Parallel compression has long been a part of the arsenal of engineers the world over, traditionally used on drums but can be used to great effect on just about any manner of audio signal. To even further enhance the vocal, I put an EQ after the compressor to boost certain frequencies which, like the compressor, get blended back in with the mildly “treated” vocal. Tweet . I'll be showing you screenshots from Logic Pro, but the process will be the same in Pro Tools, Ableton, Reaver, FL Studio, and even Garage Band, since they all use the same multi-track mixer workflow. Today we will look at using the Bomb Factory 'BF76', which comes standard with Pro Tools … He’s sending the Pro Tools tracks to inputs on his console, and he has to make sure their levels (at the console inputs) are where he wants them. For vocals, I completely recommend the starter settings above, especially with the fast attack. By using Parallel Compression it allows me to give the vocal the size and weight that I need to get it to really poke its head out in front of the mix. If you are struggling to make the vocal sit on top of the mix, or effects like reverb and delay are putting the vocal further away, you can use parallel compression to make sure the vocal sits at the very front of the mix at all times. Parallel Compression Vocals | Vance Powell . “The plugins I use in this chain start with NLS Channel for adding some console saturation, Vocal Rider for evening out level before hitting compressors, F6 for filtering and dynamic EQ, and V-EQ4 for silky smooth broad stroke analog style EQ.” “After these four inline plugins, I then incorporated my two favorite side-by-side parallel dynamics tools being CLA-76 and PuigChild compressors. He says they should be about 0dBu. Parallel Compression for Vocals. Powerful Parallel Compression. He says the sound coming out of the 1176 is the basis for his vocal sound. Here is the step-by-step process for applying parallel compression: