Compressing several vocal tracks

Benshik · Post by **Benshik** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:03 am

Hi guys!
on a song i've got 4 vocal tracks i must process and i was wondering whats the best way to proceed:

- apply a compressor on each track and in case of cpu overload freeze the track

or

- route all tracks to a single audio track with a compressor on. can this method somehow "dissolve" the audio quality?

thanx!

Hidden Driveways · Post by **Hidden Driveways** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:05 am

I would probably freeze the tracks.

Good to see you around, Benshik.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:07 am

Benshik wrote:Hi guys!
on a song i've got 4 vocal tracks i must process and i was wondering whats the best way to proceed:

- apply a compressor on each track and in case of cpu overload freeze the track

or

- route all tracks to a single audio track with a compressor on. can this method somehow "dissolve" the audio quality?

thanx!

i like to compress each one and eq each one then route them all to a common track and slam them with Waves Rvox.

Benshik · Post by **Benshik** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:51 pm

Hidden Driveways wrote:I would probably freeze the tracks.

Good to see you around, Benshik.

i read the forum regularly but indeed got a little less involved lately... busy i guess

and now, as if it wasnt enough, i want to mix and master my next album myself, or at least get it as close as i can to a finished product.
thanx for your help!

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:08 pm

It depends on the vocal tracks.

It is preferable to route them as a group and process them if you can, but quite often, that is not in the best interests of your music.

I use both methods, depending on what I need. Backing vocals usually need a totally different kind of compression to lead vocals. My typical experience is that you can group multiple backing vox to one group track with a compressor more frequently than layered lead vocals.

knotkranky · Post by **knotkranky** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:53 am

are they stereo BG tracks?...

vocals 1, 2, 3, 4, to > aux track w compressor/s and eq, to > new record track. Record it, collect Grammy, put on mantle.

kizzah · Post by **kizzah** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:50 am

If vocals are multi-tracked I tend to compress/eq them as a group, and then process any backing vocals as another group. Compression is still something of a dark art to me, though.

Compressing several vocal tracks

Compressing several vocal tracks

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