uh oh, I think I like "overcompression"...

[KennyLusk]

^^^^^^^^
Thanks for that.

Levee Breaks (and entire Zep catalog for that matter) is already emblazened on my brain so I can already hear what you mean. Same with the Beatles, and subsequent Sir Paul work with the Wings (I assume).

Thanks again.

[sabin333]

Anything that Dave Fridmann has done (Flaming Lips comes to mind). Anything that Peter Katis has done. A lot of Led Zeppelin and Beatles, especially on rhythm sections. (See: when the "Levee Breaks," "She Said, She Said"). Vocals on a lot of indie pop-rock stuff. Vocals on a lot of mainstream pop records. Broadcast. Blonde Redhead. Broken Social Scene. Kanye West. Kelly Clarkson and Justin Beiber. (Not advocating. Just sayin'.

I've always always always loved Dave Fridmann's work on the Flaming Lips. I just never took the time to figure out how he got the sounds that he did. I assumed that the drums were heavily compressed. Do you think he uses a high ratio and threshold on the vocals too?

[MisterMark]

If you like the sound of 'over compression' but are afraid to totally commit to it, you might consider 'parallel' compression on the vocals... you just mix the uncompressed vocal with the over compressed vocal to your taste. This allows the best of both worlds... an up front and always heard vocal performance that retains some expression and dynamics.

If you are going to do parallel compression in the box with plugins you have to be careful with latency between the two tracks depending on your DAW and the plugins you are using.... it can cause phase issues/comb filtering if not set up properly. There is a thread here that explains what I mean:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-co ... n-daw.html

And for further reading on parallel compression on vocals check this out:

http://mirrormixing.blogspot.com/2008/0 ... allel.html

-Mark

[Wrecking Matthew]

What you're doing is fine; if it works for the track, so be it. But it doesn't come recommended to track 'em that way, and make sure you hang on to the original, uncompressed take so you have something to go back to if need be. It can't be said enough: all you need is--no wait, what I meant to say was that you cannont undo over compression if its locked into the track.

For an example of over compressed vocals, personally I think all of Steve Earle's stuff falls into this category.