How to compress vocals?

[astrozombie]

ive been trying for a long time to SQUASH vocals completely (since most of my songs dont call for dynamics in the vocal department.

i dont know how. i have a couple of compressor plugins, with the standard controls.

any advice on how to set it up so the vocals stay static?

 

[GoDrex]

Re: How to compress vocals?

there's no presets? usually there are some and some for vocals

in Audition the setting for the preset "Vocal Limiter"

compress 6.15 : 1 above -8 dB
flat 1 : 1 below -8 dB


for the preset "Rock Vocal"

compress 3.48 : 1 above -24 dB
flat 1 : 1 below -24 dB
Compensation Gain = 2 dB


for "smooth vocal"

compress 2 : 1 above -20 dB
flat 1 : 1 below -20 dB

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: How to compress vocals?

There's no hard and fast rule in my experience. You do what works for the singer and the song.

I'd try one of the vocal presets on your compressor plug-in and experiment from there.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: How to compress vocals?

Theres some presets, but theyre kind of crappy.

EDIT:

as a general rule though, if i wanted to crush something,

thereshold all the way to the lowest it goes,
ratio the the highest, fast attack slow release?

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: How to compress vocals?

Well if you really want them squashed try a large ratio kicking in at a very low threshold level. Say 10:1 at -30dB. Set the attack to like 20ms and keep the release over 500 ms. Then a/b the compressed signal to the uncompressed signal and apply the appropriate make-up gain. (probably about 20dB) That'll squash the crap out of them. If it's too much try lowering the ratio and raising the threshold.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: How to compress vocals?

I usually compress vocals a couple of times for rock music and my own music. Once with a multi band compressor and once with a regular compressor channel strip. Try putting a vocal preset on them and bounce them down (save a copy of the non compressed vocal as backup) and then compress them again with a different compressor and preset. You have to experiment to get a sound you like.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: How to compress vocals?

I usually compress vocals a couple of times for rock music and my own music. Once with a multi band compressor and once with a regular compressor channel strip. Try putting a vocal preset on them and bounce them down (save a copy of the non compressed vocal as backup) and then compress them again with a different compressor and preset. You have to experiment to get a sound you like.

Never thought about compressing them a few times.

thanks bro.

what about compressing vocals on the way in?

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: How to compress vocals?

Unless you have an outboard, hardware comp, there's really no point in comping on the way in, since you can just apply the same plugin later.

I do it the same was as InnerDreams... 2-3 comps; first one at like 2-4:1, second one usually a multiband comp, and the last as more of a limiter, with an 8-10 ratio but lower threshold than on the other comps.

Generally, on vocals, I keep the attack and release just about as fast as they can go. Might tweak a bit depending on the genre, but they generally end up fast.

 

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Re: How to compress vocals?

what about compressing vocals on the way in?

Just a little because you can't get rid of it as it will print to disk/tape. You want just enough to get the performance without clipping.

 

[J Moose]

Re: How to compress vocals?

as a general rule though, if i wanted to crush something,

thereshold all the way to the lowest it goes,
ratio the the highest, fast attack slow release?

Here's what the controls do;

Ratio - Sets the degree of volume increase vs. output. A ratio of 4:1 means that for every 4 dB of input gain there's a 1dB increase in output. If it was 12:1, then for every 12dB increase the output goes up 1dB.

Threshold - This controls were the dynamic processor will engage. Similar to an input gain, but not really. This needs to be set by ear and in accordance with the rest of the gain staging, like how hard the micpre is hitting the compressor.

Attack - How quickly the processor will react once the threshold is crossed. Too fast of an attack can put a "blip" on the front end of things because it'll let the initial transient through and then clamp down. Sometimes great for drums...

Release - This controls the length of time the compressor takes to come back to "0" once it stops compressing.


Like anything else, every control influences the other controls and like everything else, the "best" setting really depends on what you want to do.

In 'rock' music its pretty fashionable to compress the vocal hard & have the singer right up on the listeners nose. If that's what we want then I'll hit the vocal hard... at least 8:1 if not 12:1 or chain two compressors together on the way in... dig into the gain reduction & it stays back until the singer shuts their trap.

If the singer can really sing I'll kiss it a bit on the way in... maybe 4:1 with an 1176 or 6:1 and just knock off the peaks.

Generally attack is somewhere in the middle... not very fast, and not very slow.

Release time will vary... usually set so that the compressor isn't "pumping" and introducing weird artifacts. Sometimes that means the release is pretty long... especially if there's a lot of compression with a high ratio.

The real difference between a cheap compressor & something really good is in how much you'll be able to squash something before it starts sounding "bad". The mic (and the room to a degree) also makes a sizeable difference here but that's another topic...

 

[astrozombie]

Re: How to compress vocals?

Here's what the controls do;

Ratio - Sets the degree of volume increase vs. output. A ratio of 4:1 means that for every 4 dB of input gain there's a 1dB increase in output. If it was 12:1, then for every 12dB increase the output goes up 1dB.

Threshold - This controls were the dynamic processor will engage. Similar to an input gain, but not really. This needs to be set by ear and in accordance with the rest of the gain staging, like how hard the micpre is hitting the compressor.

Attack - How quickly the processor will react once the threshold is crossed. Too fast of an attack can put a "blip" on the front end of things because it'll let the initial transient through and then clamp down. Sometimes great for drums...

Release - This controls the length of time the compressor takes to come back to "0" once it stops compressing.


Like anything else, every control influences the other controls and like everything else, the "best" setting really depends on what you want to do.

In 'rock' music its pretty fashionable to compress the vocal hard & have the singer right up on the listeners nose. If that's what we want then I'll hit the vocal hard... at least 8:1 if not 12:1 or chain two compressors together on the way in... dig into the gain reduction & it stays back until the singer shuts their trap.

If the singer can really sing I'll kiss it a bit on the way in... maybe 4:1 with an 1176 or 6:1 and just knock off the peaks.

Generally attack is somewhere in the middle... not very fast, and not very slow.

Release time will vary... usually set so that the compressor isn't "pumping" and introducing weird artifacts. Sometimes that means the release is pretty long... especially if there's a lot of compression with a high ratio.

The real difference between a cheap compressor & something really good is in how much you'll be able to squash something before it starts sounding "bad". The mic (and the room to a degree) also makes a sizeable difference here but that's another topic...

thanks for the tip bro! ive now learned that chaining a few compressors gets the sound I want.

thanks again to everyone!