Re: She's got a Plot 2 Kill!
Hmm. It's hard to say if you clipped on the way in, but if you added gain after the fact, it's possible it's just clipping in the daw. The performance sounds like it was delivered with a lot of volume, which is why that's my first guess, but you can check by looking at the vocal track waveform. If the track itself clipped on the way in, the waveform will have peaks that flatten out at 0db. Solo the track and listen to whether it clips on its own, and whether the volume meter for the project hits the red. If it's just clipping in the daw, you'll be able to reduce the gain and adjust the compressor ratio and threshold until it stops clipping. If it clipped going in, no amount of mixing can salvage the track. If you can get it to stop audibly clipping while soloed, it means you had the levels set too high. If you achieve this but still experience clipping after un-soloing the track, it means the track levels are set too high in relation to each other and/or that you have tracks fighting for space in the mix (which is where panning and eq can be helpful). Generally speaking, I also find it's helpful to use the outputs of your plugins to incrementally adjust track volumes while trying to achieve the desired levels, paying attention to how each one impacts the sound.
