One more note: Gain automation is similar to volume automation, except that the former comes in front of the signal chain while the latter comes at the end. There are also several types of audio compressors at your disposal, each built for different scenarios. This extreme compression will let you hear what the tool actually does. From there, you can start lowering levels and continue comparing the dry and wet signals until you find the sound you desire. If you know what you want out of the compressed vocal already, this sort of subtractive compression can help you get there quicker.
In mixing, oftentimes less is more. When it comes to vocal compression, however, using more than one compressor can be useful.
If you only use one compressor for vocals, you risk over-compressing the signal. To use a violin as an analogy, think of the first compressor at the tuning pegs and the second or third, fourth… as the fine tuners.
Parallel compression can also be used for vocals. This is the process where a track is duplicated, compressed, then blended with the original dry or lightly compressed track. This blending of dry and compressed vocals can make a big impact on the overall mix. Because vocals are so crucial, vocal compression matters even more. These words are meant as a guide for those just beginning to play with vocal compression, but experience ultimately counts the most. So load up your latest track and start tinkering!
You must be logged in to post a comment. Remember me. Sign Up Lost Your Password? Log In Lost Your Password? Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email. Username or Email Address. Log In Sign Up. Please, activate your account. For modern sounding vocals, you need a crazy amount of dynamic consistency. Every word needs to be loud and clear. Yet vocalists are highly dynamic, and a vocalist can go from a whisper to a shout in a matter of seconds.
Instead, you need to use volume or gain automation to manually ride the levels. This will make them sound dull and lifeless. To avoid this, I recommend using automation. One of your main goals when compressing vocals is to avoid over-compression. Instead of making one single compressor do all the heavy lifting, try two or more compressors throughout your plugin chain. Try starting with a slower compressor applying dB of gain reduction, with a ratio between and I tend to start with an attack time of anywhere between 5ms for a heavier, thicker sound and 30ms for a punchier, aggressive sound , and a medium release time around 50ms adjust until the compressor breathes with the tempo of the track.
Then, if you think the vocal needs more compression, which it probably will, load up a second compressor. This time use a faster attack time and higher threshold to catch the louder transients that slip through the first compressor. Again, I aim for dB of gain reduction. Now, you can also experiment with the order of those two compressors to shape the tone.
A faster compressor often works best before the slower, subtler compressor. Even after automating and compressing the lead vocal, some words might still be too quiet. Plus, when you start adding effects like delays and reverb , it can push the vocal further back in the mix. This will pull the vocal forward again and bring up the quieter words. Ask yourself, what am I hearing in this vocal performance that needs correcting or enhancing?
Set a medium-fast attack around 15ms and a medium release of around ms. Speed up the release if you want more aggressiveness or energy, slow it down if you want a more natural sound to the vocal.
Spend plenty of time adjusting the attack and release time until you are happy with the vocal tone. Use a fast attack time for thick, heavy vocals and a slow attack time for punchy, aggressive vocals and do this whilst listening to the whole track, not just the soloed vocal.
Like I said at the start, compression is probably the thing in that takes the most time to master when learning how to mix music. How you use vocal compression really depends on the song, genre and recording quality and so it makes it impossible to give you settings that will be perfect every time. This article only touches the surface of vocal compression and there are loads of brilliant videos and blog tutorials that go into much more depth, however, I wanted to give you a basic starting point from which to grow your knowledge.
You can learn more about compression and how to use it by checking out my video HERE. If you are interested in having me mix your music and are wondering how to prepare your mix then check out my blog post: How To Prepare Your Track For Professional Mixing. If you want to know more about my online mixing service, then you can go to my mixing page or contact me here. Simply Mixing is my educational website dedicated to help you become a better mix engineer, with free mixing tutorials, guidebooks and advice updated every week.
Subscribe to my weekly Simply Mixing tips, exclusive subscriber tutorials and updates for more mixing tips and tutorials to help you produce professional sounding mixes from your very own home studio. Thank you Sara for the very useful information. Please continue with your work. I like you approach, its simple and easy to understand, both your written work as well as your videos. Neeraj Beharie. I have viewed one million four hundred and seventy six point four videos on this subject of compression and not once have I ever heard the information you gave regarding consonants are the transients.
When I read that , I immediately related it to a snare drum. Next time I mix vocals that thinking will be in the back of my head. Thanks for the revelation.
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