Audio Compression

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

We could start with why you need to compress your VO’s.
(What is the purpose?)

[True Brit]

Well Thax
Whenever I go into an audio studio to do a narration/corporate/commercial they always seem to use compression on me, and the result sounds better than a raw read. Also I understood that to even out the highs and lows of a natural read makes the broadcasting of such a commercial on say a car radio, is much easier to listen to? Or have I got it totally wrong?

David McAlister
The Essential Englishman
https://davidmcalister.interactivevoices.com/

[David Jones]

Well there is no right or wrong answer, just as we can’t select a preset without knowing things like your recording level or the intensity of your read, the mic used and how far it was from your mouth, pre amp gain, so forth & so on.
Every studio or engineer has their own sound that they try to maintain, and each one is slightly different.

When I record myself for VO work, I tend to set my Avalon Vt 737sp flat, with no eq and no compressor engaged.
Of course there are always exceptions.
I generally add EQ and compression in the computer. that way I can tweak and change it as needed.
For a basic compressor for VO work, you can set the attack as needed depending on the intensity of your read.
1.0 – 6.0 should get you in the ballpark. Your release time could range from say 30 to 50, and the compression ratio from around 2.75:1 – 4.0:1.
Your threshold setting will depend on the sound you desire, so you could go from around say -15 up to around -30.
Your makeup gain on the output will depend on the amount of compression you apply.
Just bring it back up till you have your output level back where it should be.
Just play around until you get the sound you are after.
Then save the setting as a base line so you can pull it up when needed.

Good Luck!