At any point this man could've unmuted all the tracks and blew our ears off. Thank you for not doing that. Also thank you for the information. Very helpful.
The Mixtool idea in Studio One was an absolute lifesaver for me. Was able to get my clipped mix down to a peak of -4db overall with using the Mixtool on each of the instruments so that each of them peak at about -10 to -12 db each. The mastering process became so much easier because of this. Even though it's an old video, I want to thank you SO much for this helpful video and keep up the great work! -Sean
I don’t know why you’re the only one I’ve heard mention about putting a gain plugin on the master when that’s such an easy fix for random peaks after gain staging and processing!
Thanks for this information. If I had the money I would enroll in our local community college's Recording and Production program, but I'm a senior citizen on a fixed income. Recording and music production is a hobby I engaged in during the pandemic to keep from going crazy. I do simple recordings. Just a few tracks (vocal, background vocal (both me as I don't have a back up singer) guitar, keyboard and keyboard presets (flute, jazz guitar, cello) and a live dejembe or bongos. I never could figure out how to stop clipping in the mixdown process. I read on one site that clipping of less than 3db could be over looked. I didn't know what the level meter was for until I saw this. I inserted a level meter on all my tracks and the bus. I only add a limiter to my final mix bus and maybe some small studio reverb. I just made a recording of What Are You Doing New Year's Eve using the level meter and compression. It sounds great. No distortion. No clipping at all.
Thanks for sharing this. I definitely prefer the option to just reduce the level going to the bus (using a mixtool or whatever) rather than putting a limiter on the bus (which will change the sound of the mix) or just shift-selecting all of the channels (or busses) and pulling their faders down, since that will really change the mix, especially if you have a decent amount of compression inserted on any of those channels/busses. Hard to conceptualize so many of these things with actual mixes, so using noise or pure waves surely makes it easier to SEE what's going on so you can understand to apply to the real-world sounds of a mix.
At the end you said to turn your headphones up...Is that because if you have them too low , you might accidentally be raising the gain levels on your channels in an effort to hear the mix better???? Ultimately losing all the headroom to mix with???? This helped me so much. No extra dialogue and very specific. Thank you!
Very informative and helpful. What's the difference between putting the limiter or mixtool on the master output bus under 'inserts' vs the 'post' section?
I have been struggling with balancing audio for game recordings I have been doing, been causing clipping before I even bring the files to the DAW, the part about using a limiter has been a great help and even prompted me to experiment with the compressor before adding a limiter, didn't do it the way you did because I haven't figured out how to properly side chain my audio to a channel dedicated to plug ins, so I added the built in compressor to both game and commentary channels to boost the audio within both Limited the top end within that within that ( by reducing the threshold) got nice clear audio on the loudest parts of both channels then added the limiter to both to completely eliminate clipping. the mix sounds great, all I have to do is split the commentary channel where the audio recorded at much lower volumes (where I mumbled or inadvertently moved away from the mic.) Now I have those presets saved I should never have to sit there for hours on end splitting every inconsistent part of the audio channels. You sir have just made my post production job ten times easier and so much quicker for future projects, thank you SO DAMN MUCH for this video,you my friend are a freakin' LEGEND. Edit: I imagine I will need many more lessons in the future, but even if I don't I am subbing for today alone, I amfreakin' elated right now.
I'm looking forward to watching this whole thing. I've had a couple of times where I couldn't figure out where my clipping was coming from. I figured it was coming from my inserts but couldn't nail it down. More than once I've mixdowned (is that a word? I vote yes, it is) a track with inserts so I could deal with an unencumbered audio track. That didn't work out well..
So Tim, the main advise is to don't work with the limiter but with the volumes either of the single busses stages or at the mix bus, right? Because, with the limiter of Studio One to -1db I still got bad noises in my car every time I check and that is horrible..
Great video as always, thank you Tim. Instead of using a gain reduction plugin, isn't just pushing down the volume slider the same thing? (with your metering set to post-fader)
Yes i though just reducing Mixbus fader or Main fader would achieve the same. I guess people seem to like having their mix faders all around zero. Internally in Studio one its floating point 64bit meaning that there should be no distortion until post the main bus render or speakers
Tried this with a bunch of my songs. I adjust the mix tool to where the song is just under clipping so I can export it fine. But there’s a problem. Every time I do this it feels like the song is way too quiet. I don’t get it. Anyone have advice?
Could I use a track stack of the loudest part of the crescendo that's peaking and use a gain plugin to bring it down? I was thinking of having the song almost two halfs and mixing down the song as two wavs then automating for those two sections, is this ok too? Thanks for the great video
Hi Tim, thanks for this insightful video! Was just wondering what interface and speakers you’re using and whether they do a good job of showing mix clipping? I keep on only noticing clipping on iPhone when I play back wavs so my workflow is a tragic amount of trial and error at the moment 😆🥵 to nail translation, so looking to change my setup! Thanks!
im new to mixing and in my song ive got all good levels but my master is still clipping crazy and whever is going on its making my head feel weird when i listen back to my song
thankyou Tim a great lesson i have in the past high lilted all the tracks and lowered the volume by say 5db that has took out the red clipping light is that ok to do ?
It seemed that you only have the Tone Generator on all the tracks. IF I already have some vst's on the tracks, where would the Tone Generator be placed? First or Last? Or just disable the track plugins? Thanks.
Thank you for what you're doing! I'm having issues with my final house output. We're a small community theater running a beringer x32 board and typically working with Qlab for all of our audio cues. It seems any time I run a downloaded song through Qlab for house music or something, I'm getting distortion in the house, but it is not clipping in qlab or on my board. I take the song into Adobe audition and lower the gains and try to fix it that way, but it keeps coming out with the same problem. Does any of this make sense? I'm not a professional sound tech, just someone with lots of analogue experience and minor digital experience. Thank you in advance
Are the downloaded songs clipping the output of QLab? And I would adjust the output levels in QLab on a per cue level, then I know I can leave my faders alone as all the cues are balanced in the machine.
@@TimTalksAudio I lower the output in Qlab as well, and no matter what level I put it at I still get the static like it's just ingrained into the song. Could it be a lesser sound card within the computer I'm using to play it? It is an olderish laptop. Thank you for your help, I'm not great with this stuff.
@@exactlyengcom How do you hear that "it don't sound the same", exactly? Please elaborate with your super smart brain that can't even write correct grammar..
I apologize for my ignorance, but why using a gain reduction plug-in when you can simply reduce the master mix volume by lowering down the fader? I just want to know the reason
You are stealing the power of the entire mix by lowering the master output. Meaning once it's being played in it's final form you would be losing the ability to turn it up loud. Essentially making a more quiet recording than it should be. I think I understood your question correctly...
Sure, they would just populate onto different automation lanes, but that is what automation of for! It to repeat a task at a certain time, every time. You just need to write the automation in!
i composed techno dance music ..and in the end of mastering it is around -5 to -6 LUFS which is to much loud for streaming platforms ...as well as 6-7bd clipping while exporting..as i m putting limiter to remove clipping , it reduce my puchiness of kick ...feels like energy of track is dropped down . mix tool worked well at that case ..it just reduce the volume , not reducing dynamics of elements . but still not that much satisfed with mixtool bcoz to remove clipping i almost reduced 7db now volume is so low that i have to increase the volume of speakers . does anyone have better option to remove clipping without hurting dynamics and energy of the track? thank you so much tim talks audio for informative video 👍
Have you tried using a clipper plugin before your limiter? It sounds like that might work for you. If you don't know what a clipper plugin can do, please check out this other video from me! th-cam.com/video/xhl8AS5lDPg/w-d-xo.html
Hey. Help me pls. I didn’t get it. I do gain staging and already all of the sounds reduced in signal which makes them sounds really quiet. I do the mix. (And while I’m doing it my maximum (of all the tracks on the master reach is -6db) And in the end I’m using clipper to make everything louder. Similar to my reference track. And that’s where it happens. After the clipper my track sounds still quieter and distorted whilst the reference sounds louder, cleaner and with no distortion. What the hack? Give me pls advice. How do you reach volume of reference track with the low signal after gain staging in a right way? I can’t use gain reduction because it’s already quieter. And clipper do help but still maximum +4 - +5 I can add without causing distortion. If I want + 8 = distortion.
Have you tried throwing a gain plugin on your mix bus BEFORE your clipper plugin? You'll have to adjust your settings on the clipper (to not completely kill all of your transients!), and then follow that up with a limiter to boost overall. You should be able to get more volume. Volume is all about the difference between the loudest peaks and the RMS or average of the sounds combined together. Reducing that difference will get you closer to being able to raise everything altogether. discord.gg/S84G4ejBcj
@@TimTalksAudio no never tried, I thought if I’ll reduce gain more, it’ll be clipping more. But that’s before I saw your video. And thank you for answering! 🙏 I’ll try this out.
Yes, the dynamics of your song and mix will still be the same if you put mixtool in the post plugin section. All mixtool will do is turn the overall volume up or down. That’s why I suggest putting it last, it will not change dynamics at all!
![ละลาย (LALALYE) - DAOU PITTAYA ต้าห์อู๋ พิทยา [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wo6r9TgausI/mqdefault.jpg)
At any point this man could've unmuted all the tracks and blew our ears off. Thank you for not doing that. Also thank you for the information. Very helpful.
My pleasure! I know all too well when someone hits a button and BLAM!!! haha
The Mixtool idea in Studio One was an absolute lifesaver for me. Was able to get my clipped mix down to a peak of -4db overall with using the Mixtool on each of the instruments so that each of them peak at about -10 to -12 db each. The mastering process became so much easier because of this. Even though it's an old video, I want to thank you SO much for this helpful video and keep up the great work!
-Sean
I don’t know why you’re the only one I’ve heard mention about putting a gain plugin on the master when that’s such an easy fix for random peaks after gain staging and processing!
Share the video and spread the word! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for this information. If I had the money I would enroll in our local community college's Recording and Production program, but I'm a senior citizen on a fixed income. Recording and music production is a hobby I engaged in during the pandemic to keep from going crazy. I do simple recordings. Just a few tracks (vocal, background vocal (both me as I don't have a back up singer) guitar, keyboard and keyboard presets (flute, jazz guitar, cello) and a live dejembe or bongos. I never could figure out how to stop clipping in the mixdown process. I read on one site that clipping of less than 3db could be over looked. I didn't know what the level meter was for until I saw this. I inserted a level meter on all my tracks and the bus. I only add a limiter to my final mix bus and maybe some small studio reverb. I just made a recording of What Are You Doing New Year's Eve using the level meter and compression. It sounds great. No distortion. No clipping at all.
Thanks for sharing this. I definitely prefer the option to just reduce the level going to the bus (using a mixtool or whatever) rather than putting a limiter on the bus (which will change the sound of the mix) or just shift-selecting all of the channels (or busses) and pulling their faders down, since that will really change the mix, especially if you have a decent amount of compression inserted on any of those channels/busses. Hard to conceptualize so many of these things with actual mixes, so using noise or pure waves surely makes it easier to SEE what's going on so you can understand to apply to the real-world sounds of a mix.
At the end you said to turn your headphones up...Is that because if you have them too low , you might accidentally be raising the gain levels on your channels in an effort to hear the mix better???? Ultimately losing all the headroom to mix with???? This helped me so much. No extra dialogue and very specific. Thank you!
Very informative and helpful.
What's the difference between putting the limiter or mixtool on the master output bus under 'inserts' vs the 'post' section?
I have been struggling with balancing audio for game recordings I have been doing, been causing clipping before I even bring the files to the DAW, the part about using a limiter has been a great help and even prompted me to experiment with the compressor before adding a limiter, didn't do it the way you did because I haven't figured out how to properly side chain my audio to a channel dedicated to plug ins, so I added the built in compressor to both game and commentary channels to boost the audio within both Limited the top end within that within that ( by reducing the threshold) got nice clear audio on the loudest parts of both channels then added the limiter to both to completely eliminate clipping. the mix sounds great, all I have to do is split the commentary channel where the audio recorded at much lower volumes (where I mumbled or inadvertently moved away from the mic.)
Now I have those presets saved I should never have to sit there for hours on end splitting every inconsistent part of the audio channels.
You sir have just made my post production job ten times easier and so much quicker for future projects, thank you SO DAMN MUCH for this video,you my friend are a freakin' LEGEND.
Edit: I imagine I will need many more lessons in the future, but even if I don't I am subbing for today alone, I amfreakin' elated right now.
I'm looking forward to watching this whole thing. I've had a couple of times where I couldn't figure out where my clipping was coming from. I figured it was coming from my inserts but couldn't nail it down. More than once I've mixdowned (is that a word? I vote yes, it is) a track with inserts so I could deal with an unencumbered audio track. That didn't work out well..
Saved another life here my friend
So Tim, the main advise is to don't work with the limiter but with the volumes either of the single busses stages or at the mix bus, right?
Because, with the limiter of Studio One to -1db I still got bad noises in my car every time I check and that is horrible..
I was wondering what that mi tool was for!! Thank you 🙏 I knew it was important
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks dude. Do you have a recording Edrums quantizing video?
Great video as always, thank you Tim. Instead of using a gain reduction plugin, isn't just pushing down the volume slider the same thing? (with your metering set to post-fader)
It's the same thing..
Yes i though just reducing Mixbus fader or Main fader would achieve the same. I guess people seem to like having their mix faders all around zero. Internally in Studio one its floating point 64bit meaning that there should be no distortion until post the main bus render or speakers
Tried this with a bunch of my songs. I adjust the mix tool to where the song is just under clipping so I can export it fine. But there’s a problem. Every time I do this it feels like the song is way too quiet. I don’t get it. Anyone have advice?
Ya no song is pink or white noise or anything that’s the prob sorry I’m with you
Any reason you dont use the Mixbus fader or the Main bus fader? to bring it under?
Also another great option. As for reason....no, perhaps I forgot! haha
WHAT IS an alternative to mixtool if you are using a DAW like cubase. Thanks
I'm sure they have some easy gain plugin. I'm not familiar with it's name in Cubase, but you can use any plugin that allows you to adjust the gain.
your great thank you so so so much i even took notes, your a genius I was having so much trouble thannnnk youu
So you put the gain pluggin on your masterbus? I use ableton
You can! There are a lot of options to solve mix bus clipping.
Muchas gracias amigo
Could I use a track stack of the loudest part of the crescendo that's peaking and use a gain plugin to bring it down?
I was thinking of having the song almost two halfs and mixing down the song as two wavs then automating for those two sections, is this ok too?
Thanks for the great video
mine quit when I try to export the mix down !!! even so I reduce the clipping..and I don't have mistook to do as you did.
Really useful, thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
@@TimTalksAudio It was, thank you! Really grateful that you took the time to share your knowledge!
Hi Tim, thanks for this insightful video! Was just wondering what interface and speakers you’re using and whether they do a good job of showing mix clipping? I keep on only noticing clipping on iPhone when I play back wavs so my workflow is a tragic amount of trial and error at the moment 😆🥵 to nail translation, so looking to change my setup! Thanks!
im new to mixing and in my song ive got all good levels but my master is still clipping crazy and whever is going on its making my head feel weird when i listen back to my song
ALL of this was informative. Great job! TYVM, I get it.
Glad it was helpful!
thankyou Tim a great lesson i have in the past high lilted all the tracks and lowered the volume by say 5db that has took out the red clipping light is that ok to do ?
It can be, but if it will also change any levels going into your plugins. So just be mindful of that.
It seemed that you only have the Tone Generator on all the tracks. IF I already have some vst's on the tracks, where would the Tone Generator be placed? First or Last? Or just disable the track plugins? Thanks.
The tone generator was just my example audio for this video, a tone generator is not needed to adjust things down to avoid clipping.
I used meters with gain thruout. It’s that simple.
thanks a lot... just saved my mix with this tutorial :)
Great to hear!
Thank you for what you're doing! I'm having issues with my final house output. We're a small community theater running a beringer x32 board and typically working with Qlab for all of our audio cues. It seems any time I run a downloaded song through Qlab for house music or something, I'm getting distortion in the house, but it is not clipping in qlab or on my board. I take the song into Adobe audition and lower the gains and try to fix it that way, but it keeps coming out with the same problem. Does any of this make sense? I'm not a professional sound tech, just someone with lots of analogue experience and minor digital experience. Thank you in advance
Are the downloaded songs clipping the output of QLab? And I would adjust the output levels in QLab on a per cue level, then I know I can leave my faders alone as all the cues are balanced in the machine.
@@TimTalksAudio I lower the output in Qlab as well, and no matter what level I put it at I still get the static like it's just ingrained into the song. Could it be a lesser sound card within the computer I'm using to play it? It is an olderish laptop. Thank you for your help, I'm not great with this stuff.
Why not just turn down master fader until it's not clipping?
Cause you hear it don’t sound the same that’s why …… so now…… someone with a smart brain say something super smart
@@exactlyengcom How do you hear that "it don't sound the same", exactly? Please elaborate with your super smart brain that can't even write correct grammar..
I apologize for my ignorance, but why using a gain reduction plug-in when you can simply reduce the master mix volume by lowering down the fader? I just want to know the reason
You are stealing the power of the entire mix by lowering the master output. Meaning once it's being played in it's final form you would be losing the ability to turn it up loud. Essentially making a more quiet recording than it should be. I think I understood your question correctly...
thank you for this video!!! I couldnt get clipping to go away!
Glad I could help!
Is there any way to to automate multiple parameters with single automation?
Sure, they would just populate onto different automation lanes, but that is what automation of for! It to repeat a task at a certain time, every time. You just need to write the automation in!
I did exactly what you said but I still have clipping yellow warning on my mixing process...( metal sessions here) please help!
Hop into the discord and share some screen shots in your session and we'll get you sorted out! discord.gg/S84G4ejBcj
i composed techno dance music ..and in the end of mastering it is around -5 to -6 LUFS which is to much loud for streaming platforms ...as well as 6-7bd clipping while exporting..as i m putting limiter to remove clipping , it reduce my puchiness of kick ...feels like energy of track is dropped down . mix tool worked well at that case ..it just reduce the volume , not reducing dynamics of elements . but still not that much satisfed with mixtool bcoz to remove clipping i almost reduced 7db now volume is so low that i have to increase the volume of speakers . does anyone have better option to remove clipping without hurting dynamics and energy of the track? thank you so much tim talks audio for informative video 👍
Have you tried using a clipper plugin before your limiter? It sounds like that might work for you. If you don't know what a clipper plugin can do, please check out this other video from me! th-cam.com/video/xhl8AS5lDPg/w-d-xo.html
@@TimTalksAudio thank you so much buddy ..i will try this on on my track ..and let you know the results 👍
Hey. Help me pls. I didn’t get it. I do gain staging and already all of the sounds reduced in signal which makes them sounds really quiet. I do the mix. (And while I’m doing it my maximum (of all the tracks on the master reach is -6db) And in the end I’m using clipper to make everything louder. Similar to my reference track. And that’s where it happens. After the clipper my track sounds still quieter and distorted whilst the reference sounds louder, cleaner and with no distortion. What the hack? Give me pls advice. How do you reach volume of reference track with the low signal after gain staging in a right way? I can’t use gain reduction because it’s already quieter. And clipper do help but still maximum +4 - +5 I can add without causing distortion. If I want + 8 = distortion.
Have you tried throwing a gain plugin on your mix bus BEFORE your clipper plugin? You'll have to adjust your settings on the clipper (to not completely kill all of your transients!), and then follow that up with a limiter to boost overall. You should be able to get more volume. Volume is all about the difference between the loudest peaks and the RMS or average of the sounds combined together. Reducing that difference will get you closer to being able to raise everything altogether. discord.gg/S84G4ejBcj
@@TimTalksAudio no never tried, I thought if I’ll reduce gain more, it’ll be clipping more. But that’s before I saw your video. And thank you for answering! 🙏 I’ll try this out.
Hey Tim - looking for your discord link? I'm not seeing it...
I'll make sure to add this to the description if it's not there, but here you go! discord.gg/S84G4ejBcj
could/should I put mix tool on post insert of MASTERand still preserve dynamics
? thanks in advance God Bless
Yes, the dynamics of your song and mix will still be the same if you put mixtool in the post plugin section. All mixtool will do is turn the overall volume up or down. That’s why I suggest putting it last, it will not change dynamics at all!
@@TimTalksAudio thanks God Bless
An easy alternative is the Input Control knob on the mix bus and just turn it down.
Where are the time stamps ?