Hi Fam,
We know a great vocal is key to a great song.
What happens if you record it but it’s too quiet?
Here are 3 tricks to get louder vocals.
1. Compressor
- A compressor essentially squeezes the vocal volume. Some people use a compressor to get a tightening effect, most use it to get more volume and umph from their recorded vocal. Try this first.
- A limiter is a compressor with dramatic settings. Basically once the input volume into the limiter hits a certain threshold, the compressor just cuts it off from getting any louder. This can be used to squeeze some more volume out of your vocal. Be careful though, this is slightly more dangerous because limiters can introduce weird/grainy distortions into your vocal.
- Gain is basically volume. If your vocal is too quiet and your mixer volume slider is all the way up, try adding a “gain” plugin to the channel strip to add even more volume. Gain plugins come for free with all DAWs.
Have a good weekend!
Ryan