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Vocal Clipping


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A question related to recording vocals, something I have wanted to know for a long time... Is it ok to copy a recorded audio region to a new identical track and reduce the volume of each by half as a method to avoid clipping?

 

Or could this have adverse effects? If so, what is a good way to reduce the signal and eliminate clipping without sacrificing the audio's relative volume?

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How can I eat more sugar and not become fat? :lol:

 

Your doubling trick will not help, in fact it won't change anything. If it's clipping, turn the volume down. If it's getting drowned into the other instruments, then turn them down too. If you can't hear your mix anymore, turn up the monitoring volume on your audio interface.

 

If you want to increase the perceived loudness, you can compress or limit the vocals, but that will change the sound.

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Thanks for getting back to me...

 

I see what youre saying.. all my trick does is stop it from going into the red on the individual tracks, but that doesn't matter because the overall output will clip just the same.

 

so i can turn everything down in projects until i get the desired signal level, then bring it all back up to an acceptable level at the end with compressor, limiter, etc on output 1-2. (this way it won't be going into the red?)

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Ok, so it's ok if projects are 5-6 dBs lower than normal until they get to the mastering stage, at which point I can use wave burner to bring everything back up to the level of a typical CD?

 

when you say you wouldn't use compressors or limiters on the output, I assume those will come into play in wave burner..

 

so it looks like I will have a lot to do in wave burner.. what's a good way to learn about that part of the process?

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Ok, so it's ok if projects are 5-6 dBs lower than normal

 

If by "normal" you mean commercially mastered CDs, then you're probably much more than 5 or 6 dB lower than them. Yes, it's ok.

 

Mastering is a complex science and art. You can search this forum for "Mastering" and you'll find hundreds of threads on the topic. You can quickly learn to do a half-decent job, but to truly learn the craft would be like... say learning Cellos. That's why some people (Mastering Engineers) have dedicated their life to learning the art and science behind that craft, and also to collecting some of the most expensive pieces of equipment around (monitors, compressors, EQ, A/D and D/A Convertors, etc etc...). Keep that in mind when you compare your work to theirs. Or if you really need that kind of quality, hire them.

 

Search for "Mastering" and "Loudness"

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got it. and i assume the same goes for mixing..

 

so when i am bouncing versions of projects to compare mixes, the levels are going to be much more than 5 or 6 dB lower than commercially mastered CDs, and I'll just have to crank the volume, and that's ok..

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  • 2 years later...
Hi was just reading this post and am extremely new to Logic- I am using Logic Express 8- are there any threads that give info on mastering? Is the wave burner available on this version of Logic. Remember you're dealing with an absolute novice here!! Any help would be appreciated thanks!!
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