They will all give you different results. Now compress the same signal with Major Tom. Now take the same source signal and compress it with Reacomp. Try this: automate your levels using volume_pan or Waves vocal rider or whatever. Adding compression after riding the level means you can add thickness, distortion, overtones, pumping whatever your instinct tells you will sound good. Riding the volume will achieve that much quicker and with less audible artefacts. If it’s not 24-bits, you need to do another mix down in 24-bits. 24-bit mix down is strongly recommended for mastering. Select the waveform and then go to Item > Source Properties. STEP2.) Ensure that you are working with a 24-bit mix down. How busy is your mix? Just compressing a weak vocal passage isn't going to lift it above the music. The first step is to load the track in Reaper by going to Insert Media > then locate the high resolution mix down in your computer. Even adding compression on the way in, you don't want to kill the dynamics of the human voice, so there is always some yin and yang in the signal. When your compressor is working audibly (in a bad way) the human ear doesn't respond well, unless it understands that this is a deliberate effect.ĩ times out of 10 the level discrepancies in a vocal recording are just the natural rise and fall of the human voice. Automating out some of the level discrepancies might make it easier to dial in your compression settings, and therefore reduce the audible effects of the compressor.
![print waves vocal rider in reaper print waves vocal rider in reaper](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AHxqasVMClo/mqdefault.jpg)
Do you set the compressor to the quiet passages or the loud ones? Or do you cut the vocal up into verse/chorus to give you more control over loud/quiet? Because one compressor will react to the loud sections differently to the quiet sections, you might end up using two compressors with different settings. In the case of a vocal track that has been recorded direct with no compression on the way in, you will see a huge amount of variation in the volume. Add to that some automation, and you have a huge amount of control over not only the technical aspect of the signal, but also you have a creative handle on the sonic character of the signal.
#Print waves vocal rider in reaper serial
I tend to gravitate to towards a "clean" compressor and a "character" compressor and use them in serial on vocals. Try both approaches and what do your ears tell you? Does the vocal sound ok with just volume automation? Does compression make it sound better or worse? It isn't adding colouration or distortion, it isn't responding to the low frequencies in a specific way like some compressors, which is why many mixers automate for level issues, and compress for a certain sonic quality they want to hear. It has attack/release etc like a compressor, yes, so there is a similarity for sure but remember it is just adjusting the volume, nothing else.