More of a live performance question; compression on vocals

N

noiseordinance

New member
Hey there. Ok, I realize this isn't a recording question, but I enjoy this forum much so I figured I'd ask here. I have an acoustic song with vocals that I'm going to perform at my college. I'm just using a acoustic combo amp to run the acoustic and a vocal mic into. If I have some soft parts and some loud parts vocally, would it make sense to run my mic through a compressor pedal of some sort? Or is this application so small that it'd make more sense to just back away from the mic when I sing louder? It'll be to an audience of 300 so I don't wanna sound like complete garbage.

Thanks much for catering to my non-recording question. :)
 
Hi there,
There's absolutely nothing wrong with using a compressor on live vocals, but if the problem really stands out perhaps you should be working on microphone technique first?

A good technique will probably iron out the majority of problems transparently, whereas a compressor will do it, but it'll sound worse the more it has to work.

The same applies in the studio. If the singer works the mic well then subtle volume automation may be all that's needed.
 
Steenamaroo said:
Hi there,
There's absolutely nothing wrong with using a compressor on live vocals, but if the problem really stands out perhaps you should be working on microphone technique first?

A good technique will probably iron out the majority of problems transparently, whereas a compressor will do it, but it'll sound worse the more it has to work.

The same applies in the studio. If the singer works the mic well then subtle volume automation may be all that's needed.
Click to expand...

Thanks much, that makes sense. I'll definitely work on the mic technique. I guess I mis-typed a bit; I'm not so worried about getting loud as I am getting quiet. The majority of my song is medium level vocals, but there are a few parts that are particularly quiet. Does it seem like a compressor would be a good way to slightly boost the quiet parts, besides coming in closer to the mic?
 
Oh, I see. I'd move away from a comp then.

Think about it. If 90% of the track was fine and the odd bit was too loud, then you could use a comp to tame that 10%.

If 90% of the track is fine and ten percent is too quiet, then using a comp would mean squashing 90% of your performance just to improve the 10%.

I'm not really a live guy, but I'd bet they use comps and limiters for safety and for taming unexpected peaks more than anything else.
 
I think your bigger problem is running a vocal into a combo amp. A proper stage monitor setup will keep the vocal cleaner and more resistant to feedback. But I understand if it's your only option.

There are two problems with compressing vocals live. First is that you can end up working against it, trying to get louder when it lowers your volume. In some cases that can strain your voice. The second problem is that it increases the chances of feedback since you will be increasing the overall gain (to make the quiet stuff louder). I do run compression when I mix live but I mostly use it like safety limiting, really only compressing the peaks, and don't use makeup gain.
 
Somehow I've only just noticed this thread but Bouldersoundguy summed up what I wanted to say anyway. I use some compression on live vocals but it takes care in the set up to make sure it doesn't become an automatic feedback creator. Similarly, the fear of "working against you" and preventing you from getting louder when you want is very real.

As you're doing your own sound with limited gear, this likely won't work for you but a trick I like is to use two faders for the compressed vocals, one raw and one after the compressor. I can then balance between the restricted dynamic range at a level that works with the backing--plus some raw "live" voice I can mix in as required. It can also work the other way around with instruments. (Trick stolen from Dave Rat by the way--if you don't read his blog you should!)
 
Bobbsy said:
As you're doing your own sound with limited gear, this likely won't work for you but a trick I like is to use two faders for the compressed vocals, one raw and one after the compressor.
Click to expand...

This also allows putting uncompressed vocal in the monitor while compressing as needed in the mains. It can be done with an XLR splitter to get the mic into two channels, not that the OP will be able to do this with his combo amp.
 
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