vocal recording compression/levels?

reg

00023924

[TIGERSHARK]

i'm going to be recording vocals with an sm-58 into ptf. anyone have any good general settings for compression and/or eq...if any at all?

THANKS! images/icons/grin.gif

[Park Seward]

It sepends on the singer and the type of music you are recording. A soft voice would take different setting than a strong, dynamic voice. Also the type of music would effect the kind of compression I would use.

Some plug-ins, like the Waves Ren compressor, do have suggested compression settings for various suituations. Their manuals are available for download and are good reading.

I would start out with a 3:1 ratio and an attack of around 100 ms with a release of 200 ms and a threshold of around -20 and go from there. Experiment

I'm sure others will have different suggestions.

[TIGERSHARK]

thanks. it will be me, as the vocalist. i'm a dynamic vocalist uh...dynamically speaking. ha! images/icons/grin.gif so, i don't think that i'll have to be fighting for levels. probably, i'll have to be fighting not to clip anything. images/icons/shocked.gif any suggested mic placements/distance/angles of attack? would that change any of the settings? again, thanks! images/icons/smile.gif

[Park Seward]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by TIGERSHARK:
i'll have to be fighting not to clip anything. images/icons/shocked.gif any suggested mic placements/distance/angles of attack? would that change any of the settings? again, thanks! images/icons/smile.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You can't clip a dynamic mic with a vocal and good condensor's clip at 120-130 db so those shouod be save too. You do have to watch yout pre amp front end so you don't clip there.

Distance depends on how close you want to sound and, if you are using caridod, how much bass rise you want. I've seen from 20 to 3 inches.

When I was in radio, I announced past the mic. It was off to one side. Others will put the mic right in front and sing through a pop filter, with the mic slightly higher than the person and angeled down.

The distance will change the loudness (cut the distance in half and you double the volume) and increase the bass if you are using anything but an omni mic.

Also, since the distance will determine the loudness, getting closer will reduce the sound of the room. I am remembering the old song "Liar" by Three Dog Night where the singer backed away from the mic and sang in the bathroom. The natural reverb was interesting (at least it was in 1975!).

Some experienced singers will back away from the mic when they get loud and get closer for soft passages.

I like a lot of compression on vocals. I think it makes it sound more "like a record". Personal taste.

[Bastiaan]

i like the part where you say you like the compression because it will then sound more like a record. A friend of mine had a bit of the same. She rufused to listen to FM radiostations, because fm sounded too good, am sounded like radio, and that was what she would listen to.... images/icons/rolleyes.gif

[TIGERSHARK]

cool. thanks for the replies. images/icons/smile.gif how, literally, would i set the compression in ptf? that may sound like a very basic question, but i am sorta new at the recording part of things. thanks! images/icons/cool.gif

[TIGERSHARK]

been there, read that. images/icons/wink.gif i wanted to make the connection between that, and what i've read in the manual. sometimes it helps to have someone else confirm it. thanks!

when i set the compressor to say 2:1, is that fairly self-explanatory within the manual?

i know how to insert plug-ins, i just wanted confirmation on tweaking them to a certain setting within ptf. (i'm not much of a techhie. lol)

again, thank you for the replies! images/icons/grin.gif

[Bastiaan]

here's something to start with:

treshold -8db
ratio 1:3 (or 3:1...keep forgetting... images/icons/rolleyes.gif )
fairly fast attack
fairly slow release
soft knee

after that, throw in a limiter to shave off the peaks that still gets through. And dont overuse the comps/limiters because it will sound pumping, and if you let them work too hard they really start adding distortion to your mix...

[TIGERSHARK]

not to sound stupid, but . . . images/icons/frown.gif

how 'exactly' do i apply compression and 'dial in' settings for it? i know that may sound ignorant and well, it is. lol seriously, i managed to get some DRY, scratch vocals down last night. i do have a lot of background hiss but it'll do for now. is there any way to selectively 'reduce' the level of the hiss? otherwise, i'll attempt a more serious tracking session. (i had a very limited time, last night) also, i did not apply any compression/limiter AS i was tracking. i figured i would apply it afterward. is that typically okay? aaaaaah, lots of questions. thanks again!! images/icons/grin.gif

[TIGERSHARK]

okay, let me clarify a little . . . images/icons/wink.gif

i know how to access the EQ plug-ins to modify them...a little. where do i set the compression ratio? and what type of compression should i insert? (mono?) i think i follow you on the 'soft knee' stuff. thanks for your patience. images/icons/cool.gif

[Bastiaan]

And yet something else popped into my mind...

1) Protools has a soft-clipping feature that prevents you from clipping when occasional hitting the red.

2) applying a compressor-plugin WHILE RECORDING wont help you in reducing the dynamics....protools will still record the dry track without the plugins

[tptman]

You actually can record a processed signal into PTfree. First add an aux track (CTRL-Shift N). Set the input on that track to Input L or R, depending on what input on your sound card you're recording from. Set you output to Bus 1. Now insert the compressor plug-in on the Aux track. Go to you vocal track (the actual audio track). Set your input to bus 1 and your output to Output L or R. Now everything you record will go throught the Aux track with plugs before going to the audio track and being laid down on your hard drive.

This can work well to use as a bit of a limiter, but be judicious, don't overdo it as it can't be fixed later. It is also wise not to do much else to the signal, especially reverb, etc. for the same reason.

[shagy]

IMHO AUX track with plugin can be good to record some plugin direct to HD, but this can't be good to protect for cliping. The signal goes first to AD on sound card...