A small aside from me: THE way to learn to recognise different audio processing is to EXAGGERATE it. Push the signal to the point where it is truly crapping out, then reduce it until you cant hear it. Repeat. This applies to reverb, compression, eq, saturation... anything. First exaggerate, then reduce! hope this helps somebody
This was Very helpful. After watching this I took a handful of different audio samples some that I had recorded with a microphone some with applications pulling audio straight from my systems audio output and threw different clippers and limiters on them and used the utility tool to boost volume on ones so I could really push the limits and hear the changes. I also rearranged the order of which the utility and clippers/limiters were processing the audio to really see the benefits of where to have each plugin do its thing and it was very eye opening and helped me figure out some things I had been struggling to correct such as that final product of a fat wave file and not one that never filled out (or almost filled out) the width of the available range in the wave file like a lot of produced EDM songs. And I know that shouldn't be my goal is to just make my wav file look fat and that is not at all my goal just using it as a visual. I really appreciate content like this as I am eager to learn but there is either a lack of good info on big topics like this or just a ton of advice where your told to use said plug in for something but no explanation as to why. Like the people that will throw 6 OTTs on a channel but not understand why they require so many to get the sound they think they want. Long story short(too late), Thank you for covering topics like this. I love sound design and im still trying to train my ears better from just having music going in the background all the time to actually listening to music and being able to tell what helped someone achieve those results.
@@AudioUniversity So i went back to a song I recently finished and reworked it with this new knowledge and then mastered the track and it is simnifically louder with no distortion. Not only that but I ran my track through distrokids Mastering feature and their mastered version of my track was actually quieter than my master of the track and that is a first.
It's a pretty amazing piece of software! I purchased it today. Next I will try to get the same results with a clipper, limiter and multiband compressor, to see if I can match it. My masterbus never did THIS before ... Really cool to hear one of the developers go in-depth like this. Thanks for the great video : )
35:49 FYI Reaper's volume adjustment has a built in clipper. The second fader sets the clipping threshold. That's why you are not seeing 67 dB on the track meter. It has already been clipped.
@@AudioUniversity Of course, I use a limiter for all production so it is important, but I watch out to not squash all the dynamics out of it. When I can I just shave the tops so to speak.
cringy. you mean the industry of gross commercial sounds / pop etc yuck exactly what is not art usually. loudness try’s to make up for terrible sounds like a cop pushing your head into a copcar ; such an assault on the ear and body but.. no crime (nothing interesting happened !
I sometimes do streams from the garage, would love a deep dive into setting things up so when I speak, I can be heard, but also when I use a power tool, it can be heard, but it greatly reduces the volume instead of having to mute the mic constantly which creates just sections of muted audio.
Yes they make a mix louder, but not better. Clipping makes it sound messy, besides which pushing it louder is no longer any use anyway, because a mix that sounds louder will have the volume adjusted to -14 LUFS or whatever is the standard for Apple who sets the rules now. Therefore it won't end up sounding louder anyway. What you'll get is a lack of the very important dynamics that is the life and soul of the music.
i dunno this partially true yes but lufs isn’t everything in previewed loudness. i’ve made stuff that reaches -9 ish lufs and it’s still not loud as i thought it’d be in comparison
You are taking into consideration only streaming services. There are still instances where people play their music live (and a processed track with clippers etc. will sound louder and be useful to them). Clippers just like any other tool are very useful, especially in electronic dance music and "louder" genres
Hard Clipping sounded really bad. It changed the sound, the kicks sounded much rounder in limiting & in clipping they lost the body. This is what I am noticing in all the hard clipped music.
To be honest, I dont get why You are overdriving the main tone? Driving amplitude its for first highs and harmonical mids... there is a point. 2nd point its the digital stage. Just aftet digital trim. All above a fader its digital.
I don't know if everyone tries to push out of the limit . Loudness war again . Digital mixer with all of plugs and compression and limiter sound very unnatural. Brain gets tired of that after an hour. I hear very unnatural sounds in all your tests. 😮😮😮
Sorry but I just had to jump in here ... Take a close look at the thumbnail for this video. If that's what they're advocating, please take note of the detail and dynamic range lost between the before and after sides of the image .... and they wonder why we think modern music is crap.
@@AudioUniversity Make it sound good ... according to who's definition of "good"? Back in the early 2000s I transcoded my 60s 70s and 80s Vinyl collection to high bitrate MP3s, best we had at the time. I played with the levels until the output files sounded exactly like the vinyl ... in the end I have a collection of over 4,000 MP3s that sound exactly like the vinyl they were sourced from, to the degree that with both playing I would have to look to see which was on the monitors. Not surprisingly the collection ended up being normalized at the alignment level of -16lufs. I then went directly from Vinyl to Digital without giving CDs even a sideways glance, since the few I listened to at the time were totally IN YOUR FACE loud with obvious distortion and a total lack of dynamic range. Add in some AutoTune (no singer is that precise) and Quantization (no metronome is that accurate) and you've completely sent me packing for most of the new music that's out there. So you can correctly observe that my interest in pop music ended in 1999, right at the peak of the Loudness Wars, when the whole musical scene went completely off the rails. I will periodically look at re-masters and re-mixes of some of the better music from the last 20 years and, in fairness, I will allow that while it's slowly getting back to the natural sound of instruments with good range and detail... there's still a very long way to go before I will begin spending money on music again.
Why do we need to make music loud when volume knobs exist? This is all getting too ridiculous. Songs being masterd at -6 lufs is nonsense. The magic is in the harmonics. That is what leads to an emotional connection to a sound. We are taking the creases out.
A small aside from me: THE way to learn to recognise different audio processing is to EXAGGERATE it. Push the signal to the point where it is truly crapping out, then reduce it until you cant hear it. Repeat.
This applies to reverb, compression, eq, saturation... anything. First exaggerate, then reduce! hope this helps somebody
interesting process. I'll try this, thanks
This is exactly how I apply compression it’s very useful to max out the threshold and ratio then turn it up to set the attack and release
Simple as that. Well done and great teacher
Very good video. I've always had a general understanding of clippers and limiters but now with this I understand it a lot better and deeper.
Glad to hear that?
This channel is a treasure trove
This was Very helpful. After watching this I took a handful of different audio samples some that I had recorded with a microphone some with applications pulling audio straight from my systems audio output and threw different clippers and limiters on them and used the utility tool to boost volume on ones so I could really push the limits and hear the changes. I also rearranged the order of which the utility and clippers/limiters were processing the audio to really see the benefits of where to have each plugin do its thing and it was very eye opening and helped me figure out some things I had been struggling to correct such as that final product of a fat wave file and not one that never filled out (or almost filled out) the width of the available range in the wave file like a lot of produced EDM songs. And I know that shouldn't be my goal is to just make my wav file look fat and that is not at all my goal just using it as a visual.
I really appreciate content like this as I am eager to learn but there is either a lack of good info on big topics like this or just a ton of advice where your told to use said plug in for something but no explanation as to why. Like the people that will throw 6 OTTs on a channel but not understand why they require so many to get the sound they think they want.
Long story short(too late),
Thank you for covering topics like this. I love sound design and im still trying to train my ears better from just having music going in the background all the time to actually listening to music and being able to tell what helped someone achieve those results.
You should be proud of yourself for taking the time to put this theory into practice! Nice! Glad you found the video helpful.
@@AudioUniversity So i went back to a song I recently finished and reworked it with this new knowledge and then mastered the track and it is simnifically louder with no distortion. Not only that but I ran my track through distrokids Mastering feature and their mastered version of my track was actually quieter than my master of the track and that is a first.
At least an explicative deep video about Clippers with real experts. Well done !
It's a pretty amazing piece of software! I purchased it today.
Next I will try to get the same results with a clipper, limiter and multiband compressor, to see if I can match it. My masterbus never did THIS before ...
Really cool to hear one of the developers go in-depth like this. Thanks for the great video : )
I'm literally was waiting this video, thanks!
35:49 FYI Reaper's volume adjustment has a built in clipper. The second fader sets the clipping threshold. That's why you are not seeing 67 dB on the track meter. It has already been clipped.
this is part of my every day learning experience. thanks for this, Kyle!
Thank you for taking the time to make this. It's very helpful for new mastering engineers.
5’ in and I say it’s the best video about limit, hard and soft clip.
Another great video! Helps a lot to understand these things.
A great knowledge sharing session. Kudos both of you
idk what y’all are talking about. i feel like a pleasantly squashed mix sounds sick as hell.
The Loudness obsession! Maybe it goes for club music, but otherwise dynamics is far more important to me. I have had my time of baking sausages.
Limiters can still be an important part of dynamic music. But I agree - louder is not necessarily better!
@@AudioUniversity Of course, I use a limiter for all production so it is important, but I watch out to not squash all the dynamics out of it. When I can I just shave the tops so to speak.
Wow, amazing content. Thank you!
Great info. Thank you!
Pay attention newbies! This is the secret sauce of the industry.
Shut up
cringy. you mean the industry of gross commercial sounds / pop etc yuck exactly what is not art usually. loudness try’s to make up for terrible sounds like a cop pushing your head into a copcar ; such an assault on the ear and body but.. no crime (nothing interesting happened !
@@chinmeyswaylove this
@@chinmeyswayclipping is the best way to keep dynamic sound unlike compression, u just saying cliche nonsense
well understood thakns very much 👍
I sometimes do streams from the garage, would love a deep dive into setting things up so when I speak, I can be heard, but also when I use a power tool, it can be heard, but it greatly reduces the volume instead of having to mute the mic constantly which creates just sections of muted audio.
Yes they make a mix louder, but not better. Clipping makes it sound messy, besides which pushing it louder is no longer any use anyway, because a mix that sounds louder will have the volume adjusted to -14 LUFS or whatever is the standard for Apple who sets the rules now. Therefore it won't end up sounding louder anyway. What you'll get is a lack of the very important dynamics that is the life and soul of the music.
I agree that it always depends on the situation.
i dunno this partially true yes but lufs isn’t everything in previewed loudness. i’ve made stuff that reaches -9 ish lufs and it’s still not loud as i thought it’d be in comparison
You are taking into consideration only streaming services. There are still instances where people play their music live (and a processed track with clippers etc. will sound louder and be useful to them). Clippers just like any other tool are very useful, especially in electronic dance music and "louder" genres
🎉🎉🎉🎉 very good tutorial on Reaper thanks for the tutorial on Reaper bro 🎉🎉🎉
Limiters: Pushing the volume but don't change the sounds. That is like making the sound to *perceived* louder while minimizing distortion.
👍👍
Hard Clipping sounded really bad. It changed the sound, the kicks sounded much rounder in limiting & in clipping they lost the body. This is what I am noticing in all the hard clipped music.
To be honest, I dont get why You are overdriving the main tone? Driving amplitude its for first highs and harmonical mids... there is a point. 2nd point its the digital stage. Just aftet digital trim. All above a fader its digital.
The hard clipping in the thumbnail looks terrible. I would never want to put the audio through that.
I don't know if everyone tries to push out of the limit . Loudness war again .
Digital mixer with all of plugs and compression and limiter sound very unnatural. Brain gets tired of that after an hour.
I hear very unnatural sounds in all your tests. 😮😮😮
Yes. These tests were intended to be educational, highlighting the effects of these techniques.
Sorry but I just had to jump in here ... Take a close look at the thumbnail for this video. If that's what they're advocating, please take note of the detail and dynamic range lost between the before and after sides of the image .... and they wonder why we think modern music is crap.
Not a real waveform. Make it sound good.
@@AudioUniversity
Make it sound good ... according to who's definition of "good"?
Back in the early 2000s I transcoded my 60s 70s and 80s Vinyl collection to high bitrate MP3s, best we had at the time. I played with the levels until the output files sounded exactly like the vinyl ... in the end I have a collection of over 4,000 MP3s that sound exactly like the vinyl they were sourced from, to the degree that with both playing I would have to look to see which was on the monitors. Not surprisingly the collection ended up being normalized at the alignment level of -16lufs.
I then went directly from Vinyl to Digital without giving CDs even a sideways glance, since the few I listened to at the time were totally IN YOUR FACE loud with obvious distortion and a total lack of dynamic range.
Add in some AutoTune (no singer is that precise) and Quantization (no metronome is that accurate) and you've completely sent me packing for most of the new music that's out there.
So you can correctly observe that my interest in pop music ended in 1999, right at the peak of the Loudness Wars, when the whole musical scene went completely off the rails.
I will periodically look at re-masters and re-mixes of some of the better music from the last 20 years and, in fairness, I will allow that while it's slowly getting back to the natural sound of instruments with good range and detail... there's still a very long way to go before I will begin spending money on music again.
@@AudioUniversity This is why "Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab", "Analogue Productions" and "James Guthrie" exists.
I feel sorry for the engineer when a producer comes along a clamps it. Shame
Amazing lesson! Thanks guys
Why do we need to make music loud when volume knobs exist?
This is all getting too ridiculous. Songs being masterd at -6 lufs is nonsense. The magic is in the harmonics. That is what leads to an emotional connection to a sound. We are taking the creases out.
I agree that louder isn’t necessarily better. But it is more than just loudness, as you can hear in the video.
I don't hear it moving from side to side so what are you doing you're doing nothing
masterplan truly a nice plugin