I've just finished producing and recording a singer/songwriter's
record where no compression was used in tracking or in mixing by
request of the artist. No reverb was added either, by the way. It is a
very stark and beautiful recording and I've been very curious to see
how it would turn out after not using compression at all to smooth out
the hills and valleys etc.
Anyway, I will also be mastering it myself, at least for now, and
would like to get any tips on how I can use very gentle compression to
reel some things a tiny bit without being able to then "hear" the
compressor working. I need to have it be transparent, but functional.
The artist will freak out if she hears anything squashing her voice or
guitar. But I know that some is needed for obvious reasons.
I have the Waves C4 and Renaissance compressors as well as a few other
basic ones, and I use SawPro on a PC.
Please inform if anyone can get me at least started on the right track
with a preset perhaps that will do most of the work or any other
useful info.

Try this: you will probably find there are 3 or 4 peaks in any given song that
are several db above the majority of other peaks. Find those (Bias PEAK has a
function called "Find Peak" or you can just watch meters as it plays) & draw
down the volume of just the peak with automation by about 3 or 4 db. You'll
very likely find you can now boost the entire track 2 to 3 db & it will never
sound compressed to anybody, because the average level is untouched.

Scott Fraser