Compression question

Mark W · #1 (**permalink**) 05-28-2006, 10:53 AM

I am not really any good at tweaking sound and need some compressor advice (I assume).

What do you do to vocals that are playing over music to improve them, like they do in adverts. I assume this is compression.

The compressor in vegas boggles me, can anyone suggest the settings I should use or give me any other tips?

Nikosony · #2 (**permalink**) 05-29-2006, 11:27 PM

When you say improve the vocals do you mean you want to hear the vocals more than the sound of the music? I'm not a sound techie but if it is male voices wouldn't you boost the bass range or if it is female voices wouldn't you boost the higher frequencies and drop the mid frequencies, I don't know, maybe one of the audio techies on here could point us in the right direction.

#3 (**permalink**) 07-05-2006, 12:08 AM

the art of compression is basically to level out changes in volume to achive a listenable result ( a compresser makes large peaks smaller, and small peaks larger thus leveling the audio ) and dont forget to experiment with all the different controls

try on a vocal a compression ratio of 3:1 at -12dB with a fast attack and a slow decay this should level the speech out nicely

then mix the finished result with your backing track so everything can be heard clearly

Trevor Wharton

Mark W · #4 (**permalink**) 07-05-2006, 12:37 PM

Thanks for that.

mymusic1234 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-23-2006, 09:08 AM

You may also want to add a small amount of reverb (echo) this is used in recordings to "Fatten out the sound".
If vocals and backing track are seperate then it is a simple process to add this to your voices before mixing down to a finished track you can add to your video.
I personally work on vocals seperately and "slot them in" the music or whatever other tracks you are using.
Note: don't overdo it - your vocals will become muddy.