Are you tracking with compression?

[shaggseb]

Same as you
I don't use compression when I'm tracking...


Seb

[seaneldon]

i do a little bit of compression going in, depending on what kind of music i'm dealing with. i'll tend to reach for a not-so-transparent, or "gooey" compressor for something like kick and snare. i'll hit a vocal a tiny bit going in, too. keep in mind that i tend to favor tracking everyone at the same time, so i'm already sort of knowing what the mix will sound like.

[RusRant]

keep in mind that i tend to favor tracking everyone at the same time, so i'm already sort of knowing what the mix will sound like.

Yeah, I can see that, if your tracking 6 or more instruments at once needing it to keep things inline somewhat as well. I understand this is very subjective, so it's definitly whatever works for you. Just very curious where everyone stands on this. Thanks

[apdv1]

For me it really depends on the players. If you've got a drummer who isnt consistant with his playing then a little compression never hurts, same with bass guitar I guess.
I certainly compress on the way in far more than on the way out.

[3rd world order]

i've tracked with EXTREME amounts of compression before and had it work out fine... i.e. room mic on drums

i almost always track with compression on vocals & bass... the rest is kind of up in the air, whether it works or not..

the trick here is knowing what you want & damage control.. knowing how the compressor respnds well enough that you're not gonna make a horrible mistake...

ALSO, with a properly laid out patchbay and enough inputs you could record 2 versions of the same signal.. one with compression and one without... which is always fun because there's no consequences if you go too far... a crazy sound here is almost always useful in some capacity as a loop or break somewhere in a track.

[mhartman]

I track with "some" compression. I like my external compressors better than my plugs, so I tame things with them externally, then use plugs to finish the job.

[Stitch333]

I almost always track vocals with a compressor

[Methlab]

i track in with compression on vocals. not too heavy, but I always use it on vox.

[T. Morgan]

I always compress drum rooms, a trashy drum mic, bass, guitars and vocals. Sometimes more....
Why not get the sound you want going in, or atleast something close....

I hate having to use plugins to get a decent ruff mix in the computer.
And when I use tape (15ips), compressing after tracking can bring out too much tape hiss.

[Dog_Chao_Chao]

i use as little as i need (it can be a lot) to make it sound near of what i think it should for that song. Vocals, drums, bass get compression almost always. I dont touch distorted guitars, synths or anything with little dynamics.

It also depends on how deep you know the material. With some clients that i already know I compress/eq more than with a new one.

My tracking sessions sound pretty nice and near of what I want it to sound in the end. No plugs. Not even 1!!!! Pretty happy.

[Brad McGowan]

I use a hint of compression on drum overheads while tracking (FATSO tracking comp hitting 1-2 dB's of gain reduction...just enough to catch super loud snare hits). I also always print a mono drum room track that gets destroyed with the Distressor. I also generally have a stereo pair of drum room mics that is recorded dry. Other than that I might use a very small amount on bass and vocals (something transparent and subtle for level control). But more often than not even bass and vocals are dry.

One thing I do usually do though is insert a plugin on those tracks so that playback of takes is more representative of what the mix might sound like. I often save those plugin settings in the template I'm using for tracking.

I never record kick or snare with compression. Everytime I've tried I've always regretted it later.

Brad

[84K]

I track with compression on anything that sounds better that way. I cannot get the thick bottom on heavy rock guitars that I like without compression...
it holds the frequencies in.

[5down1up]

no compression when tracking here, besides shaping some wild electro sounds.

[midiman123]

Originally Posted by mhartman

I track with "some" compression. I like my external compressors better than my plugs, so I tame things with them externally, then use plugs to finish the job.

Same here!
Things just fits better in a mix when I track guitars & vocals with hardware compression(smart c1).
Lately I've been finishing the job with the EMI Chandler comp/limiter plug in, just to give it "that" vibe...


KK

[Phantom Void]

I used to track with no compression. But, lately I´ve been using my MC76 on vox, rock/heavy rythm and lead guitars and bass with great results! It sure does add some balls to the tracks! I digg it

[swankdoc]

I like this topic a lot. What I dont understand is the difference of compressing going in vs out.
I mean, cant you get the same results when compressing going out? Im sure there are times when you want to record a signal with an overall raised floor and compressing is necessary because the transients prevent become the limiting factor...so compressing going in becomes necessary. But if you're compressing for tone, then cant you do that afterwards the same while retaining some flexibility with the track dynamics?
Dont know if Im asking the question clearly...but..

[theblue1]

I approach each track on a case by case basis.

I do often track vocals with some compression because I like the way my analog compressor works.

I'll definitely manicure a recorded track before I consider compression, evening up big changes, spikes, etc, via automation envelopes. I tend to try to minimize computer compression, as a rule, since science tells us nonlinear processes like compression tend to leave more processing wrenchmarks than linear ones like amplitude, etc. But I do what I have to do. And it's not like I'm sitting on any high end hardware, here... so the tradeoffs between my hardware and my Timeworks Compressor X (my first reach compressor for most jobs) are not as high as they might be for someone with some creamy high end compressors.

[dokushoka]

I track with compression on everything pretty much EXCEPT drums. I'll put it on the ambient mics, but none of the regular kit mics. I find that the amount/type of compression I use at the mix is really going to set the "attitude" of the drums so I like to leave that to the mix, once I've hearrd the drums against the whole arrangement.

[danasti]

Originally Posted by RusRant

Just curious about this, I would guess most everyone is. As of recently, I've begun tracking with "NO" compression. I only apply at time of mix. I've been riding gain when tracking instead. I've found my mixes to have so much more life, dynamics and depth.

I much prefer to not use any compressor or eq while going in, at least as a corrective or "fail safe" tool. Not doing it makes me focus so much more on placements, room arrangements, di/mic/pre/amp/instrument choice, routing and cabling, tunings and playing the parts under control and with the right amount of passion. Compression when I'm tracking definetely doesn't make me work as hard as I should be, or as creatively as I should be. I get a far better finished product at the end if I manually fight the dynamics.

That being said, I'll use just about anything and everything under the sun at mixdown. I'll crush room mics. Mix in a crushed double of a main vocal, etc.. And there is a fine line where you are using a comp or eq as an effect - the same way you use a guitar pedal and so tracking like that is part of the original sound (i.e. bass > mc77 > pultec = boomin' rumble) and you want to record that as is. I'm only talking about using it as a mixing tool at tracking time and that's not how I choose to do things..

I love to have the option of starting with the clean version - the most untouched and totally unprocessed version of each track in the recording. Maybe 9 out of 10 times it doesn't matter but, on the times I want to fall back, it sure is all worth working a little bit harder to get it right.

[Faderjockey]

Originally Posted by swankdoc

I like this topic a lot. What I dont understand is the difference of compressing going in vs out.
I mean, cant you get the same results when compressing going out? Im sure there are times when you want to record a signal with an overall raised floor and compressing is necessary because the transients prevent become the limiting factor...so compressing going in becomes necessary. But if you're compressing for tone, then cant you do that afterwards the same while retaining some flexibility with the track dynamics?
Dont know if Im asking the question clearly...but..

Well..for me at least.. No going in is different then out.. I think comps respond differently with live sources.. Plus I like to get the control/color before the converter. Now back when I was going to tape I used less like overheads and kick/snare..But back then I still compressed bass and vocals..

But now going itb I use a little on overheads sometimes..always a crushed mono room mic (same as Brad). Sometimes I use a very light 160 on snare if it's a guy really nailing it. sometimes a little on inside kick if I want a softer pillow effect..

But I don't like Bass/Vocals hitting converters without compression..That's just me. I want it to have a done sound to my ears, When I get songs to mix that have been tracked with no comp on vocals it's boring and sounds like a demo to me.

also on another note: Lot of guys want the options later...but maybe I'm still a little bit old school. But I don't want a thousand tracks and have to think about things later.. I with the band decide then what sounds good print it move on...It's about the songs.. Like back in the day when you had to add things to other tracks on a 24trk to make room... Of course we have space to not have to do that now. But I mix better when I'm listening to the song sound almost done..before I even start. I don't want to lay stuff down and be telling the band...Oh! when we go to mix it this will sit better. I want them hearing it as if it had to go out that day it's done.

With that said...I may EQ a touch here and there..But never go EQ crazy ontracking...that I feel can shoot you in the foot sometimes more then over compressing... I've had to deal with both done poorly. I'd rather deal with over compression then EQ..

[chandlersonic]

I always compress my room mics, it gets me closer to the finished product, I usually use a high end comp for this so it frees up one of them when mix time comes. I sometimes compress very very lightly the ohs. I always compress bass and vocals ( extremely sometimes ), just doesn't sound right to me when they're not, just in case I usually send a wet signal and a dry signal on another track to the converter.
When I'm not the one mixing, I have a tendency to compress a little less since I don't know what the mixer wants.

[Methlab]

Originally Posted by swankdoc

I like this topic a lot. What I dont understand is the difference of compressing going in vs out.
I mean, cant you get the same results when compressing going out? Im sure there are times when you want to record a signal with an overall raised floor and compressing is necessary because the transients prevent become the limiting factor...so compressing going in becomes necessary. But if you're compressing for tone, then cant you do that afterwards the same while retaining some flexibility with the track dynamics?
Dont know if Im asking the question clearly...but..

Yes. You compress going in to control peaks. Now you can do that with fader rides too. If you are compressing for effect only, you could do it post, but there are many people that like to get it sounding right on the way in. I notice that when I compress pre I can get the peaks under control and when i compress post, i obviosuly dont have to use as much to get good results.

I also EQ vocals a bit on the way in because I am using a dynamic mic and I like to add some 12k top end with my hardware EQ on the pre instead of just using software EQs.

[Brad McGowan]

Originally Posted by 84K

I track with compression on anything that sounds better that way. I cannot get the thick bottom on heavy rock guitars that I like without compression...
it holds the frequencies in.

What compressor have you been using the most lately to achieve that? Are you using a fast attack or slow?

thanks,
Brad

[Beardhead]

When you know the tracks will be recorded afterwards, why not record them the way you want them to sound? At least a bit so you still leave some doors open for later? Anyway, used a DTC on vocals and a 1960 on two of the four bass mics . Oh, and I crushed some room mics with a high gained TL Audio EQ2.

[stvintage]

I usually use very lite compression on vox when tracking, just to keep it tame.

[Splico]

i have only one analog compressor..TUBETECH SMC 2b..thats why allways compress allmost everything,,,sometimes lite-acc gitars,sometimes hard-bass..after that,compress again with plugins if needed..then on master bus insert my TUBE-TECH and compress again..sometime soft,sometimes hard....like in real world

[NathanEldred]

Yes, especially on vocals and bass nothing too heavy though since it's getting more on mix. Sometimes a little light limiting on lead guitar and non piano keys. I'd rather have two light amounts of compression at seperate times than one heavy treatment.

[CKK]

Always!!!

[RusRant]

I figured most people do, that has been my experience. Until recently I did the same. Now I only use it for effect. I'll agree that hardware sounds different, won't say better because I don't wanna start a flaming storm. And compressing while tracking is completly different than while mixing sound wise. When you add in automation, the interaction with other tracks and possible effects (reverb, delay, eq. etc) your working with a different beast all together. My thoughts are that there are a lot of people that spend big money on their comps and want to put them to use. Me included (UA 1176, distressor and Fatso Jr.) Case in point, when I began tracking on a PC Daw setup a few years back, I purchased the waves Gold bundle. I used the plugs on everything. That wore off pretty quick, but it was the same with the empirical stuff, on everything for awhile. How much does everyone see this happen in their own experience. This could lead into the current loud mix/over compressed debate, but hopefully not I have sold the 1176, soon will probaly sell the distressor as well. I know everyone tracks to their own tastes, and thats what makes music great. It probably depends on what your tracking as well. I have definitly seen the light on this for the stuff I do. My hardware is going by by.