Re: Getting back to the basics - levels peaking up into red (barely) ? OK or clipping?
2014/03/26 23:13:54
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I used to not worry about the occasional red, but now I stick with the -12 to -6 peaks.
Remember, you can't unclip a track. You can play it quieter, but the clipping is still there. A distorted electric guitar may mask it some, but it can be fairly obvious with cleaner sounding instruments.
When recording, I stick to a fairly absolute -6 max.
As your project develops, some effects can exaggerate mild clipping, and you may find yourself fighting clicks and gritty, scratchy sounding tracks.
Also, as noted, levels are cumulative. You may have individual tracks peaking in the -18 to -12 range when it's all said and done, to keep the final mix under control.
With judicious use of compression and EQ, you can increase the perceived loudness, without high peaks and clipping.
Set your master bus volume to 0. This tells you what the levels are in the project as a whole, but don't worry too much about it while tracking.
Focus on your source tracks.
If these start out clean, it's much easier to keep the whole project sounding good.
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