Input compression on vocals

[JD01]

I use the Red EQ for mastering. It imparts a sheen that you possibly couldn't get any other way.

I'm curious about how you do this. All I have on my master buss is ReaEQ doing a little de-mudding and Event Horizon.
I've read a bit about how Red3 makes a great master limiter. But I'd have no idea how to use it.

[Greg_L]

[mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention] Mild input compression is good for bass, snare, kick, vocals...anything that's crazy dynamic.

[Bubba]

[mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention]

For levelling vocals on the way in, it's important to me not to be slamming the compressor and getting a huge amount of gain reduction, because you're going to get printed artefacts that you can't rectify. Having said that, James has done it accidentally and likes the effect! Personally I'd do the slamming in post production, because you can take it off again.

A few dB off the top on the way in keeps everything behaving itself and you're going to end up with a cleaner recording.

I have used the Scarlett compressor as a limiter on the way in, but not since I got an AI with really good dynamic headroom on the input. Limiting a kick drum strongly with a slowish release gives it a really warm punch.

[JD01]

@WhiskeyJack

For levelling vocals on the way in, it's important to me not to be slamming the compressor and getting a huge amount of gain reduction, because you're going to get printed artefacts that you can't rectify. Having said that, James has done it accidentally and likes the effect! Personally I'd do the slamming in post production, because you can take it off again.

A few dB off the top on the way in keeps everything behaving itself and you're going to end up with a cleaner recording.

I have used the Scarlett compressor as a limiter on the way in, but not since I got an AI with really good dynamic headroom on the input. Limiting a kick drum strongly with a slowish release gives it a really warm punch.

Yeah, was weird. Cos I had the gain up so high on the AI I would probably have been clipping if I didn't have the Red3 on it. I'll experiment more with it tomorrow.

[WhiskeyJack]

Fantastic. Thanks all. Those are much better answers than i got the first time around wherever i asked it. More clear anyways.

Yes the bass transients are nasty. That's caught me a good deal of times. Not as bad once i started micing a bass cab but still bad. DI'd Bass was far worse in my experience.

Thanks dudes. I'll keep this in mind next time i have time to monkey around.

gain up so high on the AI I would probably have been clipping if I didn't have the Red3 on it.

I'm confused now. Does the red 3 plugin somehow affect the signal inside the physical AI acting like an outboard compressor before it get's to the daw? Or are you setting it up on the channel strip within reaper to compress on it's way into the daw?

How are you setting up this signal chain [mention]JD01[/mention]

[JD01]

Fantastic. Thanks all. Those are much better answers than i got the first time around wherever i asked it. More clear anyways.

Yes the bass transients are nasty. That's caught me a good deal of times. Not as bad once i started micing a bass cab but still bad. DI'd Bass was far worse in my experience.

Thanks dudes. I'll keep this in mind next time i have time to monkey around.

gain up so high on the AI I would probably have been clipping if I didn't have the Red3 on it.

I'm confused now. Does the red 3 plugin somehow affect the signal inside the physical AI acting like an outboard compressor before it get's to the daw? Or are you setting it up on the channel strip within reaper to compress on it's way into the daw?

How are you setting up this signal chain @JD01

It's nothing fancy. I may have actually been running very close to clipping my preamp. But then I ended up with a nice smooth controlled waveform in the DAW.

My preamp gain was at about 3 o clock and I was singing pretty loud.

[JD01]

Has anyone tried putting input compression on and then doing another take without input compression but then adding the same compression afterwards to see if they're different? I'll give it a go tomorrow.

[WhiskeyJack]

Has anyone tried putting input compression on and then doing another take without input compression but then adding the same compression afterwards to see if they're different? I'll give it a go tomorrow.

This would be a pretty good experiment actually.

[Bubba]

Has anyone tried putting input compression on and then doing another take without input compression but then adding the same compression afterwards to see if they're different? I'll give it a go tomorrow.

No I haven't, but that's because I'm not trying to use input compression in a noticable way. Doing extreme stuff on the way in should be avoided. You shouldn't be able to tell it's compressed IMO, because you just want to control the peakiness of the tracking. Use extreme compressor effects after tracking, not before.

But, there are no rules, only guidelines.

[Armistice]

I used to use one of these as a vocal input channel...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.prosou ... eamp%3famp

But stopped when I went full digital. Perhaps I'll dust it off and give it another go.

[rayc]

I used to use one of these as a vocal input channel...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.prosou ... eamp%3famp

But stopped when I went full digital. Perhaps I'll dust it off and give it another go.

I looked it up to hear it just for interest's sake.
It's popular in S.E.A. - well the MkII mainly - sounded quite nice.

[CeeBee]

Well I've learned something new again thanks to you guys. Luckily Reaper can insert fx in the input, most daws can't, so I'll have to use reaper for tracking in the future.

[JD01]

OK. I just tested this.
I set up a track, put Red3 compressor on input FX, set fast at 5:1, getting about 5-10db of gain reduction.
I then copied and pasted the Red 3 onto the FX of another track in the normal spot.

Recorded the same take into both tracks - one has input effects, one has post effects.
I think they sound identical.

Input FX.mp3

Post FX.mp3

[Greg_L]

Lol. No difference

[JD01]

Yeah, might make your captured track look nicer on the screen 'cos its not so peaky, but that's about it.

[Bubba]

Yeah, might make your captured track look nicer on the screen 'cos its not so peaky, but that's about it.

Ever get the feeling you've been writing in Swahili?

[JD01]

Yeah, might make your captured track look nicer on the screen 'cos its not so peaky, but that's about it.

Ever get the feeling you've been writing in Swahili?

Not for about 20 years, why?

[Bubba]

Ever get the feeling you've been writing in Swahili?

Not for about 20 years, why?

Because what you just wrote is exactly why I do it; I have always maintained and explained that this is why I do it, and you've just (after experimentation) reached the conclusion and made the astonishing announcement that this is what happens when you do it.

[JD01]

Not for about 20 years, why?

Because what you just wrote is exactly why I do it; I have always maintained and explained that this is why I do it, and you've just (after experimentation) reached the conclusion and made the astonishing announcement that this is what happens when you do it.

Haha

[WhiskeyJack]

OK. I just tested this.
I set up a track, put Red3 compressor on input FX, set fast at 5:1, getting about 5-10db of gain reduction.
I then copied and pasted the Red 3 onto the FX of another track in the normal spot.

Recorded the same take into both tracks - one has input effects, one has post effects.
I think they sound identical.

Input FX.mp3
Post FX.mp3

Im pretty sure this is the best fucking song that has ever been posted on these boards.

But they sound pretty much identical. I have to do some vocals do overs on a cover im working on and i think ill do the same thing. Ill try doimg two tracks one a saftey normal way i do it kind of thing and one that will have compression on the input. Just for fun.