FYI: using clip gain envelopes instead of over-compressing

[crosstudio]

on the recording i'm currently mixing, the rapper has vocal sections that sound great, and would be even better with a little compression, then out of nowhere, he'll get really-loud and then soft again.

there were probably 20 spots where this really-loud and then soft again occurs.

if i set the compressor to keep an even keel on the vocals that are just outside of my exceptable dynamic range, i would squash the crap out of the 20 spots and the plug-in compressor would not be at its best, so i decided to use Sonar's clip gain envelope.

for each clip you can set a gain envelope and add nodes to the gain envelope which surround the offending section (2 nodes in front, and 2 nodes behind), then just pull down a couple of DB on the 2 internal nodes.

after performing this non-destructive vocal surgery, the vocal dynamic range is in a workable range where a little compression (if any) can really help the volume stay even throughout the track.

the peak level of the vocals were mostly between -12 to -20 db, with the RSM level at about -18db when the peak is at -12. so i set my compressor threshold to -18 with a 3:1 ratio and 3db gain, so that the -12 peak remains, but the -18 RSM would become -15db and the gap between peak level and RSM would be 3db instead of 6db; however, the really loud sections were screwing everything up... until i rode the faders (virtually speaking).

[Ethan Winer]

CS,

> for each clip you can set a gain envelope and add nodes to the gain envelope <

Absolutely, and that's now what I do almost exclusively. It takes maybe half an hour to work through an entire track, but when you're done the track is smooth and consistent, and has no compressor pumping sounds.

If you do find the need to compress, here's a tip: Set the attack time as fast as possible but make the release time relatively long - maybe 1 - 3 seconds. This way loud parts are reduced immediately, but the slow release prevents the pumping sound.

--Ethan

[heinz]

great stuff, thanks guys-

[ChuckU]

I've been doing this too. Mainly because compressors are still a bit of a mystery, but one less plug-in hogging the CPU is a great added bonus.