What is a soft clipper?

A soft clipper is a tool used in music production. It’s a kind of audio effect. Music producers and audio engineers often use it when they make and mix music.

You can think of a soft clipper like a bouncer at a club. But instead of deciding who gets in, it decides how loud the music can get. If the music tries to get too loud and crazy, the soft clipper chills it out. It says, “Whoa there, dude, you’re not coming here sounding like that. Let’s smooth you out first.”

The soft clipper basically squashes down the super loud parts. It “clips off” the peaks when the volume gets too high. But it does this gently – that’s why it’s called a “soft” clipper. There are also “hard” clippers that chop the peaks off more suddenly, but those can make the music sound harsh and distorted.

Why do you need it?

Music these days is loud, like really loud. It’s getting louder all the time too. People want their songs to sound powerful and in your face.

If you crank up the volume too much though, the sound gets all messed up. It starts “clipping” and “distorting”. That’s when the soundwaves get too big for the speakers to handle. They try to go beyond the maximum level, but they can’t, so the tops and bottoms get cut off. This makes the music sound crunchy, fuzzy, and just bad.

To prevent clipping and distortion

That’s where the soft clipper comes in. It’s like audio damage control. It grabs those clipped peaks and rounds them off. This can make the music sound louder without actually clipping.

You see, our ears perceive different levels of loudness based on the average level, not the peaks. So by shaving down just the tippy tops of the waveforms with a soft clipper, you can raise the overall volume and make the whole song sound louder, without the nasty distortion.

It’s kind of like cheating the loudness wars. Everyone wants their song to sound the loudest, so they keep pushing the levels higher and higher. But if you do that without a soft clipper, you’re going to get clipping. The soft clipper lets you bump up the volume to compete with other loud masters, while still keeping things sounding clean.

To add color and character

Soft clipping isn’t always just about preventing distortion though. Smart producers also use it creatively to add color and character to sounds.

You know how guitar players use distortion pedals to get that sweet crunchy sound? Well, soft clipping can give you a taste of that vibe, but in a more subtle way. It adds a little bit of grit and edge, especially to drums, bass, and vocals.

This works because soft clipping doesn’t just slice off the peaks, it also rounds them out and squashes the sound a little. This cando things like:

• Make drums punchier and fatter
• Add warmth and thickness to bass
• Give vocals an aggressive “in your face” sound
• Bring out the attack and bite of instrumental sounds

A lot of famous mixers and producers have their “secret sauce” soft clipper settings. They might run the entire mix or just certain elements through a soft clipper to give it that extra flavor.

Where do you use it?

Soft clipping can be used in a bunch of different places in the mixing process. Here are some of the most common:

On the master bus

One of the most typical uses is putting a soft clipper on the master bus, right at the end of the signal chain. This is the last stop before the audio leaves your DAW (digital audio workstation).

Putting it here will soft clip the entire mix. It can make everything sound a bit louder and more glued together. Golden age hip hop and dance music producers used to abuse the soft clipper on the master bus. That’s part of what gives those styles their signature crunchy, pumping sound.

You have to be careful with the master bus though. A little soft clipping can sound good, but too much will wreck your mix. It’s better to get the mix sounding good first, then use the soft clipper for some final sweetening.

On individual tracks or groups

Soft clippers also show up a lot on individual tracks and groups. This lets you add that clipping flavor to specific elements in a more targeted way.

For example, you might put a soft clipper on the drum bus to make the beat really smack. Or maybe on the vocal to get it sounding aggressive and urgent. Parallel processing with soft clippers is big too – that’s where you mix the clipped signal in with the dry unaffected one.

Soft clipping on the bass can be a game changer. It adds body and girth to the low end. Plus it helps keep those sub frequencies under control. You don’t want the bass eating up all your headroom or making the speaker cones flap in the wind.

How do you use it?

Different soft clippers will have different controls and options. A common one is the “drive” or “gain” knob. This determines how hard you’re hitting the clipper. The higher you push it, the more clipping and coloration you’ll get.

Some soft clippers also have mix knobs for parallel processing and filters for zeroing in on certain frequency ranges. You’ll want to play around with the settings to dial in the right sound for your track.

The meters are important too. Keep an eye on the input and output levels to make sure you’re not clipping the clipper! If you see red, you’ve probably gone too far. Back off the input gain until you’re just kissing the top of the meter.

It’s important to use your ears though, not just your eyes. Some pro mixers ride the soft clipper really hard on purpose, pushing it well into the red. It can sound cool if you do it right.

Most importantly, always A/B your settings. Bypass the soft clipper on and off to make sure it’s actually making the sound better, not worse. Sometimes less is more with this stuff.

Soft clipper vs. limiter

Soft clippers are often compared to limiters, since they both handle loud peaks. But they’re not quite the same.

A limiter is usually used more transparently and has a faster attack and release. It clamps down on anything over the threshold and won’t let it through at all. The goal is usually to not hear it working. It’s more of a safety net.

Soft clippers on the other hand, work a little slower and create a more colored, saturated tone when pushed. You often do want to hear them working, like an effect.

Some limiters do have soft clipping options though. And limiters can also be used creatively like clippers sometimes. The lines get a bit blurry.

Still, in general, you reach for a limiter when you absolutely need to stop true peak overs and maintain a consistent level. You reach for a soft clipper when you want to add vibe and gently squash the sound, almost like a compressor or saturator.

The best soft clippers

There are plenty of great soft clipper plugins out there today, both free and paid. Here are a few favorites:

• Kazrog KClip
• Airwindows PurestSquish
• Boz Digital Labs Big Clipper
• Venn Audio Free Clip
• Softube Saturation Knob (free)

Some channel strips and mixbus processors also come with soft clipping built in, like the Waves NLS and SSL Native X-Saturator.

Lots of DAWs have stock soft clippers too, like Ableton’s Saturator, Logic’s Overdrive, and FL Studio’s Fruity Soft Clipper. Even if you don’t have any third party plugins, you can usually get started with the built-in options.