unfortunately there is a popping sound going through all the impromptus which i did not realize until this morning
Do you hear the Pops only in louder more sudden parts of the music? It could be you are overloading the microphone 'preamp' I believe it's called. Sometimes the Zooms will tell you if you have recorded louder than the -0db limit.
That said, it is not an excuse to avoid doing due diligence and checking audio levels beforehand.
That seems a little harsh... there's a learning curve to doing your own recording and I found that out the hard way, but I guess it is important, as not doing it can wreck a very good recording session.
One way of avoiding clipping is to record using 32 bit floating point, making use of its headroom. It is rather useful in live recordings where there might not be an opportunity to do retakes. That said, it is not an excuse to avoid doing due diligence and checking audio levels beforehand.