compressing signals to tape

[frosty55]

When recording drums, vocals, bass to analogue tape, is it better to record flat then compress on mixdown?

[Brad1]

It depends. On a lot of things.

You could hit the levels a bit harder to get natural tape compression while recording a non-percussive bass and vocals. Depending on the noise reduction circuitry, though, it may not like it, and not like it at all on drums. DBX NR doesn't like it much, especially on percussive stuff.

It's generally better, overall, to try NOT to use compression going in, if you don't have to. Bass may be OK, and is done a lot. Good vocalist technique should get you close enough that you can massage it later. Good mic placement on the drums may negate the need for much, if any.

The rule is...experiment, and see what sounds good. The other rule is, a cheap compressor can do more damage than none at all. And, once it's on there...it'll be more difficult to get any dynamics back.

Since you really don't know until all the tracks are laid how each track sits against the others, to squish one prematurely may cause more difficulty mixing.

It's almost a given these days that those tape tracks will be transferred to a DAW? I'd just slam the level to the tape recording to where it can manage it well and to get natural tape compression and a high S/N level, then transfer the tracks straight. If you start putting compression on tape, or start running a taped track through compression to the computer, you'll be running the risk of hiss and other tape noises going to the DAW in varying amounts, since the compressor may bring up hiss, also, depending on how it's set. In fact, a lot of people just slam the signal to tape, sans NR, which causes tape compression, and the high signal level from the tape going into the next stage (the DAW) has to be turned down a bit, which also brings the noise down with it. Make sense? Certain (most) onboard noise reductions (Dolby-type,DBX, etc) may not like a slamming signal when engaged...so try it without.

Then, once it's in the computer, your software compressor/limiters, noise reductions, etc., can be put to use to clean up a basically even-levelled noise print, and then compress/limit the tracks.

But, then again...you may have to do SOME light compression on the way to the tape. It depends. Just don't get too heavy-handed. Maybe a light mixture of both? Very light hardware compression to a slightly needle-in-the-red tape?

Experiment.

Brad1

[frosty55]

compressing signls to tape

Thank you for the advice. Youre a star.

[Sweetfinger]

Experimenting is the key. It is a bit like going to an ethnic restaurant for the first time. There's a whole menu in front of you and you have almost no idea what the heck you're ordering. Only one way to find out if you like it

I would avoid compressing distorted guitar tones as they are already compressed by the amp.

The one place where compression is going to be of use is on clean guitar or bass parts, especially fingerpicking. If you're listening to the playback on a track and can hear noticeable variation in what would ideally be notes of consistent intensity, its time to use a little compression.

If you find that you like/need a little compression on something, use less than where you like it, i.e. if you like that "knob" at 10 O'clock, back it off to 9 or 9:30 -something like that.

The old saw applies, if you can hear the effect, you're probably using too much.

[jrfrond]

When recording drums, vocals, bass to analogue tape, is it better to record flat then compress on mixdown?

This REALLY depends on track width. Analog tape sounds best and has the lowest s/n ratio when hit hard. The harder to hit it with signal, the more the tape itself will saturate and compress. With modern tape formulations (in what is left of the analog tape industry), the electronics in most decks will clip and distort before the tape is even completely saturated. This saturation though is the beauty of analog tape. The drawback is that it can also create "crosstalk" or bleed to adjacent tracks, even though there is an empty space between each track called a "guard band". With professional formats that have fairly wide tracks and guard bands (2"/24 or 16-track, 1" 8-track, 1/2" 4-track or 2-track), this is not a big issue, but on semi-pro and consumer formats (1" 16 or 24-track, cassette multitrack, 1/4" 8 or 16-track), it IS a BIG issue and a problem that needs addressing. In order to realize the sonic advantages of analog with these formats, compression is often a must to eliminate crosstalk. This is usually done in the form of onboard noise-reduction systems, which are "ComPander"-based (Compressor-Expander). These systems compress the signal going to tape, and expand it (the opposite of compression) on playback to regain the narrowed dynamic range. The issue is that it does change the sound, but with semi-pro formats, you need it to get by.