Change the parameters.

If this is for rock and roll, RemyRAD likes to suggest you put the ratio to 4 and then set the threshold at whatever will elicit 10dB of reduction during the louder parts.
Adjust attack/release to suit.

What if it's for hip hop vocals? I just want them leveled out but not overly compressed

The bottom line with recording anything is that if it requires enough compression and/or limiting to squash the sound, then there's something wrong with the delivery. I've been playing punk for a lot of years, and there are plenty of punk vocalists whose volume level will vary so much, the only way to fix it is to use too much limiting and compression (at least that's what a lot of old records sound like now that I know about these things). You could always draw in volume envelopes, which has worked well so far for me. I think the bottom line with this is that (and this is not a personal attack on you, but a generalization) most hip hop vocalists really don't have control of their voice like a trained singer does, and so you probably will have to use more compression than you want to on most hip hop vocalists. You could try riding the faders, too.

Hmmm i guess i see what your saying...but thing that really confuses me is that some hip hop vocalists will have such loud smooth vocals in their songs, and it sounds like they did not need much compression. But at the same time, it seems like they have a lot of energy in one line and lower energy in another but at the end all volumes are the same. I'm just tryna figure out how I can make the volumes for my vocals similar to this.

So - cut out the smoother parts and put them on a separate track, and use different compression settings on those parts.

Can I ask you a few quesitons to help think about some recommendations?

Are you using a hardware compressor or software compressor?

Are you compressing while you're recording the vocal or compressing the track with a plug-in after you record it.

Are you Normalizing before or after you do the compression?

Alright i'll answer your questions one by one:

1) software compressor
2) I use compressor after i record not during recording
3) normalize before

if i normalize / compressor certain parts that are lower, the volumes sound way off like the smooth parts will be nice and then itll go up high or sound different for the parts that got normalized / compressed / highered in volume

If you're ITB, you can automate the compressor and/or the fader to get what your looking for...

Back in the day, that was all but impossible to do for much more than a single track bounce to a backup.

From the results you're describing, that's exactly what I thought you'd say.

If you can, try putting a compressor on the channel while you record. As it's been recommended 4:1 ratio is common for vocals. I would use soft-knee if it's an option for vocals . Sing through the loudest parts while watching the meters on the compressor if it has them. If you can monitor gain-reduction, follow Remy's advice and try to peak out at about -10dB gain-reduction for the hottest sections.

Then if you feel you need more compression, use a little software compression after you track it. You may not need 4:1 this time.

Normalize it last - and only if you need to. If you do the first two you may not need to milk every fraction of a decibel out of it.

I think you'll get better results if you can do things in this order. Normalizing first, I think, cuts into how effective the compressor can be.

Oh man i've just tried it and its amazing! haha thanks a lot...but i have one more question and this may make me sound extremely noobie...i have a preset called classic soft knee so i put that on and it has four different sections:

compress 5:1 above -10db
compress 2.5:1 below -10db
compress 1.5:1 below -24db
expand 1.2:1 below -40db

am i changing all the ratios to 4:1 and all dBs to -10? Sorry I'm just not good with compressor settings

You're welcome!

To be clear, you don't want the threshold to be -10dB. You want to adjust the threshold so you get 10 dB of gain reduction when you're really belting out the vocal. (again you can only gauge that if you have meters that work in real time while you're tracking - or at least setting the levels before tracking)

I'd skip the presets, if you're getting something you're happy with. If it doesn't have a hard-knee/soft-knee 'button' skip it.

hmmm weird i tried to put everything to -10dB in the beginning and vocals were leveled out and sounded nice..do i leave it or change it up?

Trust your ears, not your eyes. If it sounds good to you, leave it alone! Maybe save a preset of the setting(s) you are getting good results with. It may be that setting the threshold at -10dB was the right setting to get 10dB of reduction.

Like they say, "if it ain't broke - don't fix it"

haha thats true well anyways man that's what i really needed...not too compressed and not to loud on some parts and i've got it now! Thanks to the max!!!!!

Learn to 'work' the mic. Learn to deliver your lines in an even way with your voice without thinking about using any compression..

Just a thought -
I've been doing this for a long time and I've never normalized a thing. Ever.

I'm having a deja vu. :O
Even more off topic, I have normalised.
And compressed badly.

Mainly because I had no idea how to work the tools and I still have crappy ones.

Cucco wrote: Just a thought -
I've been doing this for a long time and I've never normalized a thing. Ever.

Why not? I don't use normalization much, but you've made comments like this before, and I've never understood your reasoning. I thought that normalization was just a floating point multiplication of the track data. Is there more to it than that?

Just a thought -
I've been doing this for a long time and I've never normalized a thing. Ever.

So is normalization a crutch? Are you saying that a good engineer shouldn't need to normalize even if he's recording some caped and mascara'd death metal singer who is eating the microphone? Or am I getting you wrong here?

My biggest gripe with normalizing is that:
A-why would I want a computer deciding any bit of my gain structure? I know you set the threshold, but still, applying a global change based on some preset number is useless.
B-in my opinion, sounds sit best at certain levels. To me a voice peaking at -0dBfs on a regular basis doesn't sound natural. Just like a Debusy string piece doesn't sound right at -0dBfs.
C-I'd rather have my analog signal coming in at an appropriate level so as not to have to change amplitudes digitally.
J

Pardon any typos - iPhone at work.

Cucco wrote: My biggest gripe with normalizing is that:
A-why would I want a computer deciding any bit of my gain structure? I know you set the threshold, but still, applying a global change based on some preset number is useless.
B-in my opinion, sounds sit best at certain levels. To me a voice peaking at -0dBfs on a regular basis doesn't sound natural. Just like a Debusy string piece doesn't sound right at -0dBfs.
C-I'd rather have my analog signal coming in at an appropriate level so as not to have to change amplitudes digitally.

A typical time that I'll normalize is when I'm recording a band that I'm playing with. Take a look back at the tracks after we are finished the take and "whoops" someone was recorded too low. So in a perfect world I agree with B and C, but my world ain't perfect. I don't see any difference between boosting the signal digitally by using the normalize button or boosting it by pushing a fader. So I normalize the track to the level that it "should" be if I set the analog level correctly in the first place. Usually, I adjust the analog level of that track and we record another take. Since I've normalized, it's much easier to A/B the two tracks. Seems like a good way to use the tool.

Bob-
I understand and completely accept that. My logic on the matter is simply that I like the power of pushing the fader to exactly the level I want. Usually, I do this by ear. Other than that, the tool works fine for a whole mix, but I can't ever see the use of it on a single track within a multi-track mix.
J

I think that from a technical standpoint, normalising is simply adding X dB to a signal by multiplying the signal by whatever value.
Pushing a fader in the digital realm also multiplies the signal by whatever value.

Technically, both are the same thing - it falls more on a question of workflow imo.

Agreed - there is no technical merit as to why not to normalize. It just seems awfully odd to me to alter the entire dynamics of a work to an arbitrary maximum value based on a few momentary peaks.

Hey quick question...other then compressing, what other ways would get me pretty loud vocals but at the same time smooth vocals? I've tried equalizing then highering the vocals, normalizing, and even panning the vocals...any suggestions?

Unless you're called JP22 then you cannot control dynamics with EQ, no matter how many or how good you are.

If you want loud, you need to remove extraneous peaks and have it fill as much of the sonic space as is left.