How to Set a Compressor for Vocals
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- Compression Cheat Sheet
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X32 Mastery
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Compressor for Analog Mixers
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Compression works wonders on vocals. It allows you to bring them to the front of the mix while not having to worry about their 'power note' making everyone in the room cover their ears.
No longer do you have to ride the fader up and down so that the peaks and valleys of the vocal fit in the mix. The compressor will do this for you, automatically.
So, let's talk about how to set a compressor for vocals.
This is hands down the clearest explanation of compression I have seen on the internet. Fantastic video!
Wow, thanks for the kinds words!
That ratio part went over my head.
it truly is!!!!!!!!
I’m so glad I came across this vid i immediately opened my daw to twitch sum things
FACTS!!!!!!! UGH FINALLY SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO ME
100% the best straight between the eyes on compression.Phew!!! finally someone speaks English.
Love the tutorial! Solid explanation for what the compressor is actually doing, not just "do this and if it doesn't work, oh well." :)
The instructor on this video teaches well.
The best explanation on compressor ever. Awesome. Thanks mate. Be blessed
Thank you!
Awesome explanation of how to set compression for vocals. I will try this out with the worship team on Sunday.
Videos are Short, Sweet, and Simplistic!🙏🏽🙏🏽🔥 Thank you for your service and God Bless you Brotha!
Brilliant work even till today with new audacity for example. Thank you.
In our church we bought Yamaha TF5. One of the positive points is that it comes with a Nuendo Live licence, so we can record multitrack and play it back on individual channels. It allows to test eq, comp, gate and effects with more patience and time, without risking making mistakes during service. I'm from Brazil and I'm grateful for finding this channel. God bless you, brother.
Yes! The ability to do a virtual sound check is awesome.
nicest teacher i've ever met
Haha. Thanks man!
man went and did what any other dude on the platform couldn't, simple and to the point explainig. Good stuff
Thanks Martin!
I use two. Sometimes three. Each with different settings. My own voice is fairly unusual, but I have used this on other peoples voices with great results. Compressors that have the "mix" parameter and especially built in saturation... like the ones in Logic Pro are my favorite by far. If anyone here knows what they are doing at all and can handle the concept of more than one compressor, I recommend experimenting with multiple.
When I do mine, I often have a wild mix of different styles of singing and occasional screaming / belting. And basically every vocal technique or thing I can think of makes it in the song usually. It helps tremendously to start with an EQ, set rolling off lows a bit, not too much because you actually want your first compressor to help compress the low end troubles before you eradicate them. But you also don't want your compressor overly focusing on super low end, like plosive pops and whatnot or you will get your signal ducked when you don't want it to be. So lightly pulling back some low end, and a slow roll up the treble, usually starting around 1 or 2 khz and increasing all the way up the rest of the treble. So essentially around 2khz is up maybe a half DB, and that rolls up to maybe a 5 or 6 DB at the top, around 20Khz. Maybe call it a slope or slant instead. Some folks might take this moment to say to instead just use a multiband compressor...which I sometimes do use but this approach gets different results than that and very much consciously on purpose.
The order in which this is done, the order in which you apply pretty much any plugin or effect or processing matters. I explained the low roll off prior to compression... the treble boost before compression is obviously for clarity... but doing this before the compression helps let more treble through at good times, and when the treble gets really harsh the compression will take it down a notch before it would have if you hadn't increased the treble prior to it. The treble increasing slope is fairly slight usually, but you can go kind of crazy with it if you have to and then in your last EQ you can pull the treble back so that the treble is better balance overall.
If you increase any frequency before compression... it effects the compressor differently. An increase of a frequency will make it more LIKELY (depending on the volume and power of other frequencies at that exact moment) to reduce the dynamic of it. LIKELY being a very important word there. There's sort of too much to explain on that topic here though.
My first compressor is usually set as to basically transform the loudest and harshest sounds into "distortion" instead of volume. This is a "trick" many mixers and masterers know about. Instead of volume or attack, distortion. It's one of the ways that amateurs can never figure out how the fuck many big names can get their volume so goddamn loud. A chunk of that is very... very carefully crafted saturation / distortion. In the way i am describing it being used isn't like guitar distortion. But rather this is something nuanced enough that it can even be put directly onto already distorted guitars and seem to only increase their volume and clarity. There's many reasons for this, again to long to list.
So I set my first compressor a little harder on the compression. Usually still somewhere between a 3:1 ration and a 5:1. Depending on the compressor... it can be as low as 1.5:1. Setting this one fairly heavily as to essentially make the volume trigger the built in saturation I have turned on on the first compressor. This compressor I usually have a pretty immediate attack time and a pretty quick release. The overall use of this compressor is supposed to be somewhat subtle. I don't yet want to leave in some attack on the words sung, as the singing (mine especially) is usually too dynamic and setting the attack time to enhance the attack would effect less of the actual words being sung at this point. If you want a tiny bit of that burst on the front of each word or melody... I recommend waiting for the second compressor... as by that time the first compressor would have brought quieter singing into play for the second compressor to act upon. ...
And further dialing it in as needed obviously... listening very intently to make sure the perception of volume remains almost the same, if not exactly the same as without this compressor... yet having an actual bit of a decrease in overall dynamics. And then I dial the mix knob back to usually 50 percent, and the make up gain up usually about a DB or 2... as it makes up the gain on the saturated and compressed signal. So that lends you an automatic slight gain of volume on your quietest moments already. With the mix knob letting in half the dry signal, and half the signal that is basically transformed into a very carefully crafted slight distortion for only loud and harsher moments... this gives you, more or less, the best of all possible worlds really. When you sing quietly, it's pulled up, but the dynamic is still obvious... and when you switch to screaming, the overall insane amount of actual DB volume is reduced to a more manageable amount already... AND you haven't yet lost the perception of volume / harshness. Because it's there in the amount of saturation going up when singing louder... which saturation can easily mimic volume to our ears without actually being volume.
Lol... haven't even gotten to my second compressor yet. Goodness.
Depending on how that is all set and what kind of music is going on... that may be the only compressor needed. That's usually not the case, but it can be. It's a good trick to basically start with. But if that sounds great but you still have some issues... and you don't want to make the mix more of the natural signal in the first compressor, nor the more of the compressed / saturated signal... the second compressor is the guy for you.
If you like your sound but it's still too up and down... pull up a second compressor. Sometimes I do a little more EQ work before the second compressor... usually just rolling off more of the low end that I left behind to snag a little on the first compressor... now I don't want that low stuff effecting the next compressor much at all.
On the second compressor is where you should get pretty much the rest of your volume control. Due to there already being a compressor... and saturation in play, AND the fact you have the dry and wet signal mixed (whether its 30 percent (common) or 80 percent (less common)) ... you can say that some of that signal is still technically completely uncompressed. The mix knob acts a little differently than some beginners might think. I remember originally thinking the mix knob was just another volume knob and would never touch it. Wish I could go back in time and correct that bit of error but it very much isn't. It also isn't just "how much the compression does" or anything. Anything between ZERO percent and 100 percent is two signals. If you have it set to 50 percent... you are letting 50 percent of the total sound make-up post compression be the dry signal. Which acts accordingly... don't forget the compressed signal is in fact compressed. So if you have it 50/50...AND you have your make-up gain boosted a little... when you are singing quietly will be a little MORE of your compressed signal... and singing loudly - out of the mix will come more percentage of your dry signal technically. So however much you compressed it in the original compressor ... if your mix knob is any less than 100 percent... this changes the ratio of compression extremely dynamically. Quite differently than playing with the threshold or ratio. So get a good cool sound out of the first one... and usually it will only need a little more compression on the second compressor.
Second compressor is the one I usually set to enhance the attacks just slightly... so this is the one with the slower attack time. Due to more of the vocals already being pulled up.. more of the vocals will get the enhanced attack treatment on the second compressor. But if you have your first compressor compressing around a 3:1... that's not what is coming out of it when you have your dry and wet signal mixed. The dynamic is LESS than the original untouched signal and MORE than what you set the first compressor to BECAUSE you mixed them. It's a bit of a mindfuck if you don't understand but it makes sense. Just keep reading this until it clicks.
On this compressor I usually go lighter on the ratio then, considering we already have a little compression, AND we have tricked the perception of volume to increase with actual loudness so you usually don't need much on this one. Usually around a 2:1. And with the threshold set to basically pull back the loudest moments. And usually set the mix to 100 percent on this one...
Unless you want to get EVEN MORE mindfucked and go for a three compresor situation... which I have and do actually use. Usually when I record guitar and vocals simultaneously on one stereo seperated track. (lack of equipment bullshit). But I think anyone going this far would know better than me at this point anyway.
But after all of that usually comes one last EQ just to nail it perfectly to the mix. Sometimes at this point there is absolutely no need for eq. Sometimes you wanted to boost the treble into the compressors hard initially so at the end you want to back them back down, or sometimes there's still low end peaking through you don't want or this or that. Usually just a sweetener at the end though to be befitting to the song, if anything.
Thanks for the tips!
❤
That’s crazy. 😂😂😂. I’ve been fighting with compression the whole time. And here’s where I finally understand it😂😂😂😂. Thank God for Kade
Awesome!
Great presentation. Short, concise, clear. Thank you.
Man man!!! I cannot add anything else to the good feedback you been getting in the comments.. but Im just gonna add one more: great job teaching it explaining it you cut to the chase in very simple words and very easy to understand something so complicated when not explained correctly. Keep up the good work and God bless 👍👍
Wow. Thanks Jose! I really appreciate you taking the time to write out such encouraging words. -Kade
Very clearly explained!!!!!! God bless u my brother in Jesus's Name
Thank you!
This is so helpful. Clearest, simplest explanation to Compressor use. Thank you so much.
Thanks!
Thanks for yor step by step instructions for setting up the compression. Great Job.
A minor point of correction regarding threshold. At 1:20 you state and the diagram circles -10db as the setting of the threshold. The threshold actually is at the bend of the knee, which in this example is -15db. Everything above this threshold is compressed by the set ratio.
very informative and straight to point
helps to know at least where to start on setting up a new board
thank you
finalmente qualcuno che spiega le cose in modo molto semplice e chiaro, senza tanti fronzoli, peccato che io parlo solo italiano e la traduzione a volte complica un po' le cose.
Great Video💎
In 3:30 you say, Attacktime= the time when full compression is reached. That's not right. After the Attack time 63% of Gainreductiom is reached.
This is FANTASTIC! Thank you for explaining in a way that is understood.
Damn! Total thumbs up! The only thing I would have done would have been to provide 10 seconds of uncompressed audio and then 10 seconds of compressed audio so we could hear the delta.
Great idea man! Too bad CZcams doesn't let you edit vids.
Best video on compressor so far!!
Love from Canada 🇨🇦
Thank you Salman!
So far the best video I've come across on this topic 👍
Wow, thanks!
Super clear! Thanks
Articulated perfectly. Thank you
Brilliant explanation it told me just what I wanted to know thank you
Great to hear. Thanks for the feedback!
thanks my voals sound so much better now
I really appreciate your videos, they are all so helpful to me!
Why can’t all tutorials be like this one? Amazing explanation man, thank you so much!
Thank you!
Thank you so much. God bless you.
You're welcome!
Clear, concise and straight to the point. Great work
Thank you!
OMG, I love this video, it is soooooooo PERFECTLY edited and damn clean video!!! I SUPER LOVE IT!!! 😍😍😍😍
Thanks!
Clear explanation mate! Thanks! Love from Sri Lanka ❤️
Great demo on compression!! Best I’ve heard in a while
Thank you!
This was so great man!!!🔥 I feel so confident from this 6min video!
Great to hear!
Thank you it was great ! ☺😁
Thank you so much for this! For the longest time I was having trouble understanding ratios and you explained it very simply where I Finally got it! Awesome! 👍 Wishing you the best 🙂
That's awesome! Thank you for the kind words! -Kade
Excellent tutorial !!!
great video, short, sweet and precise! thanks a bunch
Keep this up! I just learned a lot and I've been watching other videos for a year now!
Thank you!
Wow today I learn something new..!! Thanks
You nailed it and I've watched tons of videos on compression OUTSTANDING!!!!!!
Thanks!
Collaborate Worship I assume this is for outboard compression or does this apply to in the box as well?
@@QLFProductions Same for both. I've used these techniques with an external compressor on an analog board. And now, I use them on the X32's on-board compression.
Collaborate Worship Fantastic, no one else has given more concrete advice on this subject.
Great presentation. You’re an effective communicator. Thanks for enlightenment.
Thanks Riley!
This was really helpful.. Thanx man
Your explanation is the best 👍
Thanks man!
Fantastic explanation, thank you so much!
Thank you!
great info thanks!
Welcome!
good call on the rewind haha
Thank u very much for your explanation. Very straight forward.
You're welcome!
Thanks, God bless
Same to you!
Best compression tutorial I’ve ever heard. Somebody take this guy to Longhorn and buy him a ribeye.
Thank you!
Thank you for explaination,i get a new new set up for vocal in behringer X18
I use that, attack 5ms, release 50ms, ratio 1,4...1,5 : 1 , threshold -40...-35dB, knee medium, output gain 8-9 dB. Sennheiser G3 microport...
Very informative.....Thanks for making it simple for me
Glad it helped!
This is a perfect explanation of compression, good job mate.
cr: 10 years of experience mixing
Thanks Elian!
@@collabworship
Thanks man
You're welcome.
Good video. One issue, though. You explained that the release time is how long the compressor is active one triggered. The release is the time that the compressor stays active once the signal goes below the threshold
Good catch!
Nice job on the explanation! Well done.
Thanks Doug!
1:30. When you say that a compressor "pushes the signal down" by the amount set in the ratio, it sounds like you are saying it is reducing the overall input level below where it started (so -10 db in and -12 db out). But a compressor actually works the other way. It still allows the signal level to increase above the threshold by the set ratio amount. A compressor set at 4:1 ratio allows the signal to increase 1 db for every 4db the input is above the threshold. It might seem like splitting hairs, but it is an important distinction. I know you understand this, but it may not be clear to people just trying to understand compression.
Thanks Brian!
Great tutorial, thank you very much!
Thanks for watching!
Great tutorial. Explained so well. Thank you.
PLEASE MAKE A VIDEO ON THE APPROPRIATE SETTINGS FOR INPUTS TO OUTPUT GEAR analog and digitalAND THE PLUG INS IN IT LIKE COMPRESSOR EQ AND DEESING
Sweet, thanks alot man
No problem 👍
Thank you
Thank you so much! This was so useful to me :)
Glad to hear. Thank you!
That was clear enough, thanks
Glad it helped
Terrific tutorial. Thank you.
Thanks!
Very good and informative---God Bless!!
Thank you!
exelente explicacion me a ayudado muchoo
Very helpful Thank you.
Thank you. Great explanation.
Thank you!
Very helpful! Thanks!
I really like this video!
Great explanation
Great explanation. Can you add some for spoken word like preaching? We sometimes get some fiery preachers who like to yell.
Sure Kade will chime in here, but a pastor mic is generally trial and error. Each pastor talks differently and each room is different. I generally follow these thoughts for a pastor mic:
1. stick to a low ratio, like between 3:1 and 5:1. Anything more and it just squashes the voice
2. 0ms attack,
Great tips, Chris. Thanks! Also, here is a video specifically on the pastor's mic for you to check out, Jason: czcams.com/video/ut5rUnN_Ulc/video.html
@@chriscampbellmusic +1 on the 50ms release time. Spoken word has quicker words that come in and out, so the shorter release time helps get that back quicker. Works the same for rapping, FWIW :)
Great video! Thank you for this. And oh no, at 4:11 an innocent typo "Voals." Thanks again!
Thanks, Zoe! Darn typos - good catch. Too bad you cant edit a CZcams video once uploaded. Will have to keep a closer eye on things to eliminate future typos. :) -Kade
You rock man. This is straight to the point and does not go in circles just to get to the point. I’ve been practicing your technique and it sure does help. Definitely a sub!!
Awesome. Thanks, Jessi!
brilliant
subbed because of the lack of bullshit. thanks!
Question.
1. Set up gain.
2. Set up compressor
3. Set up EQ
4. Set up FX (reverb etc.)
Correct?????
Thank you.
Correct!
Thanks for this, it is definitely a gem for those of us who are learning these skills. Is there a different rule for compressing the lead vocal?
Nope. You can use the same strategy on the lead vocal.
Great video! Thanks 🙂
Glad it was helpful!
gr8 vid ..thanx
Thank you!
In our church we bought Mackie DL16s can you do a video for this sir? Do you pamiliar in this Digital Mixer?. Thank You.
Thank u so much 💐❤️
Welcome!
Please show which direction I turn the nobs to achieve fast attack or slow attack. Thanks
Great video Kade! Do you ever run in to feedback issues once you start using the makeup gain? I find in my room that I can't hardly use it, I have to push gain so high on the vocal mics just to get them over the stage noise (we have drums in a cage, still noisy) that if I use any makeup gain I run in to issues. Of course, my PA is permanent installed and they probably should have hung it in a different spot, but oh well.
Hey Chris - I have not run into feedback problems when using makeup gain. In your case, I'd recommend EQing your room to see if you can get some more headroom out of your mics.Here's a video on how to do that: czcams.com/video/GFLB27a_t-U/video.html
Hope that helps! -Kade
I have had this feedback problem also when using makeup gain. It usually happens after a strong power anthem. Every thing gets turned up as the energy builds, it sounds amazing, but as the song ends, the compressor releases and feedback ensues. EQing the room can help if you haven’t done that already, but like most, I had already done that. The vocal channels that gave me the most problems were those with soft voices (aka more gain) and less than ideal mic technique. You can only address those so far. My solution was to use less makeup gain. Not ideal, but better than the alternative.
Feedback problems don't start with the compressor, but the compressor can expose them. The real problem is called "gain before feedback", or how loud you can turn up the microphone before certain frequencies from the PA or monitor wedge get caught back into the microphone and ring. Three ways to increase gain before feedback are 1) getting the mic further AWAY from the speaker, 2) getting the mic further BEHIND the speaker, and 3) Using the mic's polar pattern to reject more noise from the PA (so if you're on a cardioid vocal mic, try a supercardioid mic). Beyond that, you can ring out the system beforehand, notching out the offending frequencies, so you can get more gain before those frequencies "catch" and feed back.
Beast.
Funny because the ratio part totally went over my head and it clicked the second time i watched it
Yeah, it takes a few times for that on to sink in! Keep repeating until the "A ha" moment. :)
Great video!!! I have an 8 piece band with horns. At times on live shows I'll get a low hum sound when the music stops. When the music starts again the hum seems to go away. Can you give me an idea on what might cause this? I was thinking that the gain may be too hot on one or some of the mics.
Best way to find the source of a hum is to put some headphones on and solo channels one at a time. This will tell you if it's a cable issue or just picking up ambient noise.
You’re the best
Hi there, awesome explanation! I have one question, does every instruments need to be compressed? Hope you answer it! 😄
Does it "need" to be? Not necessarily. But I recommend adding subtle compression to every instrument, especially if you are also running a live stream.
@@collabworship thanks for the answer!
Nr 10.000 here! Yeah! :)
Awesome! Thanks for the subscribe, Tobias!
Thank you so much for explaining these concepts in a manner that even I can understand them. Appreciate it! By the way, is there a reporting function on the X32 that allows you to see what settings are currently in place? Having just taken over from another that left the church and not entirely sure what settings he installed. Thanks again!
I am unaware of a reporting feature on the X32, although it sure would be awesome!
When do you compress the vocals? Is it during recording or after (mixing the vocals and accompaniment)?
I just happen to have learned about your YT channel at this moment though this content has been 4years ago.
I hope this channel is still active and my inquiry be responded.
We focus on live sound. So in this case, compression happens during the recording. If you are doing studio work, you'll most likely want to compress after the recording.
Can you suggest a setup for a startup singer on a budget. Which compressor to buy or a mixer with compressor and echo and blah blah all builtin.
The Behringer X32 Compact is definitely the best budget choice with everything built in: amzn.to/2LJ2Gkf
great video
Thanks!