should i compress vocals when tracking

[cris is bliss]

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE.

CRIS IS BLISS

[2leftears]

A bit of gentle opto squeeze on input has worked well in my humble view.

[ChuckTX]

For me it varies depending on the situation and the type of music. If it's an inexperienced singer with poor mic control then I just find the right compression to add to the front end.

As has been said, compressing afterwards allows total ability to manipulate the settings anyway you want post. If you compress on the front end then it better be just what you want or make sure you don't over do it. On my own vocals I'll often use an outboard processor on the front end that I've already tweaked to sound exactly as I want it post. So it saves me the time of messing with it later. Sometimes I'll do two takes or split the signal (one processed and one completely dry/uncomp'd) so I can fiddle with it if I so desire. That way I've got my bases covered.

[David Polich]

Depends on the singer. Simple as that. There aren't that many great vocalists
around, very few show up who actually understand mic technique. When
was the last time you recorded a male vocalist who worked the mic
like Sinatra?

So, yeah, I'd say if you're working with younger inexperienced singers,
particular rock, pop, and country, and especially females, compression
going in isn't a bad thing. If you really understand how compression
works (and really understand your particular compressor), then you
shouldn't have a problem.

If you're afraid of overcompressing but want to control peaks, then
limiting, as Frodo mentioned, is a good compromise.

I still encounter younger audio "recordists" who don't fully understand
how compression works, they just "think" they do. One of the problems
I see often is that since we live in an mp3/brickwall limited world of
audio distortion, younger engineers don't notice when a compressor
is distorting or pumping.

[cris is bliss]

good idea to spit the signal

[HCMarkus]

Mic technique in a bad room with a cardioid mic (think icky reflections and changing proximity effect) is not always a good thing! In a decent room with a good omni mic, it can be wonderful. I like gentle, transparent compression going in.

[resolectric]

Whenever people talk about compressing vocals and how subtle it should/must be, how transparent, how delicate a balance should be obtained, how little compression should be used... whenever people talk about these things one album always comes to mind as one of my favourite albums of all time:
Daniel Lanois' «For The Beauty of Wynona».

Vocals compressed to hell.

And it all sounds SO great, so wonderful and so obviously necessary.

Compressing vocals to create a sound, to give a certain character, where compression works as an effect is one thing.
Compressing to limit peaks or just tame excessive dynamics is a totally different thing.

People should always listen to what they're doing and discern if they're getting closer to what the song needs, or further away.

And listen to Lanois' hyper-compressed vocals. Wonderful.

[HCMarkus]

Yeah, reso, if it sounds good, do it!

[resolectric]

Don't you?

[EMRR]

I use my outboard gear during the mixing phase all the time with no noticeable signal degradation.

This might (or might not) be a perfect time to wish that MOTU might someday create an elegant way for us to integrate outboard gear into the DP environment.

I almost never track without compression on vocals, but it's seldom doing much and when it is, it's ceiling protection. Routing outboard back into DP is a pain. I wind up with something like this to capture mixes, submixes, and individual processed tracks. Requires a patchbay mult of every discrete track which also hits the analog mixer. Then I can do remixes from any appropriate submixes and/or individual tracks without resetting everything in analog world. The tracks starting with 'audio 1' are re-recording tracks, that could just as well be aux tracks (I think) if mixing ITB.

[monkey man]

I'd limit unforseen outbursts on the way in, that is all.

FWIW, I don't have a limiter, so when I eventually get 'round to recording I'll have to find a way to control my shrieking.

[Radiogal]

I record with compressor for ceiling protection only, on vocals. High treshold and low ratio.... Sudden digital clippings can kill a good recording.