Vocal compression

[Arttu]

Hi,

Could somebody please hint on good initial compressor settings for vocals
(solo and choir) (i.e. attack, decay, ratio etc.)? What about bass guitar?
Depends of course a lot on the performers, but some general idea would be
nice as I'm just starting to use compression.

Art

[Chris Whealy]

Arttu wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Could somebody please hint on good initial compressor settings for vocals
> (solo and choir) (i.e. attack, decay, ratio etc.)?

We have one particular soloist in our church who sings so loudly, that
his mic is almost putting out a line level signal!

His compressor settings are:

Attack - 33ms
Decay - 300ms
Ratio - 4:1

Also all our vocal channels (6 soloist and 16 choir channels) have an
HPF set to 50Hz.

Chris

--
The voice of ignorance speaks loud and long,
but the words of the wise are quiet and few.
--

[Arny Krueger]

"Chris Whealy" > wrote in message

> Arttu wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Could somebody please hint on good initial compressor settings for
>> vocals (solo and choir) (i.e. attack, decay, ratio etc.)?
>
> We have one particular soloist in our church who sings so loudly, that
> his mic is almost putting out a line level signal!
>
> His compressor settings are:
>
> Attack - 33ms
> Decay - 300ms
> Ratio - 4:1

We've got a couple of soloists who can really crank. I set their mic
channel's trim appropriately for their usual level of singing, and
occasionally have to back off their sliders when they get excited and start
singing really loud.

Our SR system has gobs of dynamic range, so there's not any chance of them
breaking up the system.

In general, their vocal dynamics, which can be quite compelling, are
reproduced as they intended..

What would a compressor offer as an advantage over the current mode of
operation?

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> We have one particular soloist in our church who sings so loudly, that
> his mic is almost putting out a line level signal!

So why compress? The solution to that is to simply turn down the
channel gain.

The reason to use a compressor on a voice is to even out small
variations. If he swallows words and can't do any better, you can use
a compressor to try to bring those up. If he bellows out a word
occasionally and can't learn to control it, you can use a compressor
to sit on it. But if he just sings loudly and is otherwise a good
singer, the gain control is the first tool you should reach for.

That's not to say that he might not also benefit from some
compression, but it's not because he's loud.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Scott Dorsey]

Arttu > wrote:
>
>Could somebody please hint on good initial compressor settings for vocals
>(solo and choir) (i.e. attack, decay, ratio etc.)? What about bass guitar?
>Depends of course a lot on the performers, but some general idea would be
>nice as I'm just starting to use compression.

You can't even compare the numbers between two different compressors because
the shape of the curve is so different.

Take the thing with all the controls at the 12:00 position. Crank the attack
faster... at some point the top end will start to disappear because the attack
on the notes is eliminated. Back it off. Now, take the decay and move it
slower... at some point things will start pumping and breathing. Back it
off when that happens. Now, start playing with the ratio control, which will
adjust the degree the signal is being squashed, until it sounds right.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Scott Dorsey]

Arny Krueger > wrote:
>
>Our SR system has gobs of dynamic range, so there's not any chance of them
>breaking up the system.
>
>In general, their vocal dynamics, which can be quite compelling, are
>reproduced as they intended..
>
>What would a compressor offer as an advantage over the current mode of
>operation?

The operator could go to sleep rather than actually mixing.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Analogeezer]

(Mike Rivers) wrote in message news:<znr1071754871k@trad>...
> In article > writes:
>
> > We have one particular soloist in our church who sings so loudly, that
> > his mic is almost putting out a line level signal!
>
> So why compress? The solution to that is to simply turn down the
> channel gain.
>
> The reason to use a compressor on a voice is to even out small
> variations. If he swallows words and can't do any better, you can use
> a compressor to try to bring those up. If he bellows out a word
> occasionally and can't learn to control it, you can use a compressor
> to sit on it. But if he just sings loudly and is otherwise a good
> singer, the gain control is the first tool you should reach for.
>
> That's not to say that he might not also benefit from some
> compression, but it's not because he's loud.


Yeah I've always thought of compressors as a way to make things
louder....just compress a lot, then turn up the makeup gain.

There are some timbral things, especially with certain comps as well
that I use compression for, but if I wanted to make someone softer, I
wouldn't necessarily use a compressor, although it would work for that
too.

Gain or channel pot would be a much better choice, especially for a
choir type of setting.

Unless the guy is just sticking way out over everybody else, maybe a
little compression would make him fit in better...with makeup gain
down of course.

Analogeezer

[Analogeezer]

(Scott Dorsey) wrote in message >...
> Arttu > wrote:
> >
> >Could somebody please hint on good initial compressor settings for vocals
> >(solo and choir) (i.e. attack, decay, ratio etc.)? What about bass guitar?
> >Depends of course a lot on the performers, but some general idea would be
> >nice as I'm just starting to use compression.
>
> You can't even compare the numbers between two different compressors because
> the shape of the curve is so different.
>
> Take the thing with all the controls at the 12:00 position. Crank the attack
> faster... at some point the top end will start to disappear because the attack
> on the notes is eliminated. Back it off. Now, take the decay and move it
> slower... at some point things will start pumping and breathing. Back it
> off when that happens. Now, start playing with the ratio control, which will
> adjust the degree the signal is being squashed, until it sounds right.
> --scott


Wow Scott, that's the best laymans explanation of how to use a
compressor I have ever heard...good job!

Analogeezer