Vocal Compression Explained Easily For Beginners (FREE CHEAT SHEET!)

Do you think compression is difficult or easy to understand? I’d love to hear your thoughts on compression

4:1 doesn't mean for every 1 dB over threshold you will attenuate 4.. It means for every 4 dB over the threshold you will only get 1 dB of output above the threshold.

Excellent!

Great video!

This was a great explanation! It really got it to click for me.

Do you have to gain stage? When I turn up my gain I hear noise floor

🙏 🙏

Hey Sara,
thank you for your great videos concerning compression and the detailed approach to explaining what is going on.
I watched them all😉!

About the ratio… i you say that with a 4:1 ratio for every db that passes the threshold 4 db will be reduced from the signal.
As far as I understood it 4:1 ratio means that for every 4 dbs that pass the threshold the compressor will knock it down to 1 db. Or for every db that passes the threshold that it will be reduced to 1/4 off a db. Did I get it wrong?

Another thing- I would love it if you could make a video explaining bus compression/ “glue compression”. It still is quite mysterious to me how to set up a compressor for that. Which parts of a drum bus signal should be compressed to achieve a glueing effect?
Unfortunately there is no advanced video about that in the internet - only people who set up their slow attack and fast relieve until they start nodding their head and proclaim “yeah that brings it all together”. I would like to have a visual clue as to what is happening to the waveform…
Again thank you for the dedication you put into explaining these things👍🏻✌🏻

ur voice is like flowers made of butterscotch

Sara - I love your Chanel !!

I'd like to know more about the clip gain

A great video as always!!! Thank you very much! Sooo much useful tips

Added my details and received an email which I confirmed but no cheat sheet to be found - can you advise please?

Thanks for a great video 😊 Would be great if you made more "the big picture" videos, for example follow the snare (what is done on instrument level, bus level, group level, master bus level, what of this is routed to fx etc). This would make your channel one of the few on internet that did this. The problem with most videos is that I won't learn how to "build a house" by watching videos on "how to hold a hammer effectively" if you know what i mean. It wont help my baking skills to watch a video on how to open the oven door...too many videos are too detailed and and small focused and won't talk about the "big picture" which is what is needed. All the best from Norway 👍😎👌

Profuse thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. Great tutorial!

Hello Sara! Thank you for your videos! I have a question! I have been recording for about 2 years now so somewhat have a little little bit of experience. I have had some succes and have invested into hardware channel strips and what not.
My question is how much compression should I be getting tracking into hardware? I do NOT mix I only produce at my studio and send off to a more experienced mix engineer. I want to make things easier for them to mix while also make the performer comfortable.

Fab! Really well explained. Thanks Sara!

Absolutely brilliant. Probably the best explanation of compression in the shortest amount of time I’ve ever heard. Thank you.

Great video. Please make a video on the different types of compressors

Such a great video and I love the way you teach! Thanks for doing these!

Great explanation! Never again forget to adjust the attack by hearing the consonants. I find compression the most difficult thing to master, a lot to take into consideration, not only the "automatic fader" thing. All character subtleties that every type of compressor brings out are more than enough to write a whole book, is amazing. Thanks Sara. Cheers! By the way, I'm curious about a diode bridge type, not so much information, maybe no one uses these days.

Good job - it's all in the details. Your procedural explanation is great, as are the explanations on adjustments. You're a great teacher :)

Hi Sara, in your cheat sheet you mention to avoid the compressor bringing up unwanted sounds, before compression you sometimes use -6dB on clip gain on breaths and sibililance. Can you please kindly explain you mean eg. reducing pre-gain on the whole wave file (not sure how that would help) or cutting the event into many parts to isolate the unwanted noises then reduce only those by 6dB (seems a very lengthy process, perhaps more than training the vocalist! :-) )

Sara is probably the best person to listen to as a novice or someone with intermediate skill levels to keep the learning curve in perspective. Many people are too wrapped up in their own experience and have difficulty being relatable.

Really excellent de-mystifying explanation Sara - I'd go so far as to say the best I've come across on YT. I've been amateur mixing in a home studio for years, and still revert to twiddling the controls without a plan when it comes to compression!

Thank you so much, Sara.

Happy New Year Sara. All the best to you and yours. Thank you for sharing your time and expertise with us.

You are awesome 👍👍