FCP Audio Question

From the Audio Mixer Tool Bench window I have been monitoring the audio levels of my project to make sure that none of the sound clips above zero. But there is one clip in the movie that peaks at -8. it is a music video that my friend made and compressed that I pulled into the sequence of my film. It is obvious that both audio inputs in a stereo pair want to raise past -8. But they both stop at that level. It is strange because all of the other surrounding clips are free to rise and fall to their natural levels in the meter.
Does anybody know why this happens?
Thanks.

What do you mean by "...It is obvious that both audio inputs in a stereo pair want to raise past -8..."
Does the song SOUND clipped? distorted? If so then follow the advice youve been given - hopefully it was user error on the transfer and not clipped at the source.
But If the clip in question is a song from a music video then it has probably been mastered and the dynamics squashed out - as is the current trend in music mastering.
In that case what you are seeing is not necessarily a clipped waveform but rather a very heavily limited waveform. Many modern recordings actually resemble one big long square-wave when you view the entire song.
So if it is a song which was mastered for production (especially rock) then you'll never see "natural" dynamics on your meters.
use your ears.
best
g

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