Scenario: I am mixing a fairly large number of tracks. If I just mix them all, the resulting track will naturally be oversaturated and will clip.
So I look for the ideal level, a process that goes something like:
1 mix
2 examine the result (too much signal. clipping)
3 one by one, go through all my tracks and reduce the gain by a few dB (I have set a shortcut key for adjusting the gain, which makes this easy)
4 Repeat steps 1-3 as many times as needed to get to just the right level (if I overshoot and the resulting mix is too low, then I go through all my tracks and increase the gain…etc)
.
This works - - I just wonder if there’s a more efficient way than this iterative trial-and-error approach. Maybe I’m overlooking a feature like “pre-estimating the total volume of the mixdown”.
Audacity uses floating point so won’t clip 'internally". (You can still clip your DAC when you play if the audio goes over 0dB.)
One solution to temporarily export as 32-bit float. Then open the floating-point file and run the Amplify or Normalize effect (and/or limit, etc.) to bring the level down… If it goes over 0dB, Audacity will “show red” but it’s just showing potential clipping.
Then export again to your desired final-format.
FYI - A DAW application is designed from the ground-up for multitrack recording & mixing. It will have volume sliders (faders) and meters for each track, as well as a master fader and master meter (more like a hardware mixer). But it’s still not unusual to do a separate “mastering” step after rendering the mix. In this case the mix is usually rendered at a lower level, leaving headroom. Then the level is boosted during mastering.
Well that was simple and clever! Thanks!
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