Quick Noob Question. So i got a motu interface. So my mic gain control is done via cuemix etc.
 
When laying laying vocals down (rap) I have alot of emotion change on how i do it etc. and like sometimes, a middle of a verse will maybe go into a phrase where its ALOT louder that the previous part and it clips hard.  ike angry/agreesive type loudness i guess. idk what to call it. and then like everything before hand might be abit quieter and not close to clipping. If there a way to control this? or sort it out? Like i kinda wished the compressor plugin just prevented it and compressed it instantly. to a certain degree. but yeah, **** clips. then each time i have to do the whole thing again or just not really have the emotion / loud im putting in there. so it kinda takes away from it abit.
 
Yeah, turning my mic gain down seems to make the previous part to quiet and stuff. Plus im not a huge person for punching in on just single sentences and stuff. 

Keep in mind that DSP processing happens after the A/D converter on all audio interfaces. It can't be helped.  We often record at 24 bits and lower the input so this wont happen. Or use a hardware limiter/compressor before the signal gets to the A/D converter. 

John
Or use a hardware limiter/compressor before the signal gets to the A/D converter. 

+2, even an inexpensive one is better than none at all.

You say it's clipping.
 
Where is it clipping?
 
Just because your track meter goes into the red, this does not indicate clipping at your converters. Floating point math is very forgiving, all you need to do is lower your track faders or use compression/limiting just to make sure your main outs don't clip. This is where your floating point data is converted to fixed point and it's at this point where digital distortion must be avoided.
 
If it's your mic pre that's clipping it's a different matter and you have no choice to either insert a hardware compressor or jack your input gain down to a suitable level

You can record the softer parts first, then go back and record the more aggressive parts separately with the gain down so you don't clip.

Go through your entire signal chain and look at each gain stage to see where exactly you are clipping. If its before your A/D converter, this must be fixed with either lowering something or everything before the converter and/or using some sort of hardware compression/limiter.
 
But I would not use a compressor or limiter when recording because in 2bit recording, there is NO NEED to be recording this hot. Your peak can be anywhere between -6dB and above -20dB. So you can have your peak at -22dB and it will sound the same as if it was recorded at -0.01dB.
 
24bit has 256 times the resolution than 16bit recording, so do not record HOT Hot Hot!!
 
Thank me!
CJ