How To Compress Vocals
Vocal Compression: How To Compress Vocals. When it comes to vocal compression then you need to be armed with the best dynamic processing tools. Meaning you need a good compressor with a good character, sound-wise (I would recommend the same for EQ).
Vocals and compression go together like peanut butter and jelly. In modern music, it’s as uncommon to hear an uncompressed vocal as it is to hear one that hasn’t been pitch corrected – it’s just not happening that often.As some of the most nuanced instruments you’ll find in a recording session, vocals tend to gain a lot of benefits from compression. Compression can help tame the peaks of a loud signal, but that’s really just the start. It can also make a performance sound more aggressive or more intimate. It can pair with the right microphone to bring a new sound to a voice. It can even tie many different voices together in a way that no other processor can.Let’s talk about how you should be compressing vocals in your recording sessions.Vocal Compression During TrackingOn the way into the DAW, compression is one of the most debated processors to use. Many engineers are against it because it of an instrument from the very start.
But even some of the engineers against using compression during tracking change their mind when it comes to.By tracking vocals with compression, you allow the singer to be as loud or as soft as they want without risking a chance of on the way in. A singer can scream or shout – if your compression settings are dialed in just right, those louder parts are going to long before they clip.Tracking with compression also tends to make a singer in their performance since they’re generally leveled out with the rest of the song. They don’t have to strain to hear themselves over the drums or guitars and they can back off the mic to an extent.As a small precaution, tracking with compression generally requires an outboard compressor that can be applied BEFORE your signal hits your A/D converters. Once the signals been converted, to the audio track.Even if you don’t have access to a hardware compressor, during tracking has its benefits. While you might not be able to catch those digital overages, you, and your singer, retain that confidence that the signal is being leveled out and made consistent as you work. That confidence can be just what your singer needs to. Vocal Compression in the MixOnce you get to the mix, compression can be applied than you would during tracking.
Vocal Compression Ratio
Since the process during tracking is considered destructive, engineers tend to be more reserved – using less compression or a lower ratio than they might want on a final vocal. Once you’ve the vocal though, you’ll often want to give it a bit more.This is where your compression can really shine, acting as a way to enhance your sound.
If tracking with compression is an insurance policy again peaks, compression in the box should work as your polish that helps make your vocals.Using a heavier compression setting can make a vocal sound. Driving a vocal compressor harder can bring out some harmonic distortion that fills it out quite nicely. If you’re really trying to, a limiter can often come in handy as well.Don’t be afraid to stack different limiters or use them in combination with other plugins. Some of the best vocal tones I’ve ever gotten came from with proper gain staging between them. While I could’ve achieved the same dynamic control with a single compressor, it doesn’t quite sound the same as having the multiple compressors each add their own flavor to the sound. Vocal Compression on the AuxAs a final stage of compression, it’s often a good idea to use some type of bus compression like on the final vocal bus where all of your individual tracks are routed.
By compressing this shared stereo group, you can glue your vocals together in a way that’s sonically more cohesive than individual compression efforts yield.Use compression for a full, leveled tone that sits just right with the rest of your mix. When you’re done, the vocals should sound in your song, sound more professional and even than they did before.How Does Compression Interact With Other Plugins?Compression is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to mixing vocals. You’ve got to use it in combination with EQ and a whole slew of other processors to get the most out of it.If you’re interested in learning how your compressor interacts with your other plugins, where it should be placed in your signal chain, and how it changes the way other plugins work, look no further than.JST VIP members get access to all kinds of exclusive resources around recording and mixing rock and metal genres, as well as unique insights into other genres like pop and country. Learn how your favorite plugins work within your session and even to critique when you’re ready by joining today!
By VariousCan you tell me how to set up a compressor for vocals while they're being recorded, and again in the mix?Compressing vocals during recording used to be standard practice with analogue recorders, and was important to avoid distortion being caused by unexpected peaks. Now that so many of us have access to 24‑bit digital recording systems allowing large amounts of headroom, we can choose to keep our options more open, and compress after recording instead.Via SOS web siteSOS Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns replies: Assuming you're recording to a digital system using 24‑bit resolution, I'd advise not using a compressor on the recording pass at all. Instead, leave 10‑15 dB of headroom (ie. Uart data ready mikroc system. Set the level so that peaks don't go any higher than about ‑10dBFS). The danger of compressing on the way in is that if you later decide you don't like the settings you used, it's too late to change them. In the days of tape, you had to compress on the way in, because the recorder's dynamic range wasn't wide enough to cope with raw vocal recordings, but that's not the case with modern digital systems.If you're confident that you know what you're doing with a compressor and know the sound you're going to want, there's nothing wrong with compressing on the way in — some engineers still do, and it makes it easier to use outboard analogue gear in this way.
How To Compress Vocals Audacity
However, I get the impression that you're not at that point yet. That being the case, it's far easier and safer to record flat, and compress later during the mix stage, when you know that your recording is a clean and faithful rendition of the performance.The compression settings then depend on the effect you're trying to achieve and what else is going on in the mix. You can't set up the compressor without listening to everything else going on, but if you would like some ball‑park figures, ratio could be anything between 2:1 and 5:1, depending on how compressed you want it to sound and what 'knee' characteristic the compressor has. Threshold will depend on recorded levels and how 'squashed' you want the vocal to be. Attack and release times depend on the style of the track and the action of the compressor, but I would start with 1‑3 ms for the attack and 250‑350 ms for the release (or, better still, use the auto-release mode).
Make‑up gain depends on how much you squashed the track and how loud you want it to be, but anything from 4‑15 dB is typical.If you want subtlety, you should probably restrict the gain reduction to no more than about 4dB. For more in‑your‑face, crushed dynamics, the gain reduction could be up to 20dB (or even more).
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