Compressor Setting Suggestions While Tracking?

  • Thread starter Thread starter BigEZ
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NYMorningstar said:
If you absolutely need to hear your vocals compressed which is beyond me because it actually makes it harder to sing...
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Like I said, if you can hear the compression...it's already too much for tracking.

I tend not to compress vocals when tracking...though I have used a limiter at times so that it just tickles the peaks and prevents the odd spikes...and just running through the limiter even at very light settings also adds a certain sonic signature to the vocal.
Sometimes I like it...other times I don't.
 
You can always monitor through compression... Tape, digital or otherwise.
 
miroslav said:
Like I said, if you can hear the compression...it's already too much for tracking.

I tend not to compress vocals when tracking...though I have used a limiter at times so that it just tickles the peaks and prevents the odd spikes...and just running through the limiter even at very light settings also adds a certain sonic signature to the vocal.
Sometimes I like it...other times I don't.
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What settings would you recommend to set a compressor to work as a limiter?

Thanks,
 
Bristol Posse said:
Are you looking for punchy guitars/vocals, smooth, ambient, heavily colored etc etc etc. Anyone one of these outcomes would require different settings

If you don't have a clear vision of what the recorded track needs to be you may be better off waiting until it is recorded until you add compression in the box, or continuing to work on the song until you are ready to commit to a sound on the way in
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How would you create a guitar sound like this: YouTube - ‪Foals - Alabaster (+lyrics in description)‬‏ (atmospheric)
And then something like this: YouTube - ‪Foals - Blue Blood Lyrics‬‏
I adore Foals' sound, what other things do you reckon they use/emphasis?
Thanks.
 
Since.this a thread about tracking compression, The key to any sound is to record it as close to the end result as possible, so if you want really ambient guitar don't play really heavy handed and close Mic it with the aim of fixing in the mix with a compressor because the end result won't be good at all.
Instead find a nice space with the right acoustics and distance Mic a well played even, light touch guitar. You can then enhance the sense of ambience with some fast light attack compression, Reverb, delay, LPF if the track even needs it.
If you want good guitar tone work on that rather than tracking compression.

IMO There's too much emphasis on gear which to a large part is pushed by gear makers and their endorsers. There's no doubt an 1176, LA2A, LA3A, some of the DBX stuff or even some cheaper stuff like the RNC or VLA etc, etc are really good at musical sounding compression but they don't do miracles in fixing performances or creating tone that did not exist in the recording.

All things come from the source material, everything after that is like adding seasoning to a steak, a little goes a long way. Just as you can't take a bunch of hamburger meat, squish it together, dump a ton of steak seasoning on it and expect it to be a filet mignon, You can't take poor or inappropriate source material dump tons of FX on it and expect it to sound like a record.
 
Bristol Posse said:
There's no doubt an 1176, LA2A, LA3A, some of the DBX stuff or even some cheaper stuff like the RNC or VLA etc, etc are really good at musical sounding compression but they don't do miracles in fixing performances or creating tone that did not exist in the recording.
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Because without a clear vision of the sonic goal and the skill to achieve it even the best gear is rendered useless.
 
Your advice seems wise, you have opened my mind a bit, the source material is most significant.
However because most of us are using a home studio is hard to find that place to create that 'ambient tone'.
 
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