Mic Compression Setting (Speech Processor) This is where I stray a little. A medium attack time for an instrument could be anywhere in the region of 10-60ms. Ratios are written like 3:1, which can be read as “for every 3 dB that the signal is above the Threshold, the output will only go 1 dB above the Threshold.” In the world of digital recording, the sweet spot for the level of your recording is around -18dBFS (with the peaks around -6dBFS). Natural-sounding podcast audio from outlets like NPR and Gimlet Media is anything but natural. First off, you can simply listen to a section of your podcast and listen for the compressor. Design templates, stock videos, photos & audio, and much more. I can get you 80% of the way there with a few guidelines. On the other hand, if the attack time is too fast the voice will sound over-compressed and squashed. If the threshold is too high, the audio won't be compressed at all. The right setting for the threshold depends entirely on how loud the audio is. Now you’ve set your compressor to the above settings, how do you make sure it’s working and giving you the sound you want? Get access to over one million creative assets on Envato Elements. For this reason, my guideline for ratio would be somewhere between 2:1 and 4:1, with 2.5:1 being a great starting point. This is a form of compression that reduces that harshness of sibilant, In most situations you should apply the EQ cuts before the compressor and the EQ boosts after the compressor, If you want to heavily compress a voice recording without making it sound too unnatural, use two or three compressors in series. Looking for something to help kick start your next project? Similarly, if your compressor is reducing by 5 dB or more all the time, then your compressor settings are too high. Design like a professional without Photoshop. Although all the parameters of a compressor are equally important, getting the threshold right is key. Everything you need for your next creative project. When you are more concerned with content than quality, it can easily happen. A good range for Ratio is between 3:1 and 5:1, but it may take some trial and error to get right. That's all the main settings covered. In vocals, the intensity is more unbalanced then other instruments. Compressors also share a near-universal set of terms to describe the settings available to us. Use the level meters on the compressor to match the output level to the input level. I'll also show you how changes to these parameters affect the sound of the voice. Start with 5dB and adjust from there. The human voice has a large range, and compressors help us prepare our podcast audio so that listening to that range of sounds, everything from whispering to people laughing, is an enjoyable experience. Our speaking voice has three frequency ranges that need to be understood; 1. You could go above 5:1 if you were recording a voice for an advert, or wanted to use compression as an obvious effect. A listener consuming your podcast in a car might hear this audio and jump to turn down the volume. It should subtly improve the sound of the voice without showing off. This means that your vocal will never drop below a certain volume. So if your ratio is set to 3:1, the output will be 3 times quieter. Adjust the Compressor settings. Drop us a line at:hello@glow.fm. Here are a couple options you might see: With each of these, the UI and how we adjust our compression settings is different, but the fundamental effect is the same. If you go too far outside of this zone you might have issues. Increase the Ratio: increase compression, and thus gain reduction, by increasing the Ratio control. In post production, you’ll see the waveform get huge at the points of laughter (and in some cases you’ll see the waveform “clip” at the top and create distortion), and at other points the audio will look tiny. An Attack that’s too low might over-react to momentary jumps in sound, while an Attack that’s too high might miss the first parts of louder sounds as they come up. Set the threshold: reduce the threshold level from 0dB (no threshold) to between 6dB and 12dB below the average level you've observed. He realised that 80% of the results generally come from 20% of the efforts. Different compressors and presets can respond very differently for similar settings of our two main compressor controls — and you don't really need to understand why this is to reap the benefits. For a listener listening to the podcast with high-quality headphones, the difference in volume at different parts may be unpleasant enough that they stop listening to your episode. Trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. That's all the main settings covered. 190ms is a good start for a Release. Aim for 8dB reduction or more. Design, code, video editing, business, and much more. Compression is crucial for achieving a consistent, pleasant sound, one that doesn’t have surprising jumps in volume. Choose a soft knee or between 3-10 dB (higher makes for a more gradual compressor). I find that even 3:1 is more than enough in most situations. In normal speech you shouldn’t see your compressor working that hard. Because humans are expert listeners, any small unnatural-sounding volume jump or dip will be noticeable and detract from the power of the melody and lyrics. Set that somewhere between -10dB and -16dB and preview until you’re happy. Collaborate. After you've applied your compressor and tweaked the settings, consider if this suits the character of the voice or if it sounds unnatural. A good starting point is 12ms. You can't go too wrong if you stay within these suggested boundaries. Release: Release is the opposite of Attack; it’s how long it takes the compressor to stop acting on the signal once it falls below the Threshold, measured in milliseconds. Share ideas. With normal compression (downward compression), you make the peaks quieter and then increase the overall volume of the track. Attack and release define whether the compressor reaches its full range of gain reduction right away or more gradually. Compression is one of those tools that most people like to set and forget. Can anyone suggest a starting point for LADSPA compressor settings to even out this variation? As with the attack time, setting the release too fast or too slow will result in an unnatural sound. Experiment with EQ (trying boosting the lows and highs) and different compressor settings. I can remember a very peculiar question that somebody asked me once. In most situations you should apply the EQ cuts before the compressor and the EQ boosts after the compressor … If it sounds good, it is good. Same goes for Release, after you are no longer screaming, it will very carefully take exactly 50 milliseconds to stop compressing. A release time that is too fast will cause the voice to sound wild and uncontrolled. I worked on EQ’ing a … The most important thing is to trust your ears. Compression is what it sounds like: it’s a tool that compresses your audio so that it has a smaller dynamic range. Makeup Gain: It can be helpful to add back in some gain to your podcast audio after reducing the louder sounds (and therefore lowering the average dB level of your podcast). Try to keep it between 10-15ms for release time. You're not an audio engineer. Compare the two sounds to see if your compressor is creating a pleasing sound without having an overwhelming impact on the audio. You should try to set the threshold 6-10dB below the average volume of the audio. Compression settings for lead vocals should be as natural sounding as possible. Leave a comment below and tell me about your experiences with compression. You can apply this principle to compressing a voice recording. For most voiceovers, this should be between -20dB and -30dB. But voice is different. The compressor, after it detects your speech exceeding the Threshold, will start compressing immediately BUT it will take 20 milliseconds to push the volume down according to Ratio and Threshold. Everything else should be left in the default setting. If it's too low, the voice will sound overly compressed and completely squashed. But as a general rule of thumb, start with -24dB and tweak from there. Slowly bring up this new ‘compression’ buss/aux until you can just about hear it and it sits nicely under the rhythm section. This will sound better than using drastic settings on a single compressor. Release time is how long it takes the compressor to dis-engage and bring the audio up to its actual level.