How Do I Compress Vocals???

kosine5 · 4th June 2008

HOW SHOULD I APPROACH COMPRESSING RAP VOCALS???
IS THERE A BASIC TEMPLATE THAT I SHOULD START WITH???

PLEASE HELP

piccazzo · 4th June 2008

START BY TYPING AS A NORMAL PERSON THEN TRY TO USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION.dfegaddfegaddfegad

SoundProofStudio · 5th June 2008

first off you should understand the purpose of what a compressor does and what it is used for.... Which you could do a search on this site or wikipedia has good info also... Then use your EARS and find the sound your looking for... There is no magic setting or presets, nor are there any rules.... Just go with what sounds good... Forget numbers and settings just listen.... Good luck mah dude...

crabtwins · 5th June 2008

wOW PICASSO WASN'T THAT HARSH WAS HE? I could have and probably could still ask/asked that. find out what a brickwall limiter does. or search. dont mind these people either way you have to play and experiment with it all to get it right, even then no one really has the authority on "what's right." Personally I still experiment to this day. Find out the settings threshold, ratio, release, attack, but still you must listen boy.

hectc7 · 28th April 2009

COMPRESS the heck out of vocals!!!!!! Use 2 compressors if you have to in series. Vocals to me are the hardest to get to sit in a mix...Damn those dynamics!! Send them to Hell!! Yeah I said it !!!!!!!

DAH · 28th April 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by hectc7

COMPRESS the heck out of vocals!!!!!! Use 2 compressors if you have to in series. Vocals to me are the hardest to get to sit in a mix...Damn those dynamics!! Send them to Hell!! Yeah I said it !!!!!!!

Recently i have started compressing the hell out of the lead vox so the SHHH and ESSS are of the same level as vowels. I do it in one pass, have not tried the serial compression yet, but i found 2 compressors in series (unless the attack and release are not differ much) work just like one compressor with large GR.
that means 4-6 to 1 ratio, 1-3 msec attack, 100-200 msec release, hard knee and up to 18 db gain reduction. Maybe some air added afterwards and usually some deessing in 4-5k.

illacov · 28th April 2009

Best way to compress vocals is to firmly grip the MCs throat and squeeze til they turn blue. They'll end up sounding like Fredro Starr but man thats one hell of a compression technique.

Sounds like a Wu - Tang lyric "Compressin n*ggas vocals with the Iron Grip."

Peace
Illumination

Jorg · 28th April 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by hectc7

COMPRESS the heck out of vocals!!!!!! Use 2 compressors if you have to in series. Vocals to me are the hardest to get to sit in a mix...Damn those dynamics!! Send them to Hell!! Yeah I said it !!!!!!!

I know this all sounds like a bit of a joke but I actually agree.

loaf · 28th April 2009

don't bother reading about it, or finding out what other engineers do, you'll only waste time - just buy a REALLY expensive compressor

DAH · 28th April 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by illacov

Best way to compress vocals is to firmly grip the MCs throat and squeeze til they turn blue. They'll end up sounding like Fredro Starr but man thats one hell of a compression technique.

Sounds like a Wu - Tang lyric "Compressin n*ggas vocals with the Iron Grip."

Peace
Illumination

Shit, how can I compress MYSELF in that way ????
Some Valentino tie?

ORGANIK · 29th April 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by hectc7

COMPRESS the heck out of vocals!!!!!! Use 2 compressors if you have to in series. Vocals to me are the hardest to get to sit in a mix...Damn those dynamics!! Send them to Hell!! Yeah I said it !!!!!!!

Just use a good quality outboard compressor..even an ok one will tame your vocals...give yourself some headroom while tracking as well

4th June 2008	#1
kosine5 Gear interested Joined: Dec 2007 Location: Chi-Town Posts: 8 Thread Starter	How Do I Compress Vocals??? HOW SHOULD I APPROACH COMPRESSING RAP VOCALS??? IS THERE A BASIC TEMPLATE THAT I SHOULD START WITH??? PLEASE HELP __________________ Itz Da Internz! Write Ya Life! myspace.com/kokilla5555

4th June 2008	#2
piccazzo Lives for gear Joined: May 2005 Location: Stockholm / Sweden Posts: 653	START BY TYPING AS A NORMAL PERSON THEN TRY TO USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION.dfegaddfegaddfegad __________________ Bigntiny@gmail.com Tiny Music - Facebook http://soundcloud.com/bigntiny/tiny-music-showreel-2010-1

5th June 2008	#3
SoundProofStudio Gear maniac Joined: Feb 2008 Location: War-Town, Ma Posts: 257	first off you should understand the purpose of what a compressor does and what it is used for.... Which you could do a search on this site or wikipedia has good info also... Then use your EARS and find the sound your looking for... There is no magic setting or presets, nor are there any rules.... Just go with what sounds good... Forget numbers and settings just listen.... Good luck mah dude... __________________ " Opinions are like assholes, Everyone's got em' "...... Last edited by SoundProofStudio; 5th June 2008 at 01:07 AM.. Reason: Wrong quote....

28th April 2009	#7
illacov Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2004 Location: USA Posts: 3,791	Best way to compress vocals is to firmly grip the MCs throat and squeeze til they turn blue. They'll end up sounding like Fredro Starr but man thats one hell of a compression technique. Sounds like a Wu - Tang lyric "Compressin nggas vocals with the Iron Grip." Peace Illumination __________________ Langston Masingale Sales and Customer Support @ JJ Audio Mics, USA JJ Audio Custom Mics and Mods!!* JJ Audio Mics Email (Langston/Sales and Customer Support) Artists recently recorded with JJ Audio Mics: Ronnie Spector, Baby Bash, Paula DeAnda, Z-Ro, Slim Thug and the list continues to grow... http://soundcloud.com/illacov/jj-cd-vo-demo

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5th June 2008	#4
crabtwins Registered User Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 102	wOW PICASSO WASN'T THAT HARSH WAS HE? I could have and probably could still ask/asked that. find out what a brickwall limiter does. or search. dont mind these people either way you have to play and experiment with it all to get it right, even then no one really has the authority on "what's right." Personally I still experiment to this day. Find out the settings threshold, ratio, release, attack, but still you must listen boy.

28th April 2009	#5
hectc7 Gear nut Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 128	COMPRESS the heck out of vocals!!!!!! Use 2 compressors if you have to in series. Vocals to me are the hardest to get to sit in a mix...Damn those dynamics!! Send them to Hell!! Yeah I said it !!!!!!!

28th April 2009	#9
loaf Gear addict Joined: May 2004 Posts: 369	don't bother reading about it, or finding out what other engineers do, you'll only waste time - just buy a REALLY expensive compressor

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