

It brings up the background noise, breaths and emphasises sibilance in a vocal.

Vocal compression can cause its own problems. If a singer isn’t that well acquainted with recording and rely on their live singing technique, then problems could arise and compression can save the day. Vocals are very dynamic and can usually benefit from a little, or a lot, of control, depending on the singer’s experience, performance and the musical genre. The most important thing with vocals is that you can hear every word. They impart certain sonic qualities depending on the type used that can further enhance the sound beyond the standard parameter settings. Stick a pin in this idea and look into it later down the line but the TL DR description is that their names describe the gain reduction circuit for that particular type of compressor and how they react to the input signal. The four most common ones are:Įach has their own sound characteristics and is probably something to consider further, once you’ve got the basics of compression down. They each have their own “character” or sound.

Not all compressors are of the same design.
