compression question

banjo71

New member
I have a single mono track of a voice and an acoustic guitar. The volume of the vocal is mixed pretty well to the volume of the guitar, unfortunately I wasn't able to get two separate tracks. There are definitely some dynamic spikes from the vocal part of the track. I'm thinking of compressing the signal as if I'm just compressing the guitar. Any other ideas on how to compress this?
 
In my limited experience, I would approach it just as I would a master buss compressor. Because, really, that's all it is. Low ratios, few db's of gain reduction. I'd even look at specific 2 buss compressors for the job, like Waves SSL G, or Kotelnikov TDR.

Just my take.
 
If it's just a few vocal spikes, you could indeed use a compressor. Just be careful with you setting so only the unwanted peaks are lopped off without hitting the rest of the dynamic range.
 
Some very brief and highly targeted automated volume adjustments could help too, then compress lightly as previously explained.
 
" I'm thinking of compressing the signal as if I'm just compressing the guitar. " Not sure what your meaning is here, but relatively fast attack (meaning just quick enough to catch the vocal transient, but maybe not so fast as to unnecessarily dull transient life), and release fast.
The idea -mostly pertaining to the release, is the gain reduction gets in and out with least effect on the guitar.
 
i you gently use a multi band compressor,
you can find the specific frequencies that you want to attenuate using a single band, and move the crossover points so that only the voice frequencies are centered in the one active band.....
turn all other bands off,
so you now have an active 'EQ', or sorts, that only brings down certain frequencies on the voice when they peak.
almost like a de-esser, but a little more elegant.
 
For dynamic spikes from the high-end of a track, it's best practice to use a De-Esser with a split band to reduce only that frequency zone that the spikes appear. This way, you don't have a static EQ on your track which can cause a lot of problems, especially if you're dealing with Vocal and Guitar on the same audio. If you want to use a compressor to solve this problem, I don't think that it's your best option, the spikes will only make your compressor react weird.

All the best,

- Synergy Sound
Synergy Sound - Mastering and mixing
 
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