Using compression correctly in your mixes your complete. It looks like bigdog is the only one other than me im assuming you are although you really didnt say that uses compression. The best vocal compressors for studioquality audio ledgernote. I would strictly choose based upon an emotional level, or if i didnt like what i was getting by twisting the knobs backandforth. The threshold is lower in volume compared to the vocals, the primary reason is that guitars need to sound a bit lower than vocals in the mix or else it. I use the makeup gain only to, well, make up any perceived volume loss from the compression. Now listen to the vocal with compression and how the level is more consistent. When used incorrectly, compression can quickly ruin a good vocal recording and make your music sound amateur and overprocessed.
Sweetwater editorial director, mitch gallagher, is one of the leading musicpro audioaudio recording authorities in the world. Listen to how some words pop out, while others cant be heard. Ill create a different tutorial for limiters but i would like to explain to you their basic difference with the compressors. How to set a compressor for vocals collaborate worship. Parallel compression made easy, bass and lead vocals. Basic question about using a compressor on vocals live. The former senior technical editor of keyboard magazine and former editorinchief of eq magazine, gallagher has published thousands of articles, is the author of seven books and one instructional dvd, and appears in well over 500 videos on youtube.
Inside, i share the only 7 steps you need to go through if you want. In this article, ill cover how you can learn to compress vocals like the pros the engineering gods. How to use compression for live vocals nova audio uk. The threshold sets the height of the loudness ceiling. By the end of this guide you will be able to apply. A good compression setting has a fast attack to catch the stray transient, a quick release so that the compression doesnt color the sound of the singer, and a low ratio so that when the compressor does go on, it smoothes out the vocals without squashing them.
When compression is set correctly, you reap all the benefits without any of the drawbacks. But if you want your whole sound to be compressed youd set it at say 20 or lower. In other words, it decides how loud the signal has to be to activate the compressor. Mutliband compressors, commonly found on mastering chains, divide the frequency spectrum into multiple bands and offer individualized compression settings for each. Vocal compression will allow your dynamic range to sit nicely in the mix if set properly. How to use chriss dynamic compressor for great volume in. In the mixing chapter, scott enhances the sound of the vocals with eq, compression, reverb, delay, and automation, adding life and motion to the song. It is also, in terms of sound reinforcement, a signal that needs a substantial amount of reinforcing.
It wont matter what compressor you are using, the general princples will remain the same. In this tutorial i will teach you how to adjust your compressor to make the best sounding rap vocals. Using compression correctly is the second most important thing to do after eq when you need to manipulate audio. The thought is that all vocals are going to need some dynamics treatment it is the most dynamic instrument really. There are a few different ways you could set up the multiple parallel compressors in cubase. When used correctly, compression is a key ingredient for vocals that sound professional, modern and radioready. Vocal compression is one of the most difficult tasks when mixing. The best vocal compressor for voice, bass, drums, and any other audio signal is the topmost studioquality one you can afford. Dynamic music compression settings for vocals dummies. Its best to label this one as main female vocal track. Parallel compression for powerful vocals mix better now. Recording vocals can often be a tricky task, and one that youre not likely to want to mess up too often. So lets look at the main reasons to grab a compressor before getting into some of the more.
Compression is also often difficult to set properly as it should be relatively transparent for live work and difficult for a beginning user to tell the results are optimized. However, the only steadfast friend you have is knowing how much your compressor is working. Capturing those perfectpitch performances is a subtle science that involves skillful direction and guidance on behalf of the recording engineer, exceptional performance and musical ability on behalf of the singer, and a good, open line of. This is the same compression as used above, but with a fast attack. Nov 01, 20 one of the secrets to getting a good sounding rap vocal is applying compression and lots of it. I really want you to know that watching these videos have done something special, and is that you have not only learnt me to listen, but more importantly to feel the music and go by feel and having to learn to feel, i know understand exactly what to do when compressing vocals, etc same with choosing vocal takes, i no longer look for the perfect pitch and timed comp, but instead feel for the. As with equalization, the less compression you apply during mastering, the better the result. Limiting and compression is frequently used differently on different songs, so try different settings to see how they work for you but dont assume you should just turn the knobs up to 10. If you use a compressor to even out a vocal performance, you dont. For guide in tracking vocals, you can read this tutorial on how to record vocals properly on your pc. Capturing those perfectpitch performances is a subtle science that involves skillful direction and guidance on behalf of the recording engineer, exceptional performance and musical ability on behalf of the singer, and a good, open line of communication between.
You cannot achieve a recording or a mix that matches what you hear on professional releases without a compressor. By using different settings from a selection of compressors you can really start to tailor your sound. Where finding the right ratio is about finding the right balance between a dynamic and squashed sound, setting the attack time is all about having a short or long sound. Some key concepts to follow when using parallel compression on things like vocals is using a higher than normal ratio i like to use a ration of between 8. When it comes to vocal compression, these three key parameters make a big difference in making a vocal aggressive or punchy. The compression ratio selects the amount of compression to apply on signals above the threshold.
Lets take a listen to an example from the song, say yes, by yoka. Ratio the ratio is low since i dont want the guitar to sound overly squashed only whenever the vocals are on. Nov 30, 2011 by using different settings from a selection of compressors you can really start to tailor your sound. Lower the threshold and raise the ratio to an extreme setting. What you set it at really depends on your sound and the effect you are trying to achieve. You could automate the volume so that whenever the vocals are on the guitar goes down in volume. The human voice, as an instrument, is probably the oldest, most dynamic and sonically diverse sound source in existence. That means for every 3 db you send to the compressor beyond the threshold only 1 db comes out. One of the secrets to getting a good sounding rap vocal is applying compression and lots of it. The best vocal compressors for studioquality audio. Also, be sure sure to grab the free pdf cheat sheet below which will help you get your vocal compression right. Table of contents the basic purpose of compression on. Here are the five compressors you can see in use in the first screenshot.
Addendum video on parallel compression, few examples on how you can use parallel compression on bass guitar and lead vocals to feature single elements in the mix. Jun 17, 2011 vocal compression is one of the most difficult tasks when mixing. How should i set up my compressor for recording vocals. In fact, the quickest way to make your master sound like a demo is to overcompress it. They have been chosen and set up to achieve sonic contrast between them, something thats a crucial element of this compression technique.
I will probably need to use some compression to even out the volume on the spokenword tracks. Opto compression with a slow attack and release, 6. The flexibility to treat isolated areas of the frequency spectrum. Compression in the studio is an incredibly useful if often overused tool. The final track demonstrates everything you can do to maximize the effectiveness of vocals with logic pro. You can use compression five different ways that all sound different but still good. Sidechain compression for guitar and vocals step 1. Try a decent compressor with these example settings for vocals.
I typically dont use compression ratios high than 3. Compressing will only help take a great take and make it sound better. So to reduce the affect of hitting the vocals harder during mixtime less artifacts and possibly eliminate another daad conversion, you can compress abit going in. There are only five key parameters that matter when it comes to compression. Despite this, a compressor is often the one thing missing from a bands toolbox. I really want you to know that watching these videos have done something special, and is that you have not only learnt me to listen, but more importantly to feel the music and go by feel and having to learn to feel, i know understand exactly what to do when compressing vocals, etc same with choosing vocal takes, i no longer look for the perfect pitch and timed comp, but instead feel for. This can giving a impossibly consistent sound to a performance which is often desirable when processing things like vocals.
Parallel compression made easy, bass and lead vocals settings. Mixing vocals how to eq vocals, compress them and mix. In this guide, youll learn why you should use compression and how to compress your tracks effectively. When your vocals sound really squashed, it is because they have too much compression and when they sound too dynamic that is because they have very little compression. By applying compression to the overall mix, vocals have more presence while preserving the headroom of the mixer and amps.
It can have many uses but the most common is to iron out inconsistencies in an audio tracks volume. A compression effect compresses the dynamic range of a track or in other words it makes the volume of an track more even. Oct 27, 2014 addendum video on parallel compression, few examples on how you can use parallel compression on bass guitar and lead vocals to feature single elements in the mix. Here is the same drum loop processed with the standard apple logic compressor with a variety of settings. Fab dupont demonstrates how to hear vocal compressor settings. How to use a compressor on rap vocals adg mastering.
Its a good idea to try stereo buss limiting to make reference cds for evaluation of what really happens to your sound on commercial systems. Compression is also sometimes important for other sound effects that only trigger at certain levels. Using compression on vocals for beginners recording revolution. Jan 19, 2020 the best vocal compressor for voice, bass, drums, and any other audio signal is the topmost studioquality one you can afford. Inserting a small amount of compression can help tidy up some of the more extreme dynamics of the vocal performance. Use sidechain compression to separate guitar and vocals. Reduce the size of your word documents online without affecting its quality. Notice in the diagram how the slope of the dynamics changes past the compression threshold. I like to be able to control the levels with mostly with the input faders. Get my goto vocal compression settings, learn the best compressors and. Im a huge fan of using parallel compression on many elements of my mixes from drums to vocals to guitars to even the entire mix. Learning how to use compressors become a lot less scary once you have an understanding of each of these settings. You cant set up the compressor without listening to everything else going on, but if you would like some ball.
Where serial compression really comes in handy is with vocals. The threshold is lower in volume compared to the vocals, the primary reason is that guitars need to sound a bit lower than vocals in the mix or else it will dominate the vocals. Configure your compressor so that it ducks the guitar out of the way whenever the vocals come in. For example, a typical electric guitar distortion unit first compresses the bat out of the signal to make sure the distortion applies to as much of the source material as possible. Empirical labs would like to thank universal audio for not only creating. In this guide, ill show you how to eq vocals, give you my personal vocal compression settings techniques and in general, youll see how to mix vocals and get them to sit in the mix properly. So, lets go through the settings on a compressor one at a time and how to properly apply them to vocals.
Mhh25 time for the third installment of the mixing rap vocals series. The first step to mixing vocals isnt mixing at all its editing. You can use compression on vocals to just even out the performance and to create an effect. Background vocalist in the recording studio the most important audio parameters that can be adjusted to create great background vocal mix are the eq, reverb and panning settings. Jun 10, 20 if you only want a little bit of your sound to have compression you would set the threshold at say 3 or higher. Depending on the genre and how you want the vocal to sit in the mix, i still prefer to regiongain adjust all the vocal parts so that the compressor is working a little less to bring up the volume of quietersofter parts and a little less to bring down the volume of louderharder parts. I will then dump the files onto my laptop and edit using sony soundforge 7. So anyway, enough with the crash course on compression. Sometimes i would cut vocals with my dbx 165as, sometimes on the urei 1176s. Audio compression compressor settings on vocals how to.
You can use the first compressor to gently flatten the dynamics of the vocals. Before i dive into advanced stuff and the plugin chains, allow me to say that you need some basic of knowledge of what compression, eq and reverb is. A better way to do the same thing is to use sidechain compression to compress the guitar into submission. The compression settings then depend on the effect youre trying to achieve and what else is going on in the mix. Heres a sample of the lead vocal track without compression. Again, this gives you a level table to compare channel settings with, which will help identify issues particular to what is going into the channel itself. Mar 29, 2020 there are only five key parameters that matter when it comes to compression. Audio compressor tutorial what is compression in music. Can anyone recommend what compression settings to use. Jan 26, 2018 depending on the genre and how you want the vocal to sit in the mix, i still prefer to regiongain adjust all the vocal parts so that the compressor is working a little less to bring up the volume of quietersofter parts and a little less to bring down the volume of louderharder parts.
Depending on the playing style, you may get away with mild compression, but someone who goes from finger picking to slapping is going to need to have the compression turned way up. The first thing you have to remember is that it is not about where your knobs are set, it is about what the gain reduction lights are telling you. Hello i am new to this site and to enginering and have had a search and cant seem to find any compression setting examples for drum kits, guitars bass electric acoustic, vocals, synth, piano etc it would be great if someone knows of any good links etc outlining ratios and thresholds release attack settings for me to explore as i keep on making a right mess of my. So youve recorded, edited and mixed some killer vocals and now youre ready to compress the song to make it sound professional. To use something in parallel is when we take a signal lets use vocals as an example here since this tutorial is about parallel vocal compression, and we send it to two places. In short, the most aggressive vocals are treated with compression that has a faster attackrelease time and higher ratio, usually somewhere between 4. Below, lets identify multiband compressions pros and cons. Whenever the vocals come on, the compressor pushes the guitar down in the mix. The compressor should only engage to tame the loudest peaks. This is not only the lead vocal monitor, but where other monitors are which have the lead vocal coming to them, and any other sound source that.