How To Use a Limiter on Vocals 

There's a few things I didn't include in this video, but wanted to cover in this pinned comment here (keep reading): 1) Buy the Waves L1 here: waves.alzt.net/jr1r95 2) DISCLAIMER This is just ONE approach to vocal limiting and is by no means the end-all-be-all or ONLY approach, nor is it something you ALWAYS have to do. Sometimes folks interpret my videos as such so I'm putting this friendly reminder here to remind you that I'm just giving you mixing strategies and ideas here, not absolute laws. 3) DITHER, OVERSAMPLING AND OTHER PARAMETERS NOT MENTIONED - SHOULD I USE THEM? DITHER basically adds a small amount of random noise to your signal to cover up any artifacts, noise and/or distortion that may be created when you are reducing the bit depth of a digital audio signal, such as when exporting a 24-bit audio file to a 16-bit audio file. Dithering is most commonly used when mastering, and applied only once in the final stage of the process. In the case of applying this limiter directly to a vocal track during the mixing process like we are here, I’d avoid using dither altogether for that reason. OVERSAMPLING is a process some plugins use to improve the accuracy and quality of digital audio processing. It involves increasing the sampling rate of the audio signal before applying any processing or effects, and then downsampling it back to the original sampling rate. By applying oversampling to an audio signal process, higher-frequency content is captured with greater accuracy, allowing for more precise processing with less artifacts. Oversampling can be a great thing to utilize if your limiter has it and your computer can handle it as it does tend to utilize a lot of processing power. It can also induce latency and create other problems, so while it's obviously an ideal feature to take advantage of, sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth if you can't apply it to everything without your computer exploding (LOL) LOOKAHEAD is a parameter that allows the limiter to anticipate and react to audio peaks before they happen. It provides a window of time for the limiter to analyze the incoming audio signal and apply the necessary gain reduction in advance, ensuring that excessive peaks are controlled effectively and accurately. Similar to Oversampling - this is a great feature to take advantage of BUT it also can add latency to your signal due to the predictive analysis nature of it. Assuming it isn't adding latency or bogging down your hardware too much, I recommend you take advantage of it where possible. What other parameters do you guys want to know about? 4) SHOULD I ADJUST MY VOCAL CHAIN AFTER PUTTING IN THE LIMITER? Most likely, yes. It's not uncommon for a limiter to change harmonic and dynamic relationships in a mix which may therefore need corrective treatment. For example, sometimes after applying a limiter, the sibilant frequencies of a vocal will become more present and therefore need correction. Often you won't notice these problems until after the limiter has been applied. In these situations, I'll revisit my vocal chain and make adjustments where required to mitigate these problems, such as applying an EQ or de-esser before the limiter so when the level gets raised, they don't poke out as much. For clarity, we always want to keep the limiter in the last plugin insert slot - therefore we should pre-treat these issues earlier in the process so when it hits the limiter, the end result is much cleaner and problem-free. Doesn't mean you can't problem-solve AFTER the limiter, but you'll run into those issues I mentioned around 2:38 Obviously if the limiter is creating TOO many problems, then we'll have to re-evaluate if using it is worth it, which also happens sometimes. Use your judgement and ears here above all else. I may update this comment from time-to-time based on what's going on in the comment section but feel free to share your own vocal limiting techniques below so we can explore them in future videos. I appreciate you all for tuning in!

Awesome tips! Thanks!!!

Man, I just stumbled on your channel today.. Glad I did.. Outstanding info young man..

Nice work. I’ve rarely used a limiter on vocals but I’m implementing this on my next mix. Cheers🎉

great tutorial, rly opened my eyes with that one

DOPEEEEEEE and explained perfectly

Thank you. So much.

Good job sir! Appreciate your efforts and presentation! You have a knack for this, I wish you full power in your endeavors. Thank you.

Awesome

Thanks Man 🔥🇲🇦💖

The Professor is BACK!!!!! Salute 👊👊👊💯

Thanks for your help men great tutorial

That’s my biggest issue is knowing if my levels are right . Gonna watch the other video you linked ! Good work I subbed

Great explaination of the limiter! Good job! Thanks :-)

Good stuff

Yes sir

i appreciate you!

I love your video. I wanted to mention around 2:49 that this process works so well with parallel processing. Most Pop vocals like Ariana or The Weeknd have a range (from peak to the body) of about 3-4 ratio of dynamics visually in a compressor for example: using the focusrite fast compressor -in detail mode- look at how much dynamics are there. If you just have one compressed track/bus and have another parallel bus/track without the compression but the high shelving boost (lets say 8+ dB or more) use soothe and a de-esser, then blend that in with the compressed version, omg . MAGIC!!!! I love the way you took this direction more people need to know about this! Shout out to you JJ, and Luca Pretolesi for all the things i've learned over the last 10 years 🙌

Are you framilar with the presets on the limiters on fl21? Would love to see a video of you explaining some of the pre sets and why they are set up like that

W video

I feel like factory limiter actually don't do anything I out them at the end and it still peaks on some parts but learning what Lil tweaks you can do are nice

so.. to gainmatch the volume is to move the fader itself not the output ceiling of the limiter? please reply. thank you!

If I send my main vocal, ad libs, layers, etc. to a vocal bus, should I have the limiter at the end of the bus or still on the main vocals?

how would i find the loudest peak in my vocals if I'm on FL Studio?

Although this video is somewhat helpful, Maybe you should've use someone that was actually singing a melody with a dynamic voice.

Too many ads to even watch your video

Kinda fly for a white guy😅