compression question for those w vocal recording xperience

[a.D.]

i realize not many do it like this-but say you were gonna use the vinyl sim compression(minus static and flutter) on a vocal- what do you think would be a good knob setting?Or possibly better yet,at what point do you think on the knob it would be too much compression?Or would it be better to use mfx 12? If so,should the sustain be turned up way further than the attack,or should they be in the same area?lol..i think yall get my point. Keep in mind i still have barely any experience in recording my own vocals.Right now i have a whole bunch of rough practice versions of most of the joints for my next release where i've been focusing more on getting my delivery,breath control & voice on point than the technical stuff.But i'm planning on recording into my multitrack w a little touch of reverb,then sampling the vocals into the sp to add compression and delay..this is what i did for my joint on elhuanas album,but i weent overboard on the delay,and don't even know if i compressed them propperly. I'm gonna be going for a sound somewhat simmilar to how rza recorded ghost in the 90's..if that helps at all.This question is way more important to me than the filtering question..and i got a whole lot of help and good advice....i could really use some pointers on this from those with the knowledge-and i think i'll be good to go.thanks!

heres a link to the elhuana song if it helps at all:

http://elhuana.bandcamp.com/track/alive ... he-misphit

[a.D.]

also-if i'm going for that classic rza/ghost sound(rza had different,specific mic/recording/efx settings for each wu member) would i wanna use the low cut on my mic?again,thanks

[HxC]

For recording vocals I use a hardware compressor then apply a little "to tape"- meaning compression doesn't really activate unless the vocalist yells- more like a limiter, but never too much, because then I add a little plugin compression during mixdown. As far as ratios and attack release settings it depends on the compressor and the vocalist. With rap I don't mind going a little heavier.
I'm not a fan of low cutting to tape, at least not the main vocal. For backing vocals it would be a good idea. Most low cut switches cut under 80 (too much) I'd rather get it raw, then do my own cutting (say below 25-30).
Generally it is preferable to get the vocal as clear & raw as possible. You can always freak it after.
What is your vocal chain?

[a.D.]

real simple actually-no software at all..the a.t. 4040 mic( listed in my in my sig),straight to the boss br 900-instead of using the boss efx though, i wanna sample my vox into the 404-add compression,delay,& possibly some lo-fi- then record them back into the br.havent tried to put lo fi on vox yet-i also wanna experiment with the tape delay mfx...basically i just wanna know what some of you would feel would be an ideal setting for compression using the 404.Gotta say though,the recording to tape sounds like a real good idea-i mean even if it's just a regular old cassette tape as oposed to reel to reel or dat,i would think it would def add some warmth & somewhat of a vintage type sound?I could get a crystal clear pro-tools or whatever type sound with just the br-900,but that's not what i'm going for- i'm basically trying to combine early-mid 90's type sound with more modern sounds in both my vocals and beats. Thanks for the reply man

[ellaguru]

recently i worked for that ep with Ill Green.
it was my personal second time that i worked compression for vocals.
Ill Green recorded the voc i mastered them.
firstly i used cool edit pro to clean them from some noise.
then i tried different combinations.
a)compress+eq with softs. sometimes they tend to "destroy" the voc, sometimes no.
b)just duplicate the voc track giving more "space" on left and right channel and trying to left some "natural feel".
c)other try: compress+"space" trick. this one sometimes it works some other no. dipending on softs and on the feel of the track too.
still i don't have a "solution": simply because a solution maybe doesn't exist; in fact every vocal has "its own history"...

[HxC]

Oh got it. I used the term "to tape" as a retronym. I don't actually use tape.
Try this: record your vocal clean to the BR, then send that track OUT (the BR has to have some aux outs right?) INTO the SP, then back OUT in to the BR on a new open track- kinda like using the SP as a plug in. This way you can audition effects, dial in delays, etc. I do this all the time with my 606.
If you really want to get that 90s sound try using an ADAT machine.

[a.D.]

yea-the br has rca ins & outs & thats exactly what i've been doing,lol-like i said that's what i did for the joint on els album.I'm not about to go buy an adat,haha....i'm really just asking simply what would be a compression setting on the sp comprable to what some of you do with vocals on software...or i guess let me put it like this-what do you consider to be the ideal ratio between atatck and sustain?for example.."25% more sustain than attack" or something like that....or let me know if the example i posted sounds like it has a good level of compression on the vocal-i did the "mastering" of the vocal myself,and sent the acapella to el.btw after i re-read your post i realized you weren't talking about actual tape,lol..but it still sparked a pretty good idea-i'm not trying to do the tape saturation with my beats-using lo fi and 12 bit sampling on my sampletrak is good enough for me....but i'm thinking it could really add some character to vocals.Thanks for the tips ella,i appreciate u taking the time,but i'm really not trying to use software.

[ellaguru]

.Thanks for the tips ella,i appreciate u taking the time,but i'm really not trying to use software.

don't woorry aD you're wellcome, but some of the tips i said are appliable on hardwares too: for example you can duplicate tracks on digital recorders or even samplers, this is for the "duplicate trick"

[V-F!]

I would say about 3/4 of the way vinyl sim comp knob. All vox on this album were recorded through vinyl sim.
http://bridgeandetea.bandcamp.com/album ... cycle-ride

[a.D.]

ahhh there we go,thank you bridge..now i got a dope album to listen to as well,bout to check it out. and thanks ella,i'll def be coming back to this post to possibly try some of what you were talking about.hxc i appreciate it too man.

[a.D.]

hey bridge...this album is REALLY dope man,for real-"meat" is hillarious,and the beats are crazy.the vocals sound mad nice too,think i'll definitely stick to the 3 quarters vinyl sim-nice & simple....thanks again