How to apply compression to liven up vocal tracks. (Video)

[RawDepth]

For beginners. This is my home-made tutorial on how to use a compression plug-in to make a vocal track sound bigger. I am NOT a video director so please excuse the rough production.

Check it out here. A 22 minute video.

You can also download the files used in the video and try it yourself. They are in the download area under "Karaoke Style - Instrumental Track and Vocal."

[gaz7224]

I watched your video yesterday and found it very helpful.  There are loads on YouTube, but there's always something missing.  I didn't feel left hanging with your video - everything was covered.

I hadn't thought about looking at the Waveform to get an idea about which compression settings are needed.  It's makes it visual, which is easier that judging by ears alone.  I found your technique about raising the vocal first and getting the quiet bits right in the mix more efficient than what I do.  I do it by trial and error - apply compression, then raise the track, then tweak some more.  Your way is more logical - you bring the loud bits down.  Don't know if I explained that well...

Thanks,
Gaz