Compression: during or after recording?

[phosphor]

I usually record my vocals dry. When i'm happy with what i've got, i use a vst plug-in to add compression.

One of my recent tracks has (excuse the newb terminology) quiet/soft vocals in the verse and some loud vocals in the chorus. I achieved this by recording the chorus first with the signal from my mic as hot as I could get. I then recorded the loud parts but clearly had to lower the signal from the mixer to prevent distortion. problem is, after compression the verse/chorus transition sounds terrible - almost like Im recording with different equipment.

can anyone offer a solution to this?

p

[Kevin Deschwazi]

I'd start off with mic technique first, back off the mic for the louder bits, that's what you'd have to do if you were singing the song live right?

Then set your levels so you're getting a good signal for both the loud and quiet parts but without clipping. 'As hot as possible' isn't usually a great idea as you'll end up with no headroom and so no additional gain to work with at mixdown, and you also run a greater risk of clipping.

With good mic technique you should be able to get a good signal going into the recorder for both the loud and quiet parts and you won't need to be as aggressive with the compressor at mixdown (that's if you need it at all).

[geoff956]

Certainly good mike technique is most of the answer, but having said that if there are exceptional peaks on the vocal I wouldn't hesitate to compress a little at the recording stage.

[scrubs]

I almost always track with a little bit of outboard compression and then add more, if needed, at mixdown. I find it especially useful for that soft/loud thing, when the soft parts can be too soft (especially in my noisy home studio setup). Kevin's point about mic technique is right-on as well. Knowing when to back off is critical. Also, knowing how to use proximity effect to your advantage during the soft parts to add intimacy is nice, too.

The main thing is, if you are going to use outboard compression during tracking, don't overdo it. You won't be able to fix it later if it is too compressed. My key is, if I can hear the compressor working, I'm probably using too much. I just want to tame the loudest peaks and smooth it out a bit.