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Author Topic: Let's talk clipping  (Read 50740 times)

azura_music

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Let's talk clipping
« on: January 06, 2016, 04:12:33 am »
Hey guys I'm Ethan (Azura). Basically just wanted to know what your opinions on using clipping as a mix technique are/if you even use it at all. I personally find that a little clipping on individual channels can really fatten it up, and often times I'll use it instead of using a distortion plugin. However, I have had some friends that simply refuse to use it at all, and I feel like that has kinda been the result of there being so many people over the years saying red automatically equals bad. Anybody else use it often or are most of you guys totally against it?
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clearskys

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2016, 04:15:28 am »
Yup, don't worry about clipping before the master channel. Anything on that front is fair game, don't sweat it. Use a hard/soft clip to keep headroom levels down before hitting the master buss though - that'll help you squeeze out any extra decibels going into maximizing.

But yeah, I guess you already know - keep your master channel (pre-fx) below zero at all costs. Unless you're going for that +0.5/1.0 db of distortion that some records have.
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Mat_Zo

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2016, 04:16:04 am »
Clipping is absolutely a great way to fatten up individual channels, what you should never do is clip the master. Other than that clipping is a great tool
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Blakelight

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2016, 04:16:16 am »
Using it for mastering or groups but not for every channel it can really mess up your sound add unwanted artifact and fucked up your mix really quickly
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daydreamer

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2016, 04:19:00 am »
i, personally, am a huge fan of clipping. to me, clipping is like another version of vinyl pops and clicks. it gives it that slight bit of imperfection and rawness that i really enjoy in a song. but of course, all things in moderation. i make sure not to go overboard with it.
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soupandreas

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2016, 04:23:29 am »
it's a style more than anything. if clipping sounds good to your ears then use it, using it isn't going to save your mix from being bad, but it can turn your mix into a brickwalled mess if you go overboard.

here's a good example of heavily stylized usage of clipping, which walks the line between artistic license and bad practice: https://soundcloud.com/loscobeats/xxxx-1

even if you don't like it as an artistic choice, it's hard to completely avoid clipping. often times when mastering you can find that some controlled clipping sounds better than a crappy limiter, and if it's well done it won't be noticeable at all.
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imreach

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2016, 04:26:13 am »
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 04:17:44 am
Quote from: Mat_Zo on January 06, 2016, 04:16:04 am
Clipping is absolutely a great way to fatten up individual channels, what you should never do is clip the master. Other than that clipping is a great tool

Weirdly enough, if you listen to Onra, the guy has some super minor clipping post-master to give it analogue warmth...whatever that means, LOL

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you can get warmth from digital clipping.
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azura_music

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2016, 04:27:35 am »
Quote from: daydreamer on January 06, 2016, 04:19:00 am
i, personally, am a huge fan of clipping. to me, clipping is like another version of vinyl pops and clicks. it gives it that slight bit of imperfection and rawness that i really enjoy in a song. but of course, all things in moderation. i make sure not to go overboard with it.
yeah man i feel you on loving clipping, for me ill use it on tracks that i want to be more aggressive and fat. sometimes ill bus all my synths together, and export them clipping kinda hard as a wav into a sort of synth stem, then process after and put it into my mix. i dont know if thats how you do it but ive definitely achieved the results i want from doing that.
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clearskys

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #8 on: January 06, 2016, 04:27:50 am »
Quote from: imreach on January 06, 2016, 04:26:13 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 04:17:44 am
Quote from: Mat_Zo on January 06, 2016, 04:16:04 am
Clipping is absolutely a great way to fatten up individual channels, what you should never do is clip the master. Other than that clipping is a great tool

Weirdly enough, if you listen to Onra, the guy has some super minor clipping post-master to give it analogue warmth...whatever that means, LOL

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you can get warmth from digital clipping.

Of course not, it's just something Youtube listeners pick up on and seem to attribute a whole lot to. LOL.
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imreach

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2016, 04:33:09 am »
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 04:27:50 am
Quote from: imreach on January 06, 2016, 04:26:13 am
Quote from: clearskys on January 06, 2016, 04:17:44 am
Quote from: Mat_Zo on January 06, 2016, 04:16:04 am
Clipping is absolutely a great way to fatten up individual channels, what you should never do is clip the master. Other than that clipping is a great tool

Weirdly enough, if you listen to Onra, the guy has some super minor clipping post-master to give it analogue warmth...whatever that means, LOL


Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you can get warmth from digital clipping.

Of course not, it's just something Youtube listeners pick up on and seem to attribute a whole lot to. LOL.

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Blakelight

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2016, 04:34:53 am »
Quote from: Mat_Zo on January 06, 2016, 04:16:04 am
Clipping is absolutely a great way to fatten up individual channels, what you should never do is clip the master. Other than that clipping is a great tool

Why not clipping the master ? I've seen some descent Mastering engineer getting a little bit of soft clipping (T racks one for example) on their master to get some more warmth  ???
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imreach

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #11 on: January 06, 2016, 04:37:31 am »
Quote from: Blakelight on January 06, 2016, 04:34:53 am
Quote from: Mat_Zo on January 06, 2016, 04:16:04 am
Clipping is absolutely a great way to fatten up individual channels, what you should never do is clip the master. Other than that clipping is a great tool

Why not clipping the master ? I've seen some descent Mastering engineer getting a little bit of soft clipping (T racks one for example) on their master to get some more warmth  ???

The loudest things in my track are always soft clipped.
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ocularedm

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #12 on: January 06, 2016, 04:39:15 am »
see: oshi
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Kyle King

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #13 on: January 06, 2016, 04:40:01 am »
So is there a particular kind of distortion that is better than another? If I just crank up the channel mixer, it seems like it'll be a lot different that if I use Saturn to beef the sound up until it touches the red.
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Gabriel Blu

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Re: Let's talk clipping
« Reply #14 on: January 06, 2016, 04:40:07 am »
I'm a mad hater when it comes to digital clipping in the mixer. Bleh. I'll allow some clipping in the individual plug ins on the channel but not the channel clipping. Analog on the other hand...
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