Why slow attack on vocal....?

jocasrb

Battle Champion!
Hi guys:) Im still listening to a lot of tutorials and when they talk about mixing vocals (except for rap) they use Copression with slow attack (probably 20-30ms)...can anyone explain it to me, why is that good?
if we go 15+ms we allow transient to pass it, but we will compress the sustain of the vocal...? and by that we didnt acomplished louder vocal (if we wanted it)...but reduced signal after transient...with makeup gain we cant compare cuz we didnt work with the peaks...so any explanation about it would be really good, cuz like you see i cant get it 100% :////

here is how i think about it, practically:

eerMqNx.jpg
RED = TIME (slow attack)
BLUE = TRESHOLD
GREEN = NEW SIGNAL

Thanks in advance :)
 
Since vocals is the most important element of the mix, you do not want it to be too quiet in the mix. You are generally therefore assigning relatively much signal and this signal now becomes a factor for how the mix in general is perceived to sound. If you hit the vocals with too fast attack too much, it can begin to add density and eat on the vocal expression too much, causing a more numb, dense, dull, hard type of overall mix sound that lost some of its presence and emotion. You commonly want the vocals to add warmth softness and sensitivity.
 
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Hi guys:) Im still listening to a lot of tutorials and when they talk about mixing vocals (except for rap) they use Copression with slow attack (probably 20-30ms)...can anyone explain it to me, why is that good?
if we go 15+ms we allow transient to pass it, but we will compress the sustain of the vocal...? and by that we didnt acomplished louder vocal (if we wanted it)...but reduced signal after transient...with makeup gain we cant compare cuz we didnt work with the peaks...so any explanation about it would be really good, cuz like you see i cant get it 100% :////

here is how i think about it, practically:

View attachment 46277
RED = TIME (slow attack)
BLUE = TRESHOLD
GREEN = NEW SIGNAL

Thanks in advance :)

That's a Great Question jocasrb.

With vocals if the attack is too fast, then when the singer makes consonant sounds like k, t, or plosives like p, and b the compressor will clamp down and squash those sounds because consonants/plosives are louder. This will create a thin sounding vocal since our hearing is naturally sensitive to changes in consonants/plosives.

As an example when someone is lying and we sense it, aside from obvious changes in pitch, on a much subtler level their plosives and consonants change in time an duration as well. Snapple Fact, Check.

Anyway, so you're probably ready to move up to the next level and start thinking of a compressor as an automatic volume fader. It's an automatic volume fader doing what we're all too lazy to do with our fingers. I like my fingers, I don't care to have them riding a fader all day when they could be fingering my keyboard or my other keyboard so that the one keyboard gets jealous.

The reason a 15-30ms attack is great on vocals is because it allows the consonants/plosives to come through more naturally. If you want more control over the consonant/plosive sounds you can follow that compressor up with another that has a fast 0-10ms attack and a higher 4:1 or 10:1 ratio and use that compressor specifically to shave off plosives/consonants without affecting the sound as dramatically. This is all done in the context of everything else playing... mostly.

The point of this is youre using the 1st compressor with the 15-30ms attack/release as a leveler, which means you're using it bring all the crazy volume difference of your rap vocal to the same volume level so it sits pretty like a gold brick in the center of your mix and doesn't dance around all crazy like.

The 2nd compressor is used to surgically squash or remove the plosives or consonants you feel might be sticking out in the context of the mix after you've leveled the volume of your vocal.

If you want to learn more I've got an intro to compression video here:
Intro to Compression Part 1: The Controls - YouTube

Then there's another video of compression in action:
Intro to Compression Part 2: Compression in Action - YouTube

I'll be up front, none of those videos demonstrate compression on vocals but it isn't any different than what you'll learn in them.

...and since you read this far here's a nugget. The perfect settings for practically every vocal on a compressor is 15-30ms attack, release 10-30ms, ratio 2:1 and threshold brought down until you have 4-6db of gain reduction. Like, literally, every vocal, my voice in every one of the tutorial videos I've made is compressed with those settings and I think it sounds nice, but then again I try to love myself more and more everyday so im biased or... just positively delusional.

Hope that helps :)

- Nathan
 
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Thanks guys

@nathan, thats long-good eplanation for me :) i was doing compression all the time by ear, to get the most 'natural'sound of voices (or other instruments) but i didnt know for what EXACTLY to listen while compressing/setting attack time...so if i understand corectly, when im searching for the best attack time for the vocals (rap or non) i should listen to plosives, and to try to not compress/catch those T,K,P...? Also S, but we can fix them by any De-esser/multiband comp...is this the idea? :)
 
Thanks guys

@nathan, thats long-good eplanation for me :) i was doing compression all the time by ear, to get the most 'natural'sound of voices (or other instruments) but i didnt know for what EXACTLY to listen while compressing/setting attack time...so if i understand corectly, when im searching for the best attack time for the vocals (rap or non) i should listen to plosives, and to try to not compress/catch those T,K,P...? Also S, but we can fix them by any De-esser/multiband comp...is this the idea? :)

Exactly you got it. And you can do this to taste. How much people like compressing is a very subjective thing. Sometimes depending on your track sacrificing plosives for a more heavily compressed and louder sound can be desirable. It gets louder because the peaks that your plosives and s's might create will be reduced, so you can push the volume slightly higher.

Good stuff :D
 
To be honest, sometimes it can sound pretty cool to smash a vocal track with a fast comp. It can make for some nice weird background stuff when side-chained to a bass or kick, but not necessary good for a conventional lead pop song or whatever.
 
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