do you compress live vocals?

[Robroy]

pretty straight forward question, for those who run their own PA's...do you usually compress live (lead) vocals?

I'm one of three singers in my band that sing a lot of leads. I sing about 25 songs. I'm also the sound man. I have two behringer compressors - a two channel and a four channel.

I'm the only one that uses compression so far, and I feel naked without it. I'm talking with the others about why they want it and it looks like we'll all be compressed. Our music is classic and southern rock and country. The ONLY song we sing that has any dynamics is Never Been to Spain (I sing). I can still bring dynamics into it. It's not like I'm using it as a hard limiter...

A friend of mine in Seattle that ran karaoke for well over a decade in one club called his compressor his singer's best friend. He considered it his secret weapon. I honestly can't imaging NOT using a compressor for live - ESPECIALLY for live. We're not talking about professional singers here. And that may be THE most important reason they are so important.

 

[Robroy]

By default I use a lowcut, gate to keep down stage noise, then a compressor with a soft knee. It honestly depends on the singer how aggressively I compress. Usually female vocalists get more processing, because of wider dynamic ranges (some of the ladies really belt it!) After that I do all of my eq Hopefully that helps some.

Our female singer does just that. It's why I'm desperate to get a compressor into her signal.

 

[Robroy]

The theory is that they try to sing louder when the compressor is working - the louder they sing, the lower the volume, so they try to sing even louder to compensate, which causes the compressor to attenuate even more, which makes them sing louder, etc.... I'm not 100% sure I buy into it, at least not 100% of the time for 100% of singers. If it's a real problem, it might be that the compressor being set wrong.

Yep. I think the answer is in your last sentence.

 

[Robroy]

Of course. Not because of volume -- I use mic control. (WHich is why I hate headset mics) , but it makes any harmony blend tightere. Anyone who disagrees is misunderstanding something.

I don't think compressors are optional with headset mikes. Seriously.

 

[Robroy]

compressing FOH just leads to the whole mix pumping and breathing, with the whole band dipping in volume every time the singer belts out a strong note.

Kinda like fm radio? I'd never compress the whole signal.