Question about plugin(s) chain

[Crypto]

Hello to the knowledge and talent that I've heard use this software!I am a complete beginner and probably missing a good chunk of spectrum due to a poorly chosen lifestyle for working with audio later in life, but here I am none the less

My question is about a few plugins and maybe someone and tell me if I'm heading in the right direction for voice recordings? I have the following FX plugins in the following order:

ReaFir
ReaGate
VST3 Event Horizon
ReaEQ Full vocal preset
ReaComp

Are these the correct filters in the correct order for what I am trying to achieve, which is a kids YouTube gaming channel?

Some notes:

- I've had issues with clipping due the artist suddenly shouting into the mic. I thought the compressor would keep that from happening but adjustments to threshold and ratio do not overcome this. I am trying EH to limit this but not sure what ceiling and soft clipping are.
- Wet seems to much for a child's voice so I would like to drop that and increase dry but not sure where in the chain to do that.
- Not sure where to increase gain... Master, Track, first filter ReaFir or last ReaComp

[Stella645]

- I've had issues with clipping due the artist suddenly shouting into the mic. I thought the compressor would keep that from happening but adjustments to threshold and ratio do not overcome this. I am trying EH to limit this but not sure what ceiling and soft clipping are.

No, software compressor cannot do anything about too loud a signal hitting the mic pre/interface convertor and clipping it.

[serr]

Are you going for some kind of robot voice for a game?

That plugin chain suggests that. Very heavy processing.

You'll have to give some kind of example of what your target sound and effect might be for anyone to offer an opinion if your plugin chain is right to achieve it.

You won't be able to cure clipping the mic pre and/or AD converter with a compressor, no. There is software made to digitally repair clipping. iZotopeRX is the one I'm familiar with. You can often get away with repairing something that clipped by 1 or 2db. Honestly, it works better than it should be able to!
Standard tools won't touch clipping. Clipping distortion is the thing to make an effort to avoid. It's the least fixable mistake.

However however, if you were going for something distorted/mangled sounding like that plugin chain suggests, maybe a couple clips aren't show stoppers?

[jrk]

A trick for coping with "talent" who have excessive dynamic range (read "sometimes shout") is to put up a pair of mics - one with less pre-amp gain - and record two tracks. If one clips, you've got the other as fallback.

[Crypto]

Originally Posted by jrk

A trick for coping with "talent" who have excessive dynamic range (read "sometimes shout") is to put up a pair of mics - one with less pre-amp gain - and record two tracks. If one clips, you've got the other as fallback.

2 mics, interesting. don't metal bands deal with this same thing?

[Allybye]

They use preamps under driven (gain kept a bit lower) by mics that accept high levels for really loud sounds.

Holding back the gain allows more overhead and thus avoids clipping. If you are using a 24bit interface you will have lots to play with.

What level are you recording at? For such a problem as yours keep most of the level no more than -18dB. If you already are doing so, how high are the peak shouts? Maybe turn down the gain a bit more?

Another 2mic technique is to keep the second mic further away from the child! They often think that the way to use a mic is to virtually swallow it rather than keep a distance...or vary the distance and get close when shouting! (Watching took much TV!!)
If you cannot get them to stop that use the first mic as a dummy 'target' and keep the second a foot/300mm or more further away. The extra distance makes a big difference!

[jrk]

Originally Posted by Allybye

What level are you recording at? For such a problem as yours keep most of the level no more than -18dB. If you already are doing so, how high are the peak shouts? Maybe turn down the gain a bit more?

Yeah, it's not the problem it was when we had a relatively limited range available in recording. But if you don't spot it when tracking an otherwise great take...

Give yourself at least one rehearsal... tell the talent they're warming up.

Get them to shout for you when setting gain (give yourself a fair amount of headroom). Then knock it down a bit.

[Bazzbass]

Originally Posted by jrk

A trick for coping with "talent" who have excessive dynamic range (read "sometimes shout") is to put up a pair of mics - one with less pre-amp gain - and record two tracks. If one clips, you've got the other as fallback.

that is a very good idea. Simple to achieve,easy to execute. No plugin required,Pure Genius.

Or you could put a pop filter on it's own stand and place it a good distance away from the mic

[Crypto]

Originally Posted by Allybye

What level are you recording at? For such a problem as yours keep most of the level no more than -18dB. If you already are doing so, how high are the peak shouts? Maybe turn down the gain a bit more?

This, gain staging for recording, thank you. I have attached a sample of a recent recording http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php...86569802988591

I moved to a different compressor and reordered the chain a bit. Any suggestions?

[Crypto]

I'm guessing that if it was trash someone would have stepped up to say that so I'm going to take the silence as a compliment and my take from all this is as follows.

For recording 1 mic you have 2 sliders one for your mic and one for the Master output from Reaper. If the sound coming out of reaper is not loud enough then do not make the same mistake I did and increase the volume on the track. While this seems to work it is in fact the wrong way to do this and you are not understanding something important. The goal seems to be keep the slider as low as possible and still pick up a sound as @Allybye was pointing to. My mic is not very good starter mic so I can go -7dB in my sample which seems a bit to loud(?) so maybe -9dB

My final plugin arrangement is:
ReaGate
ReaFir (*)
Molot Ins 1
Molot Ins 2
ReaEQ wetness decreased to 66%

why decrease wetness at EQ? idk, if there is a better place i'd like to hear why

In the end you audio guys are worth your weight in gold because I can't wait to pay for someone to do this for me :P

sample https://sndup.net/2ymx