My Audio Keeps Clipping

Morgan.Organ

New member
I'm working on recording a piece on trombone but my audio keeps clipping and it has been since I first started using the mic. My mic is a Steinberg AT2020 and I'm using a UR12 interface.
Any ideas on how I can fix this are greatly appreciated.

My other idea is that it could be because what I'm using to record the video and audio is glitching (I'm using quicktime player on mac) but when I tried to record the audio and video separately and piece them together afterwards, I had issues with the timing. Things would line up at the beginning and then by the end they'd be completely off. If anyone has any suggestions of other programs I can use to fix this, that would also be appreciated. (Free or relatively affordable programs are always great)

I'm quite new to this recording thing so really any advice is helpful.

Thanks,
Morgan :)
 
A sample would be helpful. There's a difference between clipping and having dropouts. Clipping is when the level is too high and you run out of headroom. The peaks of the wave get clipped off. Dropouts are when the software or hardware can't keep up and parts of the audio don't make it to the recording.

If the audio and video are drifting, there's probably a mismatch between the digital clocks of the devices recording each stream. How exactly are you recording the video?
 
A sample would be helpful. There's a difference between clipping and having dropouts. Clipping is when the level is too high and you run out of headroom. The peaks of the wave get clipped off. Dropouts are when the software or hardware can't keep up and parts of the audio don't make it to the recording.

If the audio and video are drifting, there's probably a mismatch between the digital clocks of the devices recording each stream. How exactly are you recording the video?
I'm using QuickTime player on my macbook and I've attached a webcam since my macbook is pretty old and the camera isn't great. I just make sure it's using the right mic and the right camera and press record.

Here's a little sample of what the issue sounds like, it happens in multiple spots throughout my recording:
 

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That's not clipping - it's missing data. First thing is to download the latest driver for the interface, then check the recording settings - 44.1 or 48K should be no problem 96 might be if your computer cannot hack it. My old Macs don't find audio much of a problem to be fair. You are recording on the QuickTime player? Do people do that? Download audacity for free, or garage band even if you can get it free for your version of the OIS. Audacity will probably be simplest and then you can see what you are recording. It could be QuickTime using the wrong driver, or just misbehaving but it's not really what you should record with. I just tried QuickTime as a recorder and it works - but it's so basic as to be a bit useless.
 
I downloaded OBS and it seems like it could work, I'll have to play around with it a bit.
Thank you for your help.
Normally I might suggest Audacity for very simple audio recording, or Reaper for somewhat more advanced audio recording. But in this case I wonder if you might be better off with something like OBS. It does a bunch of stuff you don't need (like live streaming), but it does record audio and video inputs together.

OBS: https://obsproject.com/

Here's what seems to be a page with the latest drivers: https://www.steinberg.net/en/support/downloads_hardware/yamaha_steinberg_usb_driver.html
 
That's not clipping - it's missing data. First thing is to download the latest driver for the interface, then check the recording settings - 44.1 or 48K should be no problem 96 might be if your computer cannot hack it. My old Macs don't find audio much of a problem to be fair. You are recording on the QuickTime player? Do people do that? Download audacity for free, or garage band even if you can get it free for your version of the OIS. Audacity will probably be simplest and then you can see what you are recording. It could be QuickTime using the wrong driver, or just misbehaving but it's not really what you should record with. I just tried QuickTime as a recorder and it works - but it's so basic as to be a bit useless.
Yeah, using QuickTime was a bit of a last minute thing, I'm definitely going to start using something else to record like audacity or garage band.
Thanks for the help.
 
Hi
Try turning the audio gain down by 12db in track setting gain
you should do this with all your audio tracks to avoid peaking & clipping

subvibe
 
..... and why 12dB? I've never done this in my life and have never had clipping caused at this point in the chain and never needed to turn down here?
 
Hi
its because of Gain Staging on your Faders especially with Audio Loops
you can adjust your wav loop volume however setting it to -12 DB will avoid peaking when your are
playing all Channels .. believe me this works
For a Better explanation check this Tutorial from Dom Sigalas

interested to hear your comments

subvibe
 
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