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You may have heard about the Limiter and Compressor if you are a Music Producer/Sound Engineer or are associated with the today's world Digital Music Technology. These two are very common and important audio effects in the field of Digital Music.
Introduction to Compressor:
A compressor is basically an audio effect or an audio process which uses ratio, attack, release and threshold to turn down the peaks of the audio having both louder & quieter portions in it. Though compression is used on every instance of recorded live audio from recording vocals to dubbing the live instruments. We have to use a compressor on these recordings because there are fluctuations in the peaks of the recorded audio due to human errors. Confused with the term "Human Error". Let me explain. Whenever a musician plays Grand Piano, you may have noticed that somewhere in his playing, he hits the keys softer and somewhere harder. This is because he wants to create magical & melodious moments by playing it with a feel and in accordance to match up with the song structures. So this type of fluctuations in the peaks of audio created by playing the instrument softer & harder insists us to use a compressor on that particular recording to give it a subtle and even look so that it can sit well in the mix. To get the detailed information on all the aspects, enroll yourself in Audio Engineering Courses. So this is what i mean with the "Human Error" made by the musicians deliberately to create magical & melodious moments. Should they be punished for that? Ha ha.... Just kidding....
Introduction to Limiter:
Now coming to the limiters. Basically a limiter is a big bro of compressor and in fact they are technically the same thing, it’s just that they are used differently. It could be said that a limiter is an extreme version of a compressor. As already described above the uses and functionalities of a compressor & in comparison, limiter works more differently in every aspect.
Compressor vs Limiter:
A compressor uses ratio, attack, release and threshold to reduce the peaks of the audio, whereas Limiter uses attack, release, gain & ceiling not to reduce the peaks only but to block the peaks to the ceiling level of zero db and to achieve higher loudness using gain functionality. It can also be said that a limiter is another type of brick wall compressor which is much higher in ratio levels. This is why a Limiter is used in the mastering chain to achieve higher loudness by blocking the peaks using gain & ceiling functions.
Understanding the concept:
Now as you know the functionalities and the uses of a Limiter, i am going to explain you a tricky use of it on vocals. Whenever we record a vocal using condenser microphones, we always end up with an audio full of fluctuating peaks due to the lower and higher notes of the speech as per the feel of that particular song composition. We can reduce those peaks using compressor as described above but we cannot get an audio more subtle and even looking because a compressor only ducks the peaks of the audio to an extent of its capabilities. You will come up with the audio with less fluctuations. To get more clarifications and understandings, you should enroll in advanced Mixing & Mastering Courses.
Traditional Technique:
Some engineers or producers uses automation of volume on vocals after applying compression. They use the volume automation manually to lower the peak volume of vocal portions where singer has sung at higher notes and boosts the vocal portions where the peaks are very low. This automation technique takes time and patience because you need to listen the vocal carefully and then apply the volume automation to the whole set of vocals.
Tricky use of Limiter:
Now the tricky part comes. Rather than using this type of volume automation, we suggest using a Limiter on vocals with the following settings:
Put a limiter on vocal channel after applying compression.
Rather than gaining to zero db, lower the ceiling of limiter until it touches the audio peak and starts gain reduction.
Adjust the ceiling where the gain reduction reaches between -4 db to -6 db.
Adjust the release of the limiter the same as compressor. The standard setting of release should be within 50 ms to 100 ms.
That's it.
Conclusion:
Use this trick every time you are dealing with the vocals while mixing. You will definitely come up with a better sounding vocals without the fluctuating peaks with more subtle and even look. The more you lower the ceiling, the more flatness you get in the vocals. So use wisely & carefully as you know the destruction power of the limiter. Even it can ruin your vocals if not applied carefully. Experiment yourself with this "Tricky Limiter Technique" and compare it with the traditional "Volume Automation Technique" to check which works better for you. To boost your skills and to achieve a better professionalism, get enrolled in Music Production Courses.
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