Compressor on voice?

[IS]

Is it common to use a Compressor on a voice, only spoken no singing?
I'm using Pro Tools, and would be using the one that comes with it.

Thanks.

IS.

[Steve King]

"IS" > wrote in message
igy.com...
> Is it common to use a Compressor on a voice, only spoken no singing?
> I'm using Pro Tools, and would be using the one that comes with it.
>
> Thanks.
>
> IS.
>

Yes, it is common. However, depending on the purpose of the voice
recording, you may not need to, or even want to. Most recordings done for
radio or television have some compression and/or peak limiting. It helps to
cut through the music backgrounds and even the automobile interior noise for
radio listeners in their cars. Professional announcers and narrators become
skilled at providing fairly even levels. Less experienced people may have
wide variations in volume, which compression can help. It all depends on
what you want it to sound like. I often use quite a bit of peak limiting on
interviews recorded with corporate types. They often sound unsure of
themselves in the raw recording. After a dialogue edit to put things in
order, take out pauses, remove vocalised pauses and mouth noises, some
fairly agressive peak limiting often helps them to sound more like the
experts they most often are. You didn't provide any detail of what you are
trying to accomplish. I expect you will get a lot of general advice from
others, but it would help to know more of what you want to do.

Steve King

[Peter Larsen]

Steve King wrote:

> > Is it common to use a Compressor on a voice, only spoken no singing?

> Yes, it is common.

And it probably contributes to the deterioration of pronounciation by
loss of natural dynamics. Please read carefully lest you should assume
that I flame you, I don't.

> Less experienced people may have
> wide variations in volume, which compression can help.

Would you all PLEASE be so kind as to stop assuming that dynamics in
spoken language are a problem, they are not. They are a property of it.
The problem has been the am dynamics of am transmission and command
distribution in noisy environments, i. e. the technology. You have to
look at the context, it is quite relevant - as a general rule - NOT to
compress and/or limit quality recordings for a quality playback context.

> It all depends on what you want it to sound like. I often use
> quite a bit of peak limiting on interviews ....

It can be quite relevant to "do something", as you say it is a matter of
the context.

> recorded with corporate types. They often sound unsure of
> themselves in the raw recording. After a dialogue edit to put things in
> order, take out pauses, remove vocalised pauses and mouth noises, some
> fairly agressive peak limiting often helps them to sound more like the
> experts they most often are.

"command distribution in noisy environments" .... O;-)

> You didn't provide any detail of what you are
> trying to accomplish. I expect you will get a lot of general advice from
> others, but it would help to know more of what you want to do.

Doing less is generally a good and often overlooked option. I did not
say do nothing, but it has been a voice processing wake-up call for me
to restore some old casette recordings of spoken well pronounced voice
and all its natural dynamics. Recorded on the original portable Philips
compact casette recorder with a MD 211 mind you.

> Steve King


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

--
************************************************** ***********
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
************************************************** ***********

[IS]

The voice is a spoken narration for a video tape (tv).

I don't see a peak limiter in Pro Tools.
Do they not have it in there?

Thanks for your advice, I read it carefully.

IS.


"Steve King" (Take our WORMBLOCK to reply)>
wrote in message news:1clsb.129799$9E1.656737@attbi_s52...
> "IS" > wrote in message
> igy.com...
> > Is it common to use a Compressor on a voice, only spoken no singing?
> > I'm using Pro Tools, and would be using the one that comes with it.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > IS.
> >
>
> Yes, it is common. However, depending on the purpose of the voice
> recording, you may not need to, or even want to. Most recordings done for
> radio or television have some compression and/or peak limiting. It helps
to
> cut through the music backgrounds and even the automobile interior noise
for
> radio listeners in their cars. Professional announcers and narrators
become
> skilled at providing fairly even levels. Less experienced people may have
> wide variations in volume, which compression can help. It all depends on
> what you want it to sound like. I often use quite a bit of peak limiting
on
> interviews recorded with corporate types. They often sound unsure of
> themselves in the raw recording. After a dialogue edit to put things in
> order, take out pauses, remove vocalised pauses and mouth noises, some
> fairly agressive peak limiting often helps them to sound more like the
> experts they most often are. You didn't provide any detail of what you
are
> trying to accomplish. I expect you will get a lot of general advice from
> others, but it would help to know more of what you want to do.
>
> Steve King
>
>

[Marc Wielage]

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 23:00:38 -0800, IS wrote
(in message om>):

> Is it common to use a Compressor on a voice, only spoken no singing?
>--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<

That depends on the final intent of the narration. I find you have to use
different approaches for limiting and compressing, depending on whether it's
for TV, for Film, for Stage, books-on-tape, and so on. And a lot also
depends on what kind of background with which the narration is mixed; loud
music and effects would obviously be more of a challenge than just bare voice
alone.

It also will depend heavily on how well the voice is recorded, along with the
skill of the voice-over artist. I've encountered announcers who are so
skilled, they don't need a lot of compression or limiting, because their mike
technique is so good. They know exactly how to regulate their voice, and
just how close to get to the mike to get the sound the producer needs.




> I'm using Pro Tools, and would be using the one that comes with it.
>--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<

ProTools doesn't necessarily "come with" anything. While Digidesign does make
some good limiters and compressor plug-ins, they don't frequently come free
with ProTools. But Digi does occasionally offer promotions for free (or
inexpensive) TDM plug-ins, like their "Massive Pack" deals.





> I don't see a peak limiter in Pro Tools. Do they not have it in there?
>--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<

Sure, if you pay for one. Waves' L2 is particularly good as a peak limiter,
and their C1 compressor is widely used for voice-overs by some engineers. I
believe both are available for RTAS and TDM ProTools systems.






Meanwhile, Peter Larsen commented:

"Would you all PLEASE be so kind as to stop assuming that dynamics in
spoken language are a problem, they are not."
>--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<

Well, maybe "problem" is the wrong word. But controlling the dynamics is
definitely one of the challenges, particularly for television and film.
Consider a situation like books-on-tape, where the producers know that 75% of
the market is going to be listening to the recordings in cars, or other areas
with very high background noise levels. Keeping the dynamic range limited is
mandatory for situations like these.

Sometimes, a wide dynamic range is not a good thing.

--MFW

[Ty Ford]

In Article >, Peter Larsen
> wrote:
>Steve King wrote:
>
>> > Is it common to use a Compressor on a voice, only spoken no singing?
>
>> Yes, it is common.
>
>And it probably contributes to the deterioration of pronounciation by
>loss of natural dynamics. Please read carefully lest you should assume
>that I flame you, I don't.
>
>> Less experienced people may have
>> wide variations in volume, which compression can help.
>
>Would you all PLEASE be so kind as to stop assuming that dynamics in
>spoken language are a problem, they are not. They are a property of it.
>The problem has been the am dynamics of am transmission and command
>distribution in noisy environments, i. e. the technology. You have to
>look at the context, it is quite relevant - as a general rule - NOT to
>compress and/or limit quality recordings for a quality playback context.

Well that's not always true. I know a few foLKs who have ended up in front
of a mic wHO have weird little PEaks in their speaCH patterns that make them
a pAIn to reCord without some sort of gain reduction. And ThEy were "AcTors!"

There are others who run out of air in the middle or at the end of sentences.

The best performers have control of their dynamics. That doesn't make it
natural. It's part of their craft. With them, you don't need as much
electronic help, if any.

Regards,

Ty Ford

**Until the worm goes away, I have put "not" in front of my email address.
Please remove it if you want to email me directly.
For Ty Ford V/O demos, audio services and equipment reviews,
click on http://www.jagunet.com/~tford

[DW Griffi]

>
> > I'm using Pro Tools, and would be using the one that comes with it.
> >--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<
>
> ProTools doesn't necessarily "come with" anything. While Digidesign does make
> some good limiters and compressor plug-ins, they don't frequently come free
> with ProTools.


Actually, all ProTools versions, including Free, come with general use
plug-ins, including eq, compression and limiting. Don't compare to
most that you'd pay extra for, but they're there and can be used in a
pinch. Whether they do the trick or kill the sound is up to the user.

>
>
>
> > I don't see a peak limiter in Pro Tools. Do they not have it in there?
> >--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<
>
> Sure, if you pay for one. Waves' L2 is particularly good as a peak limiter,
> and their C1 compressor is widely used for voice-overs by some engineers. I
> believe both are available for RTAS and TDM ProTools systems.



Hold on a sec (g). The compressor that comes with ProTools is called
"Compressor" and the limiter is called "Limiter" Steve, perhaps you're
not looking in the right place. When an audio track is viewed (let's
assume in the edit window), make sure the inserts can be viewed by going
to the "displays" menu and menu across to the "edit window shows
inserts". Then when you click on the insert in the track they should
appear as options, unless they weren't installed in the plug-ins folder
in the DAE folder.



And, in fact, they're great for novices, especially since they sound
more obviously not so great when you push them, making it easier to hear
the overdoing of the plug. All the parameters are the same as in their
non-free brethren, so you can learn your way around them before you
spend. Perhaps after fiddling with them (and the rest of the included
plug-ins) you'll decide some are good enough for your needs and you only
need to purchase a limiter, for example.


D

[EganMedia]

>Well that's not always true. I know a few foLKs who have ended up in front
>of a mic wHO have weird little PEaks in their speaCH patterns that make them
>a pAIn to reCord without some sort of gain reduction. And ThEy were "AcTors!"

Bravo! Bravisimo!

I almost could hear Richard Burton speaking that line. Nice transcription!


Joe Egan
EMP
Colchester, VT
www.eganmedia.com

[Spiggy Muchoir]

In article >,
Marc Wielage > wrote:

>
> > I'm using Pro Tools, and would be using the one that comes with it.
> >--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<
>
> ProTools doesn't necessarily "come with" anything. While Digidesign does make
> some good limiters and compressor plug-ins, they don't frequently come free
> with ProTools. But Digi does occasionally offer promotions for free (or
> inexpensive) TDM plug-ins, like their "Massive Pack" deals.
>
>
> > I don't see a peak limiter in Pro Tools. Do they not have it in there?
> >--------------------------------snip----------------------------------<
>
> Sure, if you pay for one. Waves' L2 is particularly good as a peak limiter,
> and their C1 compressor is widely used for voice-overs by some engineers. I
> believe both are available for RTAS and TDM ProTools systems.





That's simply wrong info. All versions of PTools comes with their generic
plug-ins, including a compressor and limiter (and eq, gate, delays, dither,
etc.) Not comparable to Waves, but they're there for starters.

[Peter Larsen]

Ty Ford wrote:

> >distribution in noisy environments, i. e. the technology. You have to
> >look at the context, it is quite relevant - as a general rule - NOT to
> >compress and/or limit quality recordings for a quality playback context.

> Well that's not always true. I know a few foLKs who have ended up in front
> of a mic wHO have weird little PEaks in their speaCH patterns that make them
> a pAIn to reCord without some sort of gain reduction. And ThEy were "AcTors!"

OK, erm, yes, it was the preserveration of the dynamics of good
pronounciation I was promoting.

> Ty Ford


Kind regards

Peter Larsen


--
************************************************** ***********
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
************************************************** ***********