Compression question for vox verse and chorus...

guittarzzan · 12th October 2003

Hi, I'm still at the bottom of the learning curve on this stuff so here's a question fer ya. When recording lead vox that is fairly dynamic in that the verses are soft (i.e. D. Gilmore) and the chorus is more aggressive (i.e. Cobain) , is it common to record the verses seperately with different compression and preamp settings, then to go back and do the choruses with the signal chain set up for the louder input etc??? It seems that it would make sense to do it that way, but I don't have enough experience to trust my instincts yet.

a song example would be something like Smells like teen spirit. How would you approach doing the vox for something in that ballpark?

thanks,
Steve

Jam · 12th October 2003

Well as usual the answers whatever works best trust your ears etc.
But more specifically there are three obvious ways you can attack the problem.
Set up mic pre gain and compression for the best average of both sections.
Try to encourage the singer to work the mic and help control their own dynamics so nice and tight into the pop shield warm and intimate time ( ah proximity effect ) and back off when belting out the choruses obviously this requires a singer with good mic technique ( which is rarer than it should be )
Or as this is in the Software tools & computers section I assume you're using a DAW so recording the sections seperately should be straight forward. Try verses first then the choruses. That way you can set up no compromise for each section.
Or a million other less obvious ways like try two compressors in series one compressing all the time one just catching the peaks in the chorus or I read something about Bowie using two different sounding mics one open all the time and one on a noise gate further away just triggering on the loud bits ( I keep meaning to try this )
But mostly experiment experiment etc etc.
Also as I am assuming you're on a computer try using a verse track and chorus track this way you can also have different mix settings for each part as well

Jam

12th October 2003	#1
guittarzzan Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2003 Location: Portland, Or Posts: 1,047 Thread Starter	Compression question for vox verse and chorus... Hi, I'm still at the bottom of the learning curve on this stuff so here's a question fer ya. When recording lead vox that is fairly dynamic in that the verses are soft (i.e. D. Gilmore) and the chorus is more aggressive (i.e. Cobain) , is it common to record the verses seperately with different compression and preamp settings, then to go back and do the choruses with the signal chain set up for the louder input etc??? It seems that it would make sense to do it that way, but I don't have enough experience to trust my instincts yet. a song example would be something like Smells like teen spirit. How would you approach doing the vox for something in that ballpark? thanks, Steve

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12th October 2003	#2
Jam Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2003 Location: South East England Posts: 1,463	Well as usual the answers whatever works best trust your ears etc. But more specifically there are three obvious ways you can attack the problem. Set up mic pre gain and compression for the best average of both sections. Try to encourage the singer to work the mic and help control their own dynamics so nice and tight into the pop shield warm and intimate time ( ah proximity effect ) and back off when belting out the choruses obviously this requires a singer with good mic technique ( which is rarer than it should be ) Or as this is in the Software tools & computers section I assume you're using a DAW so recording the sections seperately should be straight forward. Try verses first then the choruses. That way you can set up no compromise for each section. Or a million other less obvious ways like try two compressors in series one compressing all the time one just catching the peaks in the chorus or I read something about Bowie using two different sounding mics one open all the time and one on a noise gate further away just triggering on the loud bits ( I keep meaning to try this ) But mostly experiment experiment etc etc. Also as I am assuming you're on a computer try using a verse track and chorus track this way you can also have different mix settings for each part as well Jam