Hey Jack, great video! I’m curious-do you often see around 15dB of gain reduction like in this example? It sounds really good, and it got me thinking that maybe I’m a bit too cautious with my own processing. I know the golden rule applies: if it sounds good, it is good. But as a professional mix engineer, I’d love to hear your take on this!
Great question! I would say in pop/rock it's very common to see this level of compression, and potentially much more! In big studios it's pretty common practice to compress on the way in while you're recording. Sometimes even through a 2 stage hardware chain just like this, sometimes just one compressor like a distressor or CL1B. 5-15dB would be pretty normal on the way in Then absolutely, 10-15dB or more in the box, plus often another stage of compression at the vocal bus, then likely more still on the master with everything else, can easily add up to a total 40dB compression on a vocal before it even hits a limiter, and that's not considering things like clip gain or fader riding which effectively act like compressors too! Of course you're right, it does need to sound good, and for sure 40dBs of vocal compression won't suit every mix. If it's a huge in your face pop or rock track then yep, the vocal is going to need to be pretty smashed to hold up against the other elements but in a quieter, more dynamic track you would be able to get away with a more dynamic vocal. I think there's an important skill, which isn't the easiest to develop, which is being able to hear when something needs more compression, but also, importantly when something is over compressed - there's a way that compression can start to "choke" a vocal when pushed too hard, and getting 40dBs of compression to sound good is a real balancing act of all those different compression stages
Hey Jack, great video! I’m curious-do you often see around 15dB of gain reduction like in this example? It sounds really good, and it got me thinking that maybe I’m a bit too cautious with my own processing. I know the golden rule applies: if it sounds good, it is good. But as a professional mix engineer, I’d love to hear your take on this!
Great question!
I would say in pop/rock it's very common to see this level of compression, and potentially much more!
In big studios it's pretty common practice to compress on the way in while you're recording. Sometimes even through a 2 stage hardware chain just like this, sometimes just one compressor like a distressor or CL1B. 5-15dB would be pretty normal on the way in
Then absolutely, 10-15dB or more in the box, plus often another stage of compression at the vocal bus, then likely more still on the master with everything else, can easily add up to a total 40dB compression on a vocal before it even hits a limiter, and that's not considering things like clip gain or fader riding which effectively act like compressors too!
Of course you're right, it does need to sound good, and for sure 40dBs of vocal compression won't suit every mix. If it's a huge in your face pop or rock track then yep, the vocal is going to need to be pretty smashed to hold up against the other elements but in a quieter, more dynamic track you would be able to get away with a more dynamic vocal.
I think there's an important skill, which isn't the easiest to develop, which is being able to hear when something needs more compression, but also, importantly when something is over compressed - there's a way that compression can start to "choke" a vocal when pushed too hard, and getting 40dBs of compression to sound good is a real balancing act of all those different compression stages
@@MoonshiftAudio-ft7ohThis is great, thank you so much!