The yellow bar behind the small fader will show you the real time level of the signal entering the plug-in. The target fader at the very top of the plug-in is the rough level you would like the vocals to sit within the mix. Now let’s take a look at all of the settings you will be adjusting to create a professionally levelled vocal track with ease. You will notice that the top of the plug-in follows the rest of the Waves range including features such as a preset function and an A/B comparison to test between settings or to have separate settings for your verse and chorus for example. Whilst the capabilities of the plug-in are very powerful, the interface is nice and clean meaning that you won’t have to waste valuable production time trying to find your way around it.
Now that we have cleared up those differences, let’s get stuck in with the plug-in and using it within Pro Tools.
You can gain a better understanding of how compression works by reading our basic compression guide here. It is therefore arguably better to control the dynamics of a vocal recording by adjusting the volume fader, and then applying a compressor afterwards to polish the small dynamic variations which need attention. These add sonic qualites to the audio they are processing, while this can benefit the vocals within a mix, the voice is such a dynamic instrument that compressors can sometimes overdo it and ruin a perfectly good recording if not set up correctly throughout. Furthermore, compressors feature time-based settings such as attack and release time, as well a variable ratio. We know what you’re thinking…isn’t that similar to what a compressor does, well let’s look at the differences first… Fader Riding Vs Compressionīefore we get started on the plug-in, it is important for you to understand that there is quite a difference between changing the volume level of a vocal track and applying a compressor.Ī compressor reduces the level of an audio signal by a preset value once a predefined ‘thresold’ level is met. The principle of the plug-in is that it will automatically, after a little tweaking, ride the fader of your vocal tracks to help them sit more comfortably within your mixes The plug-in also works in real time, so there is no need to waste time scanning your recordings prior to mixing. In this tutorial we will be looking at the ‘Vocal Rider’ plug-in released by the audio plug-in giants Waves.
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