Should I Record With A Compressor ?

P

Paris Davidson Jr.

New member
When I'm mixing my vocals , it seems like they could never stay at a consistent level . should I record with a compressor to keep it consistent throughout the recording ?
 
tracking into a compressor may be fine but maybe you want to leave it until you start your mix that way you can dial in the compression needed to fit against the rest of the track (in case stuff gets added after the vocals are tracked)
 
I always track with a compressor. You just want to make sure your not compressing too hard. 3 db is more then enough to help tame the vocal a bit.
 
Paris Davidson Jr. said:
When I'm mixing my vocals , it seems like they could never stay at a consistent level . should I record with a compressor to keep it consistent throughout the recording ?
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Tracking with a compressor is common practice. However, as stated before, the process cannot be undone and unless you are experience you could run into some issues at the mix stage. With that said, unless you are squashing the snot out of your vocals, you shouldn't have a big problem.

On another note, compression might not be the answer to your problem at all. Depending on the other elements of your mix, you could have some frequency masking going on in certain sections of your songs that appear to drown the vocal out. If this is the case, you may have to make some room for your vocals by making small cuts at a particular frequency range in the other elements.

Furthermore, there could be a issue with how you record your vocals. Not sure how experienced you are, but not moving around when tracking and learning how to properly deliver vocals utilizing breath control techniques may help.

Hope this helps. Have a great day!
 
ideally you could avoid cutting to make space for things. Sometimes frequency masking Is a good thing (and its not even a term that should be applied to mixing, or any aspect of production, as discussed with me on this board years ago. https://www.futureproducers.com/for...-mastering/clean-trick-4-your-mix-479976/new/).

if your cymbals high end is covering up the vocals presence, turning it up and shelving the high end will just give you a dark cymbal. However, if you just turn it down, it can still contribute to the high end in a healthy way.

Proper orchestration and levels will fix masking problem, and that includes a consistent rap performance. You can subsequently make things poke through by working with dynamics. If a bunch of instruments hit on beat one and they have really sharp transients, it makes it hard to discern what is what. Automating your vocal is also common. You can make it more consistent without over compressing that way. G.o.o.d. kid, Ali automated Kendrick's vocals, and it's noticeable. His vocals aren't crazy on that album. But if you listen to him on the Holy Ghost remix, you'll notice a big difference. I'm sure Kendrick is consistent, but automating a vocal to make sure the syllabes can be heard will help you greatly. You can even compress afterwards.
 
You don't need a compressor for recording if you use the 24 bits file format. Keep options opened for the mix.
 
Like others have touched on, I would be a little nervous about frequency buildups interacting with the compressor, so I would prefer to use it after the vox have been recorded.

But I don't see why you can't use it during.
 
Paris Davidson Jr. said:
When I'm mixing my vocals , it seems like they could never stay at a consistent level . should I record with a compressor to keep it consistent throughout the recording ?
Click to expand...

You can if you want to, you may just have to work a bit harder to fit everything in around the vocals after they're compressed though.
 
Mostly compressors are used while recording just to add character and mainly tube ones are used for warmth too. They are hardly set to do any compression. So one good way is to keep a relatively steady level while recording vocals or instruments and do the compression while mixing.
 
Can you apply compression to your vocal in the headphone mix only; leaving the recorded vocal dry as it goes into DAW?
I believe you can do this in Cubase... Not sure in other DAWs though... I don't even have my vocal (or bass) turned up in the headphones to be honest; just the beat and sample when tracking vocals...
 
Well it can be done, but I wouldn't do that since I need myself and the singer to hear the dynamics exactly as they are, this way the singer can keep a proper distance from the mic while singing different parts to keep the recorded level as steady as can be.
 
I think vocals nearly always need some volume automation to properly level 'em out. Of course this depends a lot on the singer/rapper, their skills and how much they move around during performance, the mic & all that. Whether it's compressed lightly during tracking, afterwards or not...this still applies, in my experience.
 
You should apply light compression if you are applying it on the track you are recording. I personally have hardware compressor so i dont have anything on my tracking channel except an EQ or sometimes autotune pitch correction since having plugins on that channel you are recording on causes latency.
 
Try this. Set your input on your interface to about 60% in. Between like 1 and 2 o 'clock. This will allow you or the rapper or singer, to get loud enough and not bleed the input. Record with your faders in pre fader mode. Dont take this off until you're really ready to do the final mix. You can yell a lil or get loud to express what your rappin or singing. Dont touch the input and dont touch the fader for the vocal track. If an artist needs more music in the phones. Or can hear thereselves. Turn the fader down a bit and the monitor phone knob up. Get it to where they can hear their voice and music. You have to stage everything before you record. Save compression for mixing. Trust me!
 
Micro79 said:
Try this. Set your input on your interface to about 60% in. Between like 1 and 2 o 'clock. This will allow you or the rapper or singer, to get loud enough and not bleed the input. Record with your faders in pre fader mode. Dont take this off until you're really ready to do the final mix. You can yell a lil or get loud to express what your rappin or singing. Dont touch the input and dont touch the fader for the vocal track. If an artist needs more music in the phones. Or can hear thereselves. Turn the fader down a bit and the monitor phone knob up. Get it to where they can hear their voice and music. You have to stage everything before you record. Save compression for mixing. Trust me!
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The problem with the "60% in" is that the linearity of the gain knobs on preamps/interfaces is wildly different, and of course the amount of gain needed will also vary a lot from mic to mic. Better to just watch the input levels in your DAW.
 
Paris Davidson Jr. said:
When I'm mixing my vocals , it seems like they could never stay at a consistent level . should I record with a compressor to keep it consistent throughout the recording ?
Click to expand...

Sure.

Better use a limiter with gentle gain reduction to away the peaks that are not even musical,
so you can have the chance to compress later if needed. You will never ask back the peaks cut by the limiter so try doing this, playing it safe :D
 
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