for a given effect? It's easy to simply turn off effects, but often I'd like to just have them a little less prominent. If there were a wet/dry slider right there in the track view, I could adjust it very quickly and move on. However, I don't know of an easy way to do that.

You may think you are not mixing but you are. It may not be the phase you're in but if you have two signals they are being mixed by you. Offset mode should be used when you have automation involved. It can be used for other reasons but why complicate an already complex process.

Using an aux for reverb is the normal way to apply it but it also depends on what you want from the reverb and where you want it.

I'm giving you guidelines not concrete never to be deviated from pontifications. Its a way to approach your project. A frame of mind. Its one I use after years of figuring out how to get a good sound. And listening to others.

One thing that people do is have there levels way too high from the start. Lowering them will make the production go better. This does not mean you should record at a low level. It means that each track has a big fader on it to be used and one good way to use it is by lowering it.

you sure its not the reverb thats cliping,reverb clip makes a nasty noise.
try lowering the feed to your reverb.
sooner or later your going to have to pick an idea..lol
so many being thrown at you.

just remeber as much as you say,i just want to create and fiddle"
unfortunetlly either you do it right the first time so this doesnt come to this or you learn a little more about proper gain staging.

hear me out though,pull the offending tracks out untill the loudest part is on the brink of clipping.
just make certain you didnt record these parts to hot or this is all for nothing my friend.

you only nned a balance for recording right now,your not mixing,dont be so worried about clipping,pull them down,turn the others up.
its a balancing act.a curcus if you will.

I personally use a -6db Offset of everything to start with when mixing especially. It's east to hit "o", quick group, then slide 'em down 6db or so. Press "O" again and everything looks normal again, only you've provide each and every track 6db of headroom. This will eliminate the need to oversquash or loose your mix gain structure. Also during tracking, -6db Offset of tracked synths and audio leaves a little more volume headroom for the track your laying down and trying to hear what you play. Don't offset the one your laying down till your done. I use this lots as 200-300 synth/audio tracks need some headroom. That many tracks recorded hot without going over will start to redline once you start EQing, Compressing, pushing up the musical energy with faders. Offset mode.

1. Pull down the master bus fader 3db. 
 2. Turn up your amplifier. 
 3. Repeat until satisfactory.

Stickman's offered the easiest solution. I would substitute "gain/trim" for "fader", but he and Jonesey are both pointing you to an easy solution.


Jonesey's right: tracks can go into the red without necessarily being a problem. What I would NOT suggest is using a limiter to get the sum of your tracks out of the red. That's going to result in garbage. Yes, put a limiter on, but back off the signal going into it until it's well out of the red and let the limiter bring levels up.

Of course, the best solution - the textbook solution - is to keep all the tracks under control to begin with. But I'll be the first to admit that in practice it doesn't always work out that way and sometimes they just end up too hot. Adjusting them later, after you've started your mix and have added automation and gating and compression, can be problematic. If that happens, just turn down the master trim/gain slider and resolve to do it right the next time.