compressing before or after

C

chris857

New member
Would you guys recommend compressing a signal before it gets to the recording device(8-track or whatever) while you are recording, or compressing after you have already recorded it and are mixing, or both?
 
you may not need any copmpression.in my opinion you should only compress a signal that is very uneaven ie vocals that are too close and then too far to the mic or louder and then quieter than you want them.on the other hand some artists like to compress all bass,vocals & bass drum signals. this is fine if not overdone,and is usually done during the take as most dynamic processing is better pre-signal.you may also want to process the stereo mix from your mixer to your master recorder.i recomend a very slight soft knee small ratio setting on the final mix only if the levels are very uneven like when the symbals or rim shot is much hotter on some of the mix or some other part gets way too loud a few times.of course be very careful with any dynamic processing it may add distortion. hope this helps. monty
 
I'll usually compress vocals going in. Not only for level control, but it makes them easier to sit in the mix for the most part. I used to compress the kick going in. Now I think this is a bad idea. The kick sometimes gets heavy compression and EQ, so it's best to wrestle with that later when you can make changes. If you have a really erratic drummer, then maybe copress going in. With snare, it depends on the drummer and the sound your going for. Same with bass. With a world-class player you probably don't have to do anything, different story for a smuck.

-jhe
 
depends on what genre of music you are recording

sometimes the posters on this list seem to assume that everyone is making rock/pop. if that's the case then certainly follow their lead; however, if you are doing something in the jazz/classical genre, you need to keep the dynamics. i've got a few jaz/acoustic buddies and they compress/limit while recording to keep from ruining a good take, but don't compress much other than that. i'm going by what i've been told on this, not what I do. i do r&b/reggae/hip-hop/go-go, and i compress the snot out of everyting... just kidding.
 
your right Cross, i am a rocker and a blues man.i should have asked the style first but it's just so fun responding plus i need to get my posts up so my status will change from "newbie" how sad is that? just kidding. thanks for not "slamming" harder. monty
 
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