#LIGHT COMPRESSOR FOR PODCASTING HOW TO#
#LIGHT COMPRESSOR FOR PODCASTING PATCH#

Now push up the drums more and notice how the compressor behaves. Pull down the threshold until you get 2 to 3 dB of compression, and then listen to how the balance of the mix changes. The attack and release times matter some, but we’re aiming for making it sound bad right now to prove a point, so don’t worry too much about those yet. If your console has a compressor available on the main output, enable it and set the ratio to 4:1. To test out how the compressor on the stereo bus can crash and burn quickly, set up a mix with virtual sound check, and mix it like you normally would with punchy drums, and make sure your vocal is way in front of the mix. Add to this vocals that have to sit on top of the mix and it makes for a signal that’s really tough to compress well without one instrument or voice creating unwanted dynamic changes to the other elements. Musical signals have a blend of percussive elements, like the smack of a stick on the drums, the hammer on the strings of the piano, or the pick click from an acoustic guitar, and sustain elements, like a distorted electric guitar playing long chords, a synth pad, or the sustained notes on a piano. On paper, it’s simple enough to understand, but a music mix is not simple in the way it interacts with a compressor’s attack and release times. The release time is how quickly or slowly the compressor’s gain reduction goes back down, or recovers, after the input signal goes back down. The attack time is how quickly or slowly the gain reduction responds to that input signal going up.

#LIGHT COMPRESSOR FOR PODCASTING HOW TO#

The Right TimingĪ compressor responds to the input signal to know how to push down the output when the input goes up. We need to understand the attack and the release time on the compressor. Punchy drums and vocals in front of the mix can cause the compressor to behave badly – like it needs a time-out. But if the mix going into that compressor isn’t treated properly, it can make things worse.

#LIGHT COMPRESSOR FOR PODCASTING PATCH#

Your first instinct might be to patch a stereo bus compressor on the stream’s output, thinking it will help keep the levels more even. The streaming mix can’t have a lot of dynamic range or people on the other end complain that 1) it’s not loud enough 2) it’s distorting during worship but the preacher sounds fine and 3) they have to turn their devices up and down numerous times. It’s even more difficult if you’re trying to do double-duty with your front of house console, because a lot of the energy in a live mix comes from the contrast between loud and quiet sections of the music. I’d guess that many of the complaints center around the level of the mix and the balance between the speaking mics and the music parts of the worship service.

Virtually no one gets it perfect the first time. If you’ve mixed for a broadcast or stream, chances are high that you’ve had complaints about how it sounds.

Light compressor for podcasting