Automation on Vocals

[mindundermatter]

How is this done and why would you it?

Some of the best engineers in Nashville will actually ride the gain on the preamp while tracking the vocal. This is especially helpful with a really dynamic singer/song. That's one way to do it. Compression can suck the life out of a vocal track really fast. Going back and automating the track brings back some of that life and really helps the track 'breathe'. It's not that difficult to do, but it can be time consuming. The way I was taught is to do an initial pass of automation (which will put you in the ballpark), then go back and zoom in really close. Then you just look at the waveform (I know that's bad; you're supposed to be using your ears, but this is the ONE time I can think of where visualizing the audio actually comes in handy) and where there are peaks you nudge it down, where there are valleys you bump it up.

Maybe the guy was just exaggerating how he automates!

Nope. There are actually people out there who get paid to do just this kind of 'editing', simply because it is so painstaking.

The point of overactive vocal automation is to make a compressor work less hard.

That's exactly why they do it. It allows for less aggressive compressor settings and a more expressive (and therefore 'natural' as you put it) performance.

[hessodreamy]

Reading all this. it seems to me that compressors aren't doing the job we want them to, which is to level out the volume level without colouration.

[garageband]

which is to level out the volume level without colouration.

All audio gear exhibits coloration.

[mindundermatter]

it seems to me that compressors aren't doing the job we want them to, which is to level out the volume level without colouration.

I don't think you're looking at it from the right direction. GB is right; anything added to the chain will also add some 'color'; whether it be from an EQ, compressor, gate, reverb, delay, it doesn't matter. In fact, some people prefer specific compressors or EQ units BECAUSE of the color they add. Meanwhile others cling to specific units because they are (supposedly) 'transparent', i.e. they don't add any color (which is absolute bullshit, there's no such thing). For example, API preamps are typically considered to be fairly transparent because you can have them at extremely high gain settings and still get a crystal clear sound. It's the same with compressors; however when you change amplitude settings for any recorded sound, you inherently alter the EQ as well (because of the way our ears work) and therefore add 'color'. When you add a device (compressor, EQ, etc.) to your chain, in the analog domain, you're adding extra wires, resistors, and all sorts of other electronics which 'color' the sound by messing with the voltage levels. In the digital domain, the same thing happens, only you're adding lots more 1s and 0s to your chain rather than electronic components. So, you're best bet in the long run is to have the best/highest quality signal chain possible from source to microphone to cable to preamp to interface to DAW to monitors (or whatever variation of that you may have) and only add things like EQ, compression, and various effects if they make this chain sound BETTER.

[shackman]

I'm with GB and Mind on this one.

My vocals rely on "natural" sound - using volume and expression to intone emotion etc.

I DO use compression (when necessary) and avoid it if I can. I am one of those who has favored compressors because because the color they add isn't bad enough to detract from the sound. I dismiss others because the color they add is intrusive to the sound I'm trying to achieve.

So far as automation on vocals in concerned, it is commonly a major part of the later work I do on every track. And I'm with MIND again, in that ultimately I need to zoom in on the waveforms and tweak the peaks and troughs.

And Mind, I still use my ears as the final arbiter. Once I've done to painstaking zoomed work, I relisten over and over, jumping back into the automation to further wteak what I'd done close up.

I'm no expert, and I find getting the vocals right THE toughest proposition on EVERY track I do. But I do manage to get there, and, since people seem prepared to pay to listen to it, I must be doing something ACCEPTABLE, if "NOT BY THE BOOK" or "RIGHT".