When you take vocals out of the controlled environment of the studio (home or otherwise) and put them on a live stage, you introduce a lot of curve balls. Wilder dynamics, microphone bleed, feedback, it’s all there. As such, we can’t use the same compression settings for vocals we would in the studio. With that in mind, let’s talk the best vocal compression settings live.
Vocal Compression Settings Live
First, don’t forget to check out my tutorial on the best live vocal EQ settings to account for the proximity effect and generally get better audio to feed into the live vocal compression.
Like all of the tutorials from my compression cheat sheet, here are my macro level vocal compression settings for live settings in a graphic. We’ll then cover each one, parameter by parameter, to better understand why we’re setting each of these where we are.
Threshold
The threshold is always important for determining how much of your vocal will be eligible to be compressed, but it’s doubly important when setting your vocal compression settings live.
Setting this too low will include bleed and other background noise from the band, increasing the likelihood of feedback and other unwanted noise.
I recommend setting your live compressor’s threshold to the average level of the vocal. This ensures that the quieter notes will be untouched and the compressor will prioritize the peaks.
I like to aim for a gain reduction of 4-5dB on average and 8dB at most through my threshold, though admittedly the exact amount of gain reduction is dependent on all of the live compression vocal settings.
It’s also important that you understand your vocalist’s behavior to get a good read on where that average level should be. If they’re moving around a lot or belt or even scream some words will mean a very different and less reliable average than if they keep the microphone consistently in front of their mouth (like in the case of playing an instrument and thus needing to stay stationary in front of the mic).
Ratio
The ratio is likely where the rules of the live vocal compression settings are especially different.
In general, less is more in a live setting. If you’ve been to a few shows, you’ve likely noticed that the vocals can be more erratic and dynamic than you’ll get in the studio for the aforementioned reasons.
You can’t crush the ratio with the aggressive 8:1 that I normally like for keeping a vocal in the front of the mix as you introduce a lot of noise to the mix by virtue of outputting that noise at the same level as the vocal itself.
Instead, the goal is to just bring a little smoothing to the dynamics which can be accomplished with a 3:1 ratio.
This doesn’t tame those peaks, but it pulls them down a little bit so you still experience that dynamic energy, but kept a little more under the thumb.
As always, if you want a little more cohesion and energy then you can push this up a bit, or conversely you can bring this down to a 2:1 for more of those dynamics which you can get away with when you’ve got a more stationary and “predictable” vocalist.
The one exception is when you do get a belter or a screamer, I like an 8:1 on a separate compressor in the chain with a much higher threshold so that you’re ONLY catching those relatively isolated instances where that vocal seriously jumps up.
It’s also wise to have this in place regardless to save the audience’s ears when the vocalist gives a one-off and obligatory engagement shout (“I SAID ARE YOU HAVING A GOOD TIME TONIGHT????”).
Knee
A moderate or softer compressor knee engages compression at a lighter ratio before the level hits the threshold.
A moderate or soft knee, around 12dB, works well for a live setting for that first and main compressor in yielding a more transparent and smoother overall level and engagement as that level approaches the threshold.
Attack
Attack is how fast that compression begins once the threshold is met.
I like 3ms of attack in live vocal compression settings to let the consonants punch through the mix before getting that compression engaged.
Release
In contrast to the attack, the compressor’s release is how long it takes for the compression to disengage.
I like a longer release time of 100ms which works well on live vocals with that lighter ratio in particular for create a very smooth release.
With live vocals in particular, you want the audience to be unaware that there’s compression happening all while it’s helping to bring a little more beneficial control.
Gain
As always, match the input level to the output level. Compression, by virtue of how it works, reduces the overall level by bringing down those peaks.
As I mentioned when talking about the threshold setting, you want to aim for around 4-5dB on average of gain reduction. With that in mind, you’ll likely want to put 4-5dB or so back in the vocal via the output gain to keep your fader position accurate.
Again, don’t be afraid to enlist a second compressor with a more aggressive ratio to catch any intermittent peaks which aren’t typical of the vocal performance itself. Just remember to set the threshold much higher so that this compressor isn’t being engaged by the normal dynamics of that vocal.
And lastly, don’t expect to be able or aim to keep that vocal in front of the mix at all times like you can in the studio.
Relatively greater dynamics across the entire band and performance are an inherent part of a live show, and honestly that’s where a lot of the appeal and energy of that live performance comes from!
