02) Mastering the Essentials of ORANGE CLIP 3
When you first insert ORANGE CLIP 3, it presents itself as an intuitive, straightforward tool that hardly requires a manual. At its core is the ORANGE knob—prominently placed in the center—your primary control for shaping the sound.
The ORANGE Knob: Controlling the Knee
The dB value displayed on the ORANGE knob represents the knee's shape or size. By default, it’s set to a Medium knee clipper at -4.4 dB. Turn it counter-clockwise to -51.8 dB for a Soft knee clipper or clockwise to 0.0 dB for a Hard knee clipper. Command-Click the ORANGE knob to bypass the clipper.
Driving the Signal: Input, Output, and Clipping
To drive the signal into the clipper (or wave shaper) while maintaining perceived volume, Orange Clip 3 offers two methods—just like Gold Clip.
1) Linked Input and Output Trims
Click the link symbol above the transfer function to link the Input and Output Trims. Adjust the Input Trim to control the desired amount of clipping while maintaining perceived volume. The amount of clipping is displayed on the CLIP indicator above the input meter. Aim for a range of 0 to +3 dB for optimal results.
2) Using the Clip Ceiling
Adjust the Clip Ceiling by lowering it over the input meter until the input signal exceeds the white ceiling line. Again, the amount of clipping will be displayed in the CLIP indicator above the input meter. While a range of 0 to +3 dB is generally recommended for optimal results, you can push it further for more aggressive clipping. If the CLIP display shows a negative value, continue lowering the ceiling until you reach the desired level of clipping.
A Legendary Sound in Any DAW
Clipping occurs throughout that infamous DAW. It clips in the sampler, on tracks, and on the mix bus; everything might be clipping or overloading, and that is what makes it sound so unique.
Now, with Orange Clip 3, you can replicate all the overloading and crunching in any DAW. Based on my experiments, all of those types of overload utilize a variation of Orange Clip 3's distortions and wave shaping. We spent countless hours iterating until we found the exact mathematical equations that make up the sound of Orange Clip 3. It is everything you need to get that legendary sound, plus a lot more. Orange Clip 3 is simple, clean, and robust, and it has been on every one of my mixes since I got the first alpha version.
Tag @SchwabeDigital in an Instagram story and show us how you are using Orange Clip—we’ll repost!
Be well,
Ryan Schwabe
Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum mixing & mastering engineer
Founder of Schwabe Digital
