Clipping help

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kunalkho

New member
Ima rapper and My first question is I always thought U compressed after u recorded , but some of my freinds said the compressor is on and workign as your recording I was wondering can you do it bothways or am i wrong, and if this is a really dumb question, then excuse me...

and 2nd in one of my songs i gotta be REALLY loud and energetic and stuff and it ended up clipping, and i dont wanna re record it all the way, and the clipping doesnt sound soo bad but i wanna fix it...is there a way to fix it....withou having to re record
 
You can compress a signal as it is being recorded or after it has been recorded. It doesn't really matter which way you do it, because there advantages and disadvantages with both.

Compressing while tracking: can keep a big dynamic range under control on the way in, but can't be undone afterwards. You also need a hardware compressor and a means of passing the mike signal through it (usually done via an insert on a mixer, though some interfaces have inserts).

Compressing after tracking: You have to deal with a big dynamic range on the way in by watching input levels. However, once the tracking is done, you can mess around with a whole heap of settings until it sits right. Doesn't require an external compressor and its associated complexities, and keeps the recording path simple.

If you get really loud and overload the mike, there's not a lot a compressor will do for you anyway. If you are clipping the mike, you are stuck with it. You need to do it again.

If your mike has a pad, use it. If not, you can try a pad instead of a compressor.

Or you can move further away from the mike on the loud bits.
 
One of the most important uses of tracking compression would be vocals, a hardware unit would be used.

If you have clipped your stuck with it, if it's not too audible your lucky, and if it is, well
if you have aggro lyrics then it might add some "edge".

At record stage it is generally not recommended to go for "loud" unless you are very experienced as an audio engineer and you know what you are doing in the grand scheme of things.

You live and learn.
 
kunalkho said:
Ima rapper and My first question is I always thought U compressed after u recorded , but some of my freinds said the compressor is on and workign as your recording I was wondering can you do it bothways or am i wrong, and if this is a really dumb question, then excuse me...

and 2nd in one of my songs i gotta be REALLY loud and energetic and stuff and it ended up clipping, and i dont wanna re record it all the way, and the clipping doesnt sound soo bad but i wanna fix it...is there a way to fix it....withou having to re record
Click to expand...
(A) If we're talking about digital processing in-the-box, the compressor isn't doing anything to the input signal. You're overdriving the preamp, then clipping the input stage and the converters (while you should be recording your vocals peaking at *maybe* -12 or -10dBFS at the absolute maximum). It could be reacting to the signal, but the signal is smoked and ruined long before that compressor ever sees it.

(B) No, there is no reasonable way to fix it. You could probably minimize the clipping distortion but everything else (the mangled source itself) is there for good. You have every chance during the entire production phase to have, hold, cherish and serve your headroom -- But once it's gone, it's gone and that's it.

(C) You need to read up on recording levels... Proper Audio Recording Levels | Rants, Articles | MASSIVE Mastering -- Long story short, don't worry about controlling dynamics during tracking (or at least, concentrate on controlling the source), and keep a generous amount of headroom at every possible stage. If you "need" a compressor at the input, it's almost guaranteed that you're tracking WAAAAAYYY too hot and you're doing much more damage to the signal than you're probably noticing during tracking (but will probably wrestle with forever after).
 
kunalkho said:
one of my songs i gotta be REALLY loud and energetic and stuff and it ended up clipping, and i dont wanna re record it all the way, and the clipping doesnt sound soo bad but i wanna fix it...is there a way to fix it....withou having to re record
Click to expand...

To prevent clipping when the source is very loud. it's also important to know what a "pad" button does on a mic pre-amp, if there is one available.

When activated, it will attenuate or cut the gain by a given amount. The amount is usually designated but somewhere in the range of 10 to 20dB. This helps prevent overload.

kunalkho said:
Ima rapper and My first question is I always thought U compressed after u recorded , but some of my freinds said the compressor is on and workign as your recording I was wondering can you do it bothways or am i wrong, and if this is a really dumb question, then excuse me...
Click to expand...

Utilizing a hardware compressor patched after the pre can help contain the dynamics when recording, but it helps to be very familiar with the setting and know how to use it because it becomes part of the recorded sound.
 
I cannot honestly think of a single rap vocal I have recorded that does not have "ample" amounts of compression during recording. In saying that we need to know where this guys at, experience wise.

Get a good pop filter as well, those will easily peak through even generous amounts of headroom.
 
Lots of things come into play when recording any sound although loud pasages of a song are the most bothersome.
EQ can help alot both pre and post.The gentleman above was correct in your choice of microphones.Some have higher frequency responses before "splattering" or distorting.I don't use a limiter compressor on the master tracks but always use it on my final mix to a master.Analog recording was always more forgivable in recording then digital is and many say analog has a more warm sound to it.
It's important for you to work a mic correctly.That is,on a song where you know your gonna be belting it out or screaming,back off the mic some.
 
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