A
alevy
New member
when you guys record vocals do you usually compress going in or after you record the track. if you do compress going in what settings do you use?
Myriad_Rocker
New member
What settings? What settings????? 
What is a good tire pressure for every and any kind of tire?
It all depends on what you're going for. Some use outboard for all their compression...others don't. Some compress just slightly while tracking and then do their main compression afterwards. Some leave the compression until after tracking.
Find what works best for you, for your compressor, your vocals or vocalist, your mic, etc, etc.
What is a good tire pressure for every and any kind of tire?
It all depends on what you're going for. Some use outboard for all their compression...others don't. Some compress just slightly while tracking and then do their main compression afterwards. Some leave the compression until after tracking.
Find what works best for you, for your compressor, your vocals or vocalist, your mic, etc, etc.
J
jkokura
New member
I do end up compressing most of my vocals, but as it's been said, there are no 'settings' pre se. I tailor the compression to the track.
jacob
jacob
A
alevy
New member
o... i gotcha i dont really need exact settings just estimates. is -20 for a threshold to much compression going in?
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
First of all alevy, welcome back to the living. We weren't sure how well you weathered Katrina.
Second, the threshold and the gain reduction setting not only depend upon your incoming signal, they depend upon each other. A threshold setting of -20 means nothing if the gain reduction is set to 1:1, but it means squashing the dynamics out of almost anything if your ratio is set to 10:1. A threshold setting of -20 also means different things if your RMS level is -30 or -15.
It also depends upon the music/vocal style. Layered hip hop vocals have totally different needs from a female country vocalist, for example.
A lot more information needs to be processed before you can decide how to use your compressor.
In early January I'll be releasing a hypertext booklet on compression called "Compression Uncompressed", which will be available on the Internet. This will explain or cover just about every aspect of compression concepts and techniques in audio recording and engineering that the average HomeRecc'r needs to know. Keep your eyes on the Mixing/Mastering forum for word on this soon after the holidays.
G.
Second, the threshold and the gain reduction setting not only depend upon your incoming signal, they depend upon each other. A threshold setting of -20 means nothing if the gain reduction is set to 1:1, but it means squashing the dynamics out of almost anything if your ratio is set to 10:1. A threshold setting of -20 also means different things if your RMS level is -30 or -15.
It also depends upon the music/vocal style. Layered hip hop vocals have totally different needs from a female country vocalist, for example.
A lot more information needs to be processed before you can decide how to use your compressor.
In early January I'll be releasing a hypertext booklet on compression called "Compression Uncompressed", which will be available on the Internet. This will explain or cover just about every aspect of compression concepts and techniques in audio recording and engineering that the average HomeRecc'r needs to know. Keep your eyes on the Mixing/Mastering forum for word on this soon after the holidays.
G.
J
jkokura
New member
SouthSIDE Glen said:
VERY much looking forward to seeing this...
Is it a free thing you're doing Glen? I'd love to hear the details about what you're doing.
jacob
SouthSIDE Glen
independentrecording.net
Yeah, it'll be free. I haven't yet decided whether I'll be offering it just as web pages or as a downloadable package or both; a lot depends upon a bandwidth vs. demand thing with the hosting service itself.
I just thought that based upon both conversations I have had in the real world and my experience here online that compression is probably the most asked about and least understood aspect of audio engineering at our level. The answers to many of the questions really require an understanding of the principles and techniques that don't lend themselves well to the short form answers common to a forum, and it's obvious that "there is no good answer" answers are not satsfactory to either the questioner or the answerer.
After spending some signifigant time searching the Internet for a good source to turn people to on this subject, I found a lot of sites that provided some good thumbnails and basics, along with some that gave just plain bad or, at best, incomplete information, but I really have found nothing that I felt comprehensively and honestly discussed and explained the subject. So I decided to follow in Bruce's (Blue Bear) excellent tradition of writing an on-line treatise on the subject. Hopefully my little thing will be half as good as his contributions to the Internet knowledge base.
It's really turning into a mini-booklet as I'm currently up to about twelve pages and only about halfway done (not including graphics, which I still have to add.) So rather than have one big, long article that scrolls on forever, I'm turning ito a hypertext booklet with linked chapters and such to make it a bit more accessable and managable.
When I have the beta draft done; I'll be hitting up on a few pros to hopefully proof it for me and look for technical inaccuracies or omissions. Once that stage is complete, I'll make it available to anybody who wants to either read it or print it out and use it as toilet paper
.
G.
P.S. The good news is that I'm writing it with a spelling checker, so my usual forum typos should be kept to a minimum here.
I just thought that based upon both conversations I have had in the real world and my experience here online that compression is probably the most asked about and least understood aspect of audio engineering at our level. The answers to many of the questions really require an understanding of the principles and techniques that don't lend themselves well to the short form answers common to a forum, and it's obvious that "there is no good answer" answers are not satsfactory to either the questioner or the answerer.
After spending some signifigant time searching the Internet for a good source to turn people to on this subject, I found a lot of sites that provided some good thumbnails and basics, along with some that gave just plain bad or, at best, incomplete information, but I really have found nothing that I felt comprehensively and honestly discussed and explained the subject. So I decided to follow in Bruce's (Blue Bear) excellent tradition of writing an on-line treatise on the subject. Hopefully my little thing will be half as good as his contributions to the Internet knowledge base.
It's really turning into a mini-booklet as I'm currently up to about twelve pages and only about halfway done (not including graphics, which I still have to add.) So rather than have one big, long article that scrolls on forever, I'm turning ito a hypertext booklet with linked chapters and such to make it a bit more accessable and managable.
When I have the beta draft done; I'll be hitting up on a few pros to hopefully proof it for me and look for technical inaccuracies or omissions. Once that stage is complete, I'll make it available to anybody who wants to either read it or print it out and use it as toilet paper
.G.
P.S. The good news is that I'm writing it with a spelling checker, so my usual forum typos should be kept to a minimum here.
Last edited:
Dags
New member
SouthSIDE Glen said:
Looking forward to reading it SSG! I'm always eager to consume as much as I can about anything related to recording, mixing, technique, tips & tricks, ideas, etc. Trawl the internet regularly to see if there's anything new that's popped up since the last time I checked
Have a great holiday BBSers!
Dags
A
alevy
New member
thanks for the advice i will be keeping a look out for the book, because i definetly need it. lol
