Mixing LOUD with CTZ - Ep. 7 - The "Clipper Cascade" (Busses, Aux Returns, Master)

In this video I focus on how and why we also want to clip at every single bus in our project, where all those different tracks sum together on the way up to the master bus. This "clipper cascade" is super important, and it's a big part of why the CTZ strategy works so well and sounds so good. This is episode 7 in a series about how to mix for loudness, in large part by using a specific approach to gainstaging and dynamic range control that I call the "Clip-to-Zero (CTZ) strategy".

0:00 - In this video
3:18 - KClip vs NF Saturate vs TrackLimit
6:56 - Why we also clip every bus in a project
12:08 - Why many small clips are best
17:34 - How we choose which busses to check for clipping problems
23:59 - How to tell whether the bus clipping is too much
39:14 - More examples of checking the bus clipping for problems
53:36 - Recap of the basic bus checking process
57:28 - Handling Aux Returns (FX Tracks)
1:12:37 - Clipping on the Pre-Master and Master

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Video by *Reframinator* demonstrating why many small clips are better than one big clip:
   • Видео  

Video by *Luca Pretolesi* saying you should make many small clips all over your project instead of one big clip:
   • LIVE Mixing Q&A with Luca Pretolesi [Major...  

Video by *Seed to Stage* explaining how your arrangement affects how loud you can actually make any given mix:
   • The Most Effective Way to Get Louder Mixes  

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Find all of the "Mixing LOUD with CTZ" episodes in one convenient playlist:
   • Mixing Loud with the Clip-to-Zero (CTZ) st...  

Wondering what the CTZ Strategy is? Start with this short 17-page written guide. Find it here at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O...)

This is NOT paid promotion. All the tools you'll see me using or hear me mention were paid for by myself. These are just great tools that I use every day, and that I personally endorse.

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  / baphometrix  

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Big shoutout to niico for the amazing credit reel graphics!
Did you know that niico is also a great producer? Check out their work at:
https://www.beatstars.com/niicolondon
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Credit reel graphics: https://www.beatstars.com/niicolondon
Credit reel music: Baphometrix