Where to Compress?

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Uladine

Uladine

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Where should the compression effect normally go? Should I go Mic > Compressor > Mixer > Recorder, or
Mic > Mixer > Compressor > Recorder? Or could I compress after my signal is recorded.
 
Mic>Mixer>Compressor>Recorder or you can compress after the fact..it's up to you.

But I imagine the Mic>Compressor>Mixer>Recorder wont yield very good results.
 
ametth said:
Mic>Mixer>Compressor>Recorder or you can compress after the fact..it's up to you.

But I imagine the Mic>Compressor>Mixer>Recorder wont yield very good results.
Click to expand...
Ameth is right, because mics are so quiet the signal needs to be brought up to a level that the compressor can use, via the preamps on the mixer.

Also, it's usually better to do effects, compression, ect. after you record; because once it's recorded you can't go back and change anything and if later you don't like the compression and/or effects settings you did when you tracked you're stuck with them. However you can add a slight compression when tracking just to keep instruments like the drums from peaking, but other than that unless you know for a fact that you won't want to change the sound later, it's usually best to add copression/effects afterwards.

-tkr
 
wognwokn

I'm with Tekker-the-cool-avatar guy.
Compress a hair during recording if needed, and then compress later if needed. Note the "if needed", mentioned twice.
Don't paint yourself into a corner.
 
I usually give a singer a pretty generous amount of compression when tracking... We all seem to sing better when we don't have to worry about keeping the voice level smooth. I have never ran into a singer (yet) that I haven't used good amounts of compression on... I always get a more pro sounding result when vocals are pretty much squashed and smooth... Keep the compression speed slow, so you still get that punch...(they seem to blend better)... once again this is my experience, other opinions will vary.......Joe
 
yeah, try and resist recording with compression. it makes it harder in the mix stage. sometimes though, stuff can sound nice when it's compressed while recorded. now and again, ive recorded bass guitars while compressing, and then compressing again in the mix. depends..
 
my 2 cents

I use a soft limiter while recording to prevent any peaks from distorting and compress in post production.
 
what is the recording medium?

Uladine what are you recording to?

if you are recording to analog and are trying to keep your levels hot, you're going to have to use compression during recording unless you've got a wicked stylist who knows how to work the mic... even when the mic is not in his/her hand.

if you are recording to digital (24 bit) you don't have to worry as much about recording levels (except of course the noise floor of your gear). that means you don't have to compress the original signal because you aren't trying to 'saturate'.

mic --> mic pre --> lim --> recorder --> comp/lim --> eq --> fx --> mix

since we're on the subject, what i've been doing lately (sonitus ultrafunk) when compressing is to raise the gain 1-3db above the point where the hottest signal would hit 0 since the ultrafunk compressor has a limiter. it seems to 'warm' the signal, but like everything too much of a good thing sounds like crap.
 
if someone's recording acoustic guitars, i sometimes patch up a limiter if im recording to analog.
 
Where to compress

There are also two distinctly different reasons for compressing while tracking; peak/over load/oops! protection, and sonic texturing/smoothing.
The first, with high ratios, very fast attack and high threshold, you would likely not want to 'hit' very often, as opposed to compressing for a particular sound.
I find i'm often tweaking the the drum, bass and voc comps right up to the end of a mix. No way do i assume i know the right setting befor then. :)
cheers
mixsit
 
My wife knows exactly where to compress. And she ain't no musician.
 
thanks to hixman for getting to the real problem while recording. :)

~the turtle
 
Totally up to you. Try not to compress to heavily to tape, it could cause you problems later. Its harder to add dynamics then to take them out.

I ususally compress after tracking. But if your recording to digital at least try to softly limit so you dont peak. Peaking is bad
 
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