Recording steel with a compressor

[Tony Palmer]

Ok my question is not nearly as high tech as it might sound. I’m doing old school recording to a Tascam hard drive recorder, only on board effect is reverb.
That’s fine but lately my volume pedal control has gotten a little choppy and I could really use some compression to smooth out the peaks and valleys (especially noticeable on slow songs).
All I have (and want to use) are a couple of guitar pedal compressors:
Boss CS3 and an Electoharmonix Tone Corset, which I use on my tele.
I can’t seem to dial in anything to keep the occasional undesirable volume peak throttled back.
Any suggestions that don’t tend to create that typical popping chicken pickin sound?

[Bob Hoffnar]

Skip the stomp box. With no access to plug ins I would record a bunch of takes and edit a composite track.

[Brett Lanier]

You won't have much luck using a compressor to fix mistakes in picking or volume pedal technique. The amount of compression needed to actually smooth out the loud parts would kill all the dynamics in your playing, and most likely wouldn't sound very good.

If you were working on a daw I would say just get in there and do the tedious work of carving out the volume automation to get it as good as possible.

Since you're not though here's an idea. Record a take you like on one track, start another track and just play each part one at a time, getting each part right before moving onto the next. Another option would be to print the recorded part onto another track and ride the fader while it's printing.

[Rick Campbell]

You won't have much luck using a compressor to fix mistakes in picking or volume pedal technique. The amount of compression needed to actually smooth out the loud parts would kill all the dynamics in your playing, and most likely wouldn't sound very good.

If you were working on a daw I would say just get in there and do the tedious work of carving out the volume automation to get it as good as possible.

Since you're not though here's an idea. Record a take you like on one track, start another track and just play each part one at a time, getting each part right before moving onto the next. Another option would be to print the recorded part onto another track and ride the fader while it's printing.

I agree with you. Those are good tips. Easy to do with a DAW. Might be harder with the Tascam.

RC

[Donny Hinson]

Ok my question is not nearly as high tech as it might sound. I’m doing old school recording to a Tascam hard drive recorder, only on board effect is reverb…That’s fine but lately my volume pedal control has gotten a little choppy and I could really use some compression to smooth out the peaks and valleys (especially noticeable on slow songs).

A compressor might help your recording, but it won’t help your playing. I can’t advise which compressor to use because I’ve never used one. Maybe you’re running the amp volume too high or too low? You can also try moving your foot a little bit forward or back on the pedal. Compressors can be a valuable tool, but they can also be a crutch that helps cover up bad technique.

[Tony Prior]

Well I have a different take. First off we do indeed need a quality volume pedal technique which can't be replaced with any stomp box or DAW embedded processing. As Donny says right above, the compressor cant hide bad technique.

BUT

Along with good V Pedal Technique , mild compression on the track input can assist in taming undesired peaks. I'm talking compression that you can SEE folding back the signal on the meter but can't hear ( detect) in the audio.

Its a fine line. Learning to use a compressor can become a good friend, not learning how to use it properly , it will become our enemy !

[Dale Rottacker]

Dumby that I am... I probably do this ALL wrong but here ya go... I don't use a compressor while recording, but when I'm done recording if I'm not happy with spots that are too soft or too loud I then use the "Clip Gain" feature in Studio One to smooth things out, and then add compression begrudgingly as those plugins scare me a bit

As I elluded I'm untrained or knowledgable in the fine area of engineering and hold you all in high regard who actually KNOW what your doing.

[Tony Prior]

LOL Dale, we are probably all in the same group ! Pro Tools can also go backwards and smooth peaks, but the school where I come from says do as much as you can up front ahead of the red button. The primary preamp I use is a DBX 376 Channel Strip, it has a 4 band para EQ and a reasonably nice compressor on board , with a meter. The compressor is set to a very mild setting, it trims the low hanging fruit but not the bigger peaks should they exist. If necessary I do as you do, go backwards inside Pro Tools. Additionally I have probably half dozen or more different Pro Tools compressor settings that I wrote which I may use from time to time. It all just depends I guess .


And as previously said above, if you can detect the compressor folding back the audio, its probably too much. At the end of the day if we please ourselves, it really doesn't matter how we get to the end result or how it all comes together . Personally I'm not in the retail recording business , I'm in the "see if I can play without a mistake" business !

[Dale Rottacker]

At the end of the day if we please ourselves, it really doesn't matter how we get to the end result or how it all comes together . Personally I'm not in the retail recording business , I'm in the "see if I can play without a mistake" business !

Like a Golf Scorecard that shows you made a Birdie on the 5th hole... what it doesn't show is that miraculously you chunked it in from the woods

Recording has been an adventure for me, with the only thing available as a kid being an old Phillips Reel to Reel that my Dad when I was REAL little. DAW's brought a new sense that multi track recordings were now possible in a format that didn't degrade tape or my pocket book for the BaZillion takes I need to have LOL... Initially Plugins scared me as I didn't have a clue or a reference on how to use any of that. I was told get your guitar sounding like you want before hitting the record button and record that. So I was and really still am recording WET and then just mixing for a decent balance. That was then, but now I've been experimenting with most of the Plugins... so from NO Plugins to "I must try them all" LOL, and I'm not always happy with the ending result as sometimes it sounds over processed which then causes me to shut off some of the plugins until my Tin ear is a bit more happy with the end result. I feel that trusting my ear is sometimes folly and wish I could sit beside someone who knows what their doing and learn to hear what they hear. Till then I'll get both frustrated and elated at different times.

[Tony Prior]

Like a Golf Scorecard that shows you made a Birdie on the 5th hole... what it doesn't show is that miraculously you chunked it in from the woods

and I have never been that lucky , I am a gifted left to right Golfer !