Alesis 3630 Compressor
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Posted on Apr 12, 2009 04:34 pm
Jesse_Dylan
one-man recording to insanity
Member Since: Mar 16, 2009
I've been thinking a lot about compression lately. A lot of my recordings dip up into the red a fair amount, and I think it causes listener discomfort, especially on vocals.
Would a hardware compressor like the Alesis 3630 help me out? Are they hard to use? Would I just run my mic through it on its way to the USB pre-amp, diddle with the controls, and then hopefully have a much less peaky singing experience? :)
I've got two songs posted if anyone feels like checking them out (not necessary tho), 32 Seconds and Draft Dodge, where I think stuff is in the "red" a bit more than I'd like, particularly vocals. I've also posted an instrumental, called The Furnace Room, which has no vocals, and with the exception of a few very rare spikes, it's almost totally out of the red. Which is nice! Probably the best job I've done so far. (I don't think I changed the EQ on even a single track... I really am embarrassingly simplistic.)
Just wondering if a hardware compressor would be helpful/worth it and if they're hard to use. :)
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Apr 12, 2009 07:31 pm Um, no>
Honestly listening to 32 seconds I would say using a compressor on the input would have killed that song emotionally and vocally. I know its hard to listen and not be critical when its yours. I am the worst offender when it comes to that. But I only had to listen once to hear the up and down in it feeling wise. It has a life to it, compressing the vocals would ruin that.
Draft Dodge, well maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. Again there is a life there that would not be if you compressed it hard on the way int trying to get a consistent level. A little practice vocally and you would be able to do it without a compressor on the input easily.
The instrumental I liked. Nice and smooth going.
Jesse_Dylanone-man recording to insanityMember
Since: Mar 16, 2009
Apr 12, 2009 08:16 pm Wow, thank you so much for that! You have no idea how good it felt to hear. I guess I just get neurotic and weird, listening to my own stuff over and over until I wanna poke pencils in my ears. :) Maybe I need to step back a little and not worry so much.
Thanks for that. I won't bother with a compressor. I'll just work on the chops instead.
Singing karaoke to my own songs is still a new thing for me. Especially when the "band" is contained in headphones (and all played by me--each track just multiplies the neurosis, but the vocals are the hardest to listen to by far).
thanks again!
Apr 12, 2009 11:08 pm If you are even *close* to being "in the red" they you are tracking too hot. Shoot for making the absolute loudest possible peaks hit somewhere below -10dBFS and I guarantee you're (A) going to make better sounding recordings right off the bat and (B) software compression will actually be effective (as it's pretty sketchy on signals that were overdriven in the preamp - Like signals that were overcompressed on the way in, or signals that are 18dB above where the hardware is designed to run - such as signals that are close to clipping the converters).
Poorly written rant on basic gain-staging and proper recording levels: www.massivemastering.com/...ing_Levels.html
Jesse_Dylanone-man recording to insanityMember
Since: Mar 16, 2009
Apr 12, 2009 11:17 pm Excellent! I'll check that out. Yeah, I think I probably am tracking too hot. I wasn't before, but I got mad trying to get more volume out of the finished product! Course I could always just get everything balanced and then raise the volume on each track equally, making sure nothing hits red, as the very last step before mixdown...
I'll peruse that article.
Apr 12, 2009 11:35 pm Not that volume should (in an ideal world) be any concern, but the way to make a recording that will hold up to the abuse of "volume" is to make a recording with obscene amounts of headroom at every single possible step. ESPECIALLY tracking.
POINT: It doesn't just make a recording that can handle volume - It makes a good recording.
Back to "an ideal world" -- There should be a good amount of headroom at all times - Even in the finished product - As the converters and amplifiers and speakers that recording goes to perform better with more headroom also. But keeping grounded in the "real" world (which is a pissing contest between bands and labels that the consumer has no interest in and is actually a victim of), you get to "use up" that headroom *ONCE* - That's it. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. If you use it up during tracking - especially with each track, you're screwed in a way that you'd normally have to try very hard to beat.
Jesse_Dylanone-man recording to insanityMember
Since: Mar 16, 2009
Apr 13, 2009 12:10 am Yeah, I've kind of hamstrung myself with a few of my recordings. I'm going to keep this in mind in the future, though. I'm just glad I got it figured out 1/3 of the way in rather than later. :) Now I can hopefully get it right and end up with a final product that does not hurt the human ear.
Dematrixhttp://www.reverbnation.com/2ndgMember
Since: Nov 27, 2007
Apr 13, 2009 05:20 am do you have a compressor in your software?
just be using that i would.
If you compress on the way in with an outboard compy, your stuck with it once you record.
lower the rest of the instrument track vols in the software mixer, so you can turn the vox down too, and get em outta the red and down to say -10 or something around that. (provided it hant been tracked too hot)
once you put some compression on the vox, then you can use the "make up gain" on the compressor to turn it up some more.
If you keep everthing in the whole project at a decent level like -18, even when exporting the song, then you can import that mix again when its done, into a new project and get the volume up to where you need it to like -2 or 3.
this way you have no chance of it even coming close to clipping or anything like that.
that's what i do anyway. seems to be all cool.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
Apr 13, 2009 10:51 am If you do buy a compressor, save up for something better than the Alesis 3630. That compressor is notorious in the audio community for being one of the all-time worst compressors ever.
I agree that compressing on the way into your DAW isn't really all that great of an idea though. Like was mentioned above, once you record a track with compression on it, you have to re-record it to adjust the compression settings if you don't like it.
Using software compresssion allows you to tweak, retweak, and tweak some more on a track that's already been recorded. And for most of us home recordists, the compression available in VST format is going to be good enough. At some point you'll outgrow it but for now it should suffice nicely.
