Vocal Compression

[shendrie]

While I have a fairly long history of recording the vast majority of it has been in the analog domain. After a 7 year hiatus, I have started back into it with a small home studio with no other purpose than having fun...

My question is when to compress?

In the old days it would be: Mic>preamp>comp>tape - however I don't have much "outboard" gear (hmm... "outboard gear" is that still a term we use?) and have spent my money on plug-in compressors. Would you typically use the plug-in compressor on the insert within PT or do most people still compress before hitting Protools.

I am looking at the Penta with the A/D convertor however I am reluctant to spend the $$ at this time if I can avoid it.

Your thoughts or opinions would be much appreciated.

[unclemurray]

Unless you're 100% confident of what you want your outcome to be, and know your gear, I would tend to record a dry, or minimally compressed track.If you like the sound of the penta nd find it fits well in your mixes, go for it. Just remember you won't be able to alter that sound later...

[blueroom]

outboard compressor have many advantages, not just as a levelling tool.
each product differs from the other, and they all have their own character as far as coloring your program...if you like the tone it adds to your source, go for it.
distessors are pretty nice too...

[shendrie]

My biggest concern is having a really good performance ruined by the very unforgiving digital clipping (click - pop - at least tape is a little forgiving when you push to hard). I certainly am not looking to "squish" any performances while tracking. As I bounced this around my head last night a blinding flash of the obvious kicked in... What is the point of compressing using plug-ins "while tracking" in PT when you have already passed the A/D process. The clipping would already have occurred; I would just be compressing the clipped sounds.

[murph16]

It's still a simple case of "Garbage in-garbage out".
The cool thing about Pro Tools is you can use a compressor plug on the way in, and you're just really "monitoring" the compression. The basic track remains dry no matter what.
After you track, you can remove that plug and try other comps and EQs, always maintaining the original dry track you recorded.

However,

Just as you did in your analog days, you might want to establish a nice "pre-tracking" vocal effects chain to get a great starting point on the vocal track. Plug-ins are great, but nothing beats a nice tube-warmed vocal sound as it is being tracked. You can only get that from analog gear. And the vintage, expensive tube gear is still the best, IMO.

My feeling is, whatever methods or gear you used and liked in the past will still work nicely as you track. The added bonus is that you'll have far more options for flavoring and extras later with plugs.

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[SteveBoy]

Shendrie,

You said: "What is the point of compressing using plug-ins "while tracking" in PT when you have already passed the A/D process. The clipping would already have occurred; I would just be compressing the clipped sounds."

My experience has proven this not to be true. The A/D converter evidently has a much higher threshold than the rest of the internal digital signal chain. I was struggling to record a very dynamic vocal, with a few very strong passages. Even "working the mike" would not avoid digital clipping. The only solution seemed to be turning the level down and settling for most of the track being recorded at a fairly low volume. (Or changing the singing style and losing the energy of the performance.) In desperation I threw on a compressor plug and set it to act as a limiter, even though I "knew" it wouldn't work because the signal was "being clipped on the way in by the A/D converter", right? Wrong. It worked fine. The few offending notes were tamed so there was no digital clipping, I retained the energy of the performance, and the track was recorded at an acceptable level.

Steve

[vintageTube]

But what about latency while you were recodring with a plug on the VCL track? Were you not bothered by it?

[shendrie]

Steve - That is a very interesting observation, I am going to have to test this one out.

[cancedda]

I use the Penta, works good for me. Remember the A/D converter is sold separately ($199, I think)

[where02190]

Originally posted by shendrie:
In the old days it would be: Mic>preamp>comp>tape.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">In my old days I never compressed to analog tape. that was the beauty fo analog tape was the compression values when you hit it hard.

Having said that, I typically compress on the way in, 2:1 ratio, 3db max reduction, particualrly for vocals and drums. I will generally compress again when mixing. I prefer to compress a few times a bit rather than once alot.

I use outboard mic pre's and compressors, thus eliminating any latency.

Hope this is helpful.