How do I...

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NorthShoreNewb

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I am very new to the whole rack thing and I was wondering how I would be able to hook a simple compressor up to all 8 channels on my mixer. Is this possible or do I compress after recorded or how does it work? Same goes for a noise gate... Thanks
 
You can't use a normal compressor to properly work for 8 channels at the same time w/out having 8 compressors. Compressors actually replace the signal to your mixer. Effects on the other hand are mixed wet/dry by how much you dial in. The are pass-through effects.

Compressors are insert effects because you don't want a wet/dry mix on a compressed track, you defeat the puropse then.

Now that said, what you could do is run the compressor slightly after it comes out of the stereo outpts, that way the entire mix is compressed to your liking. You'll find some effects units that have a "comressor" setting on them, but don't mistake these for the real thing, they are not....

After you record, you could record each track individually w/ the compressor, not at the same time, but each track through the compressor to a free track on your recorder. That's one way....
 
So I am saving all the tracks to my program on my computer. I record the tracks dry and then run compression after? And to do it I run the compression on each track individually so I won't have to have 8 compressors? Will the sound be the same if compressed after recording the tracks rather than before?
 
Well always remember, whatever you do on the recording side stays on disk. If you run too much compression while you're tracking, you're stuck w/ it, complression isn't easily undone....

If you wait until the mixing side, you can mess around w/ what you like and still make changes. If you only have one channel of compression, then you would have to run each track you'd like compressed, through the compressor individually.

Not all tracks need compression either. Depends on style you're going for , equipment used, and mic techniques/placement.

Don't overuse the nose gate either. Bleeding from mics isn't the devil...poeple get caught up w/ just getting the source sound and forget that you can lose a lot of the feel of the mix by gating everything to death. It's okay to have a little snare sound in your tom mics, or a little guitar in your overheads.
 
How would I hook up the compressor and noise gate so I can edit the tracks on my computer with it?
 
output from your computer hooked to the input of your compressor, output of your compressor hooked to the input of your computer. Set up a new track in your recording software and record.

Bada boom bada bing

If you wanted you could throw your mixer in between you computer and compressor as well. Basically the possibilities are as vast as the amount of gear and cables you have.

Question for those that have responded to this thread, I know you don't really want to compress things on the way in because of lack of "undo" but doesn't doing it post, when it comes to computers, add a second round of conversion into the provebial "mix"? Will this be noticeable?
 
I always put a little compression on voice going in. 3or4/1, quick attack, soft knee. Takes the edge off.
 
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