compression and vocals

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Hi_Flyer

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So I have noticed that I always want to comp vocals hard, and I mean HARD... Is this good or bad, or is it just one of those subjective things?

The guys in the bands that I have been recording are not professional by any stretch, so poor mic technique and an uneven vocal performance may be part of the problem here...Plus I'm a relative newbie myself, so I'm thinking this might be a newbie tendency?

But I'll find myself running the vocal track through 2 comp plug-ins, and hitting it with enough compresion that I have to go in and manually pull down some of the breath and lip noises before a vocal phrase.

I'm talking loud, aggressive, heavy rock music here. So it seems to make the vocal fit, and it helps the vocal track stand out...

Anyway, what do you guys think? It sounds like the stuff I hear on the radio and on commercial CDs is comp'ed to hell, and I don't mean "mastering" but I mean the vocal track seems comp'ed really hard...
 
Sounds about right to me! I compress the hell out of vocals when it is any kind of pop music.

Ballads? Maybe a different story.

There are no "rules" man. If heavy compression is making the vocal sound the way you want it to, and it serves the song well, then that was the right thing to do.
 
If the lip smacks and breaths are sort of being a problem maybe try a noise gate before the compressor. That could help speed up the process of "cleaning up" the vocal track before compression.
 
I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but when you say "heavy compression" on vocals, do you generally mean a low theshold? or a high ratio? or both?......Or it depends?
 
Damn! I knew you'd say that...I shouldn't have given you the option. :)
 
I tend to use a low ratio, low threshold to achieve a LOT of gain reduction (6-12dB...sometimes more if needed!) to get that "gel" on a vocal.

The trick is getting attack and release set right.

But, sometimes I just need the tops lopped off the dynamics, and then high threshold and ratio will work. Compression becomes less of a "effect" and more of a problem solver then.
 
haha!! I knew Ford Van was gonna come on her and say that!!

I know I've heard the old "if it sounds good thing before"... my concern was that I was making a newbie mistake though. Like, just overdoing it you know? For exmple, the way they say that excessive reverb is the tell-tale sound of an amateur mix.
 
You could try backing off on the compression to see if it sounds better with less. That is the only way to tell. Keep in mind that the better the compressor, the more you can smash something without ruining it.
 
Hi_Flyer said:
haha!! I knew Ford Van was gonna come on her and say that!!

I know I've heard the old "if it sounds good thing before"... my concern was that I was making a newbie mistake though. Like, just overdoing it you know? For exmple, the way they say that excessive reverb is the tell-tale sound of an amateur mix.
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Well you got your answer mate! Sounds like you're doing fine. What sort of gain reduction figures are you getting?
 
well, I use some of the cheapies & freebies and they don't have gain reduction meters. like digitalfishphones blockfish for example, the parameters are a little different than normal compressors.
 
Here's another with metering .. E-Phonic make some good free synths but I haven't used this comp ... let us know how you find it if you try it!!! :)

http://www.kvraudio.com/get/1494.html

Sorry, I know this isn't exactly what you're after but I think the original question is kinda answered now so we can try and do something else useful with the space. :o

Nik
 
Blockfish is usualy my first go to compressor for vocals but I've been known to smash things up a bit with PSP Vintage Warmer, that has reduction metering.

If you ever think you've overcompressed a vocal go and have a listen to anything my MUSE, that usualy tells me I haven't overdone things :D
 
Or the first Joss Stone album ... yeah guys, we know she can sing, can we listen to some of the instruments now? :eek:
 
For pop music I find that light compression with a lot of fader automating hits the spot more often than not, for rock music heavier compression is usually the way to go. Depends on the singer/song/alignment of the stars.
 
LemonTree said:
Blockfish is usualy my first go to compressor for vocals but I've been known to smash things up a bit with PSP Vintage Warmer, that has reduction metering.
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I also find myself reaching for Blockfish first, even though I do have a few other freebie compressors.

How do plug-ins like the digitalfishphones and kjaerhus freebies compare to some of the stuff you have to pay for? Are they really *that much* better?
 
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Some of them are but compression is one of the things that plugins are really good at. I can still get good reverbs more easily out of crap hardware than expensive plugs but that's probably cos I'm a bit of a software retard. I think the ones you mention are some of the best freebies and although there is better out there, like the Sony Oxford plugs for PT HD or the Sonalksis stuff, or perhaps some of the DSP chip-based stuff, if you absolutely can't get the right results from the free ones, the problem is not with the software.

Hence why I carry on with the free ones at home!!!! :D:D
 
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