Compression before EQ? Or After?

[DjRio]

Hey all --

Curious, i've been recording my vocals flat, with VERY little compression ( about 1:9 ratio, fast attack and release... i get about -3db of reduction just to catch peaks.. )


I usually add some more compression later when mixing...

Is it better to EQ the vocals i've recorded to my liking, and THEN add the extra compression?

or is it better the other way around. Always wondered this.

Thanks!

 

[THM]

Depends from project to project. Some tracks will require compression before EQ, some vice versa. There are NO rules in music production, whatever people think...
Try both and see what sounds best to your ears. That's the only rule.

 

[Mr.Curlz]

Depends from project to project. Some tracks will require compression before EQ, some vice versa. There are NO rules in music production, whatever people think...
Try both and see what sounds best to your ears. That's the only rule.

Ditto.

 

[EL_HOlandes]

eq first always. THe sooner you get rid of the rumble and ....ty problems/ rattling monitors and so on, the sooner you cn compress it the right way. Compressors react on rumble as well, so leave them when you c ompress?

 

[THM]

Hmm... many people say "first EQ", but I don't think you can say that is a general rule. Indeed in many cases you can use that order, but read this:

The usual way is first EQ, and then compressing.

But some engineers are using EQ again before finishing the production. (*)

The world-famous mastering engineer Bob Katz is describing the whole thing in his book "Audio Mastering - The Art & The Science".
Highly recommended !!

(*) e.g. when the producer wants to emphasize the sound level of a particular instrument - if the EQ is done first in that case, the compression would wipe out the emhasis

 

[wonpeace]

again ditto about no rules

can i ask why are you recording compressed vocals? control/edit is much easier to add/subtract to a flat vocal

in whatever order. 90+% of my vocal recordings are eqd first, again tho effecting is all done to flat vocal in edit

 

[Tim20]

Your compression may be expressed wrong??? 1:9 ???? Usually some light compression on the way in at 3:1 or less is desirable to keep things in check.

After you capture the vocal there are a lot of things that can be done. Typical thinking is to EQ then compress, but more and more people are compressing then adding a little EQ afterwards. BUT, when the term "adding" is used remember it is usually better to use subractive EQ wherever possible.

Another thing that can be used is to run the vocal out to an aux buss and compress it. You EQ on the channel and then mix the channel with the compressed Aux to taste.

Not really any rules in this game, just try to get the sound you are looking for and in that respect, all rules are out the window.

 

[hel]

Depends from project to project. Some tracks will require compression before EQ, some vice versa. There are NO rules in music production, whatever people think...
Try both and see what sounds best to your ears. That's the only rule.

 

[theblue1]

EL_HOlandes does touch on one occasion where you'll want to EQ first (usually, like all these other ol' ladies, I don't believe in always, either ):

When you're compressing your whole mix in mastering, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor by getting rid of any subsonic sludge that may have crept into the mix. (And if you're going to boost high freqs during mastering it often works out better to do that before compression. But not always.)

But then, that ain't vocals... which is where we started.