I generally use no more than 3to1 ratio and i make sure only the peaks in the vocal hits the threshold. It allows you to bring them to the front of the mix while not having to worry about their power note making everyone in the room cover their ears. It has a precision dual led display that helps you monitor your inputs and ensures that you apply the right settings. Remember that these compressor settings are basic guidelines, a starting point.
However, ive taken to compressing only vocals on the way in and recording everything else pure except i use arts opl settings on drums. Recommended compressor settings for different instruments and vocals. You can use compression on vocals to just even out the performance and to create an effect. A good compression setting has a fast attack to catch the stray transient, a quick release so that the compression doesnt color the sound of the singer, and a low ratio so that when the compressor does go on, it smoothes out the vocals without squashing them. How to set a compressor for vocals collaborate worship. Check out the how to get the most from your compressor pedal part 2 page at sweetwater the worlds leading music technology and instrument retailer. Empirical labs would like to thank universal audio for not only creating. When i want to really squash something, ill use my external compressor as itll pump more live into the instrument. In this video, i show you how to compress a rap vocal. The best way to grasp the concept of the sound of mixbus compression is to mix the same song twice. Mixing vocals how to eq vocals, compress them and mix. Basic question about using a compressor on vocals live. Set your threshold so that when the extreme transient happens, it triggers the compressor only a couple of decibels, and the nontransient material the main sound of the instrument doesnt trigger the compressor. I go over setting every parameter of the compressor for vocals.
When mastering the file, ive always just used the library settings, but ill audition different settings and pick one that suits the track. Compressor settings for mastering, vocals and instruments ok, so im really trying to get my head around compressor settings along with my rudimentary practical knowledge about what the settings do. I do all the rest of my compression with plugins like the sonitus compressor comes with sonar 3 and the free blockfish compressor from this allows for more mixing options later on. You can set the attackrelease to auto or go to 12 oclock on either one. The audio compressor automatically adjusts and maintains the signal levels as they go to hdisk or tape to be recorded.
Lets get your vocals under control with the best vocal compressor plugin software. Whether its a compressor or its an eq, i dont look at it as a piece of gear. Im looking for a really good go to vst compressor for vocals. Let me tell you a little secret that most sound engineer will agree on, the best compressor for vocals is a good vocalist. Because music compressors are used and abused so frequently in home recording, it might be helpful for you to have some basic settings for vocals to get you started. If your compressor has just two knobs, typically labeled comp or sustain, and level or gain, then just set both knobs at 12. The faster attack time it has, the sound goes smoother and less aggressive. Assuming youre recording to a digital system using 24. Many bloggers will tell you what the perfect vocal compression settings are.
Good compression settings live vocals craig vecchione. Rather than using a single compressor with aggressive settings, its better. As each compressor plugin software is different, and there are myriads out there to choose from, well keep it simple, and take a look at 5 of best best choices out there all of which were researched and recommended by the best. Dynamic range is the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of an audio signal. Mixing vocals guide lets see how to properly eq and mix vocals along with some great compression settings. Compressor settings table a useful table of compressor settings a a generic compressor settings table you can use as a guide for your compression. When used correctly, compression is a key ingredient for vocals that sound professional, modern and radioready. This is a fine way to start with a comp on vocals, and will let you actually hear much of whats happening as you dial it in and hear the way the compressor works with the voice. In this video i show you two different approaches for vocal settings how to achieve a punchy, in your face vocal how to create a smooth vocal that sits back in the mix. Remember that these settings are only a starting point.
This article will help you learn what compression does, how to choose the perfect compressor settings, and some common mistakes to avoid. Try widening the bandwidth a tad and adjusting the frequency until you get the behavior youre after. But if you just want to learn about vocals specifically, keep reading. Pdf presented work explores music mixing practices and.
Multiband compression is best used to solve problems on individual tracks. Let me give you some general advice for applying compression to a voice recording. This will hopefully save you the headache of ruining a few tracks before you get the hang of this powerful tool. This allows each of the compressor settings to be more subtle and boost the loudness of the low and medium frequency tones more than the high tones.
How should i set up my compressor for recording vocals. Does anyone have advice for a relatively new guy to the xr18 around using the inchannel not insert or fx compressor settings most appropriately. Vocal compressor pedals offer singers the ability to activate the vocal compression without the need for a complex setup, such as a laptopcomputer, which is running a compressor program, which could freeze or. Mixing vocals how to eq vocals, compress them and use. If you set your fader so that the majority of the vocal is nicely audible in your mix, the lower. For vocals, you generally want this number to be low between 5ms and 20ms. The audio compressor, is a pretty useful item, and one which you need to add to your system at some point if you are recording any type of audio, especially vocals.
Before we get into the compressor settings for vocals, let us get some knowledge of its core components which can help you to understand how compressor effect works. As mentioned earlier, a compressor reduces the level of the loudest moments. Its some combination of lack of technique, non comprehension of the limit of dynamic range available and compressor settings. You can choose to compress only a certain part of a tracks frequency spectrum, or apply different flavors of compression to several areas of the spectrum.
So, if you are compressing the signal by 6db, you can apply 6db of gain to. How to choose the perfect compressor settings every time. This dbx will never be used for anything else except vocals. In this tutorial i will teach you how to adjust your compressor to make the best sounding rap vocals. Mixing vocals how to eq vocals, compress them and use effects. There is no onesizefitsall formula to vocal compression. Also, be sure sure to grab the free pdf cheat sheet below which will help you get your vocal compression right. Its intimidating to start learning such a huge subject, especially when the controls and their effect on your signal are difficult to understand depending on your sound. How to get the most from your compressor pedal part 2. A multiband compressor allows you to split a track into different frequency ranges called bands and compress them independently. The best vocal compressor for voice, bass, drums, and any other audio signal is the topmost studioquality one you can afford.
Compression quicklook guide a useful table of compressor. I generally use the default settings on the inputs. Only when the sound hits the compressor threshold its all about the threshold. When used incorrectly, compression can quickly ruin a good vocal recording and make your music sound amateur and overprocessed. The only issue with software plugins is that you cant apply them before they pass into your daw. A multiband audio processor basically includes several different compressors, which each have different settings for the low, medium and high frequency components of the program audio. One of the secrets to getting a good sounding rap vocal is applying compression and lots of it. If you use a compressor to even out a vocal performance, you dont. Recording vocals can often be a tricky task, and one that youre not likely to want to mess up too often. Capturing those perfectpitch performances is a subtle science that involves skillful direction and guidance on behalf of the recording engineer, exceptional performance and musical ability on behalf of the singer, and a good, open line of. How to use a compressor on rap vocals adg mastering. Slow release time if you need more natural vocals and only want your compressor to apply subtly on the tail ends then you must start with slow release time and gradually decrease it to adjust.
Sound compressor settings in home recording dummies. How to adjust an compressorlimiter to achieve best sound. There are no magic settings that work 100% of the time. Lots of the other juans require more listening before you settle on an array of settings for the compressor.
If you give me a great setup for it, ill glue the knobs in place thanks in advance, mike. Good compression settings live vocals sign in to follow this. The best vocal compressors for studioquality audio. Get my goto vocal compression settings, learn the best compressors and. Anyway, i just purchased a dbx 266xl and if any of you have ever used this, or a equivelant compressorlimiter before, please tell me where to set this thing to be used on vocals only. Dynamic music compression settings for vocals dummies. So in this post well go over a few compressor settings to use when youre recording and mixing. A lot of tweaking will be needed, and sometimes you may have to use completely different settings.
The two most important aspects to recording and mixing vocals is implied in that phrase right there. The complete guide to audio compression collaborate worship. Can you tell me how to set up a compressor for vocals while theyre being recorded, and again in the mix. If we set the threshold to 24db, the compressor will not affect everything quieter than that. In this guide, ill show you how to eq vocals, give you my personal vocal compression settings techniques. Use the level meters on the compressor to match the output level to the input level. Best compression settings for vocals recording and mixing. By the way, dont worry about the oddly eqed vocals, youre not going to hear them.
By the end of this guide you will be able to apply. This is a low priced 2 channel compressor that is ideal for both vocals and instruments. This test should give you a great indication of how mixbus compression affects the overall cohesive balance of the loudest and most important parts of your mix. I am just beginning to be able to hear changes that are made and the proscons of them.
Just like with other audio processing, never use compression just because it is available. The compressor is still applied to the full frequency spectrum, but it is only activated by the frequency range set by the key filter. The compressor does this by turning down or compressing the louder signals so that they match. When recording, representing your voice in the most accurate and pristine way is about what not to do. Maybe an acoustic guitar is too boomy, but only on certain notes. Attack time of a compressor decides the contents of the audio signal. There is the recording phase and then there is the mixing phase. This article will help you learn what compression does, how to choose the perfect compressor settings, and some common pitfalls to avoid. Thats where vocal compressor pedals come into usage. Best compressor settings for vocals, guitars, drums and. Music compression is the process of reducing a signals dynamic range. It wont matter what compressor you are using, the general princples will remain the same. Compression quicklook guide a useful table of compressor settings.
An incorrectly compressed lead vocalist, or overly compressed backing vocals, can seriously hurt an otherwise excellent creative masterpiece. Ive been using the builtin preset for vocal suggested in the software, but im not so good at compression. The only way to specify the amount of compression is to adjust the input level with an inputgain control. But since we are not talking about vocalists here, i will give you some of what i know about compressing vocals and show you a. Try a decent compressor with these example settings for vocals.
You want to know how to set the knobs on your compressor, or at least some good settings to start with. You cannot achieve a recording or a mix that matches what you hear on professional releases without a compressor. Compressor settings for mastering, vocals and instruments. If the compressor has a knee setting, turn this up to make the compression more subtle. The attack setting on a compressor decides how much time it takes for the compressor to compress at full force. Let start off with the basic vocal eq settings and the details behind them.
When i do, its typically on vocals, but ill occasionally use it on other tracks as well. Getting the right compression setting for vocals will go a long way in how well your music will sound. Download a pdf of this post for you to keep forever. A master guide to voice compressionhow to compress voice. In this section, we will go for all the setting of compressor plugin one by one to get the perfect vocal output. You put the gain reduction back to 6db and you open a new instance of the same compressor or vocals.