Please forgive me for my newb question. Seriously.. Please forgive me. lol this is a multi part question and it all relates. If someone out there can be kind enough to answer these questions, I will forever be in their debt.
 
I was recording guitar tracks Direct. Here is my path..... Guitar---1/4 inch cord----focusrite pro 40---.
I own pod farm, so, after guitars are recorded clean/direct, I then add pod farm as a plug in to shape the sound however I want. However, I noticed that when I recorded the song from beginning to end, The wave sizes are smaller during some parts and bigger during others. The picking parts are quieter and the strumming parts are louder. My first way to tackle this is to use parallel compression, But however much I compress the sound, I cant seem to even out the volume, to make it so the quieter and louder parts are equal volume.
It then dawned on me that maybe thats why people buy hard compressors and do all of this during pre production. But, there should still be a way to alleviate the problem im having.
 
What are some methods you guys use in your musical production to avoid these issues. Pre production? Post production/ In the box Methods?
 
I know that V-vocal has a dynamics option on it, so you can change the volume of individual parts to even everything out. I was also thinking of trying that, but I dont want to be adding v-vocal to everything. It just seems unnecessary.
 
Should I be using a D-I box to record guitars if im going to be doing it this way. I thought the purpose of a D-I box is to make the signal line level and to even out the fluidity of the guitars output. ????
 
The only thing about that is im getting some hissing in the recordings of the guitar tracks, Should a D/I box help, or make that worse??
 
I feel like a baby when it comes to this stuff and rely on you good people to hold my hand in the process. I really appreciate all the help everyone has given me. You guys are awesome.
 
Please help!!
 
Thanks Vokalzz!!

I would split the soft and loud clips into separate tracks. You'll have an easier time working with them that way. Adjust the volume on each track to get them leveled, then add volume automation to smooth things out. Output both tracks to a single bus and you can add any FX (like compression, EQ, etc...) that apply to "The Guitar" at a single place.
 
Regards,
Dan

Oh, and yes, a DI helps tremendously. I use a Radial DI that is very simple, but there are others out there, including full-on effects units with built-in amp emulations that have direct outs.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

It's normal to start out with tracks that vary wildly in volume. It's part of your job as mixer to even them out. But compression is just part of the solution. Other amplitude-related tools include

• Trim/Gain control
• Process -> Gain
• Splitting clips and tracks, and slip edits
• Volume automation

Whether you use one or all of these, and regardless of the order in which you use them, compression always comes last. You want to get the volume more or less level first, before applying any compression. 
 
Dan's suggestion is a standard technique - split the clips, then move the loud and quiet parts into separate tracks. You're probably going to want to treat the strummed and picked sections differently anyway, giving them different EQ and reverb settings.
 
Next, use the Trim/Gain slider to get the signal in the approximate ballpark. Once you've done that, insert the volume envelope to balance the clips to one another. At this point you've got a fairly consistent volume overall and you can now concentrate on short-term fluctuations. 
 
As a leveling technique, compression works best at the micro level, to keep short (e.g. < 1/2 second) bursts of volume under control. Set the compressor's threshold very low, so the compressor is working all the time, and keep the release time long (> 200ms). After that you can choose between two possible strategies: low compression ratios (e.g. 2:1) or parallel compression with very high ratios. 
 
For parallel compression, use high ratios. How high depends on the instrument and how dynamic it is. For electric guitar (and vocals) you can use very high compression ratios of 10:1 or more. The idea is that the loud parts get severely squashed while the unprocessed signal does not. The result is that quiet parts become louder and loud parts become quieter.
 
The trick is getting the right balance between the compressed and uncompressed signals. In some cases (e.g. vocals) the uncompressed signal may be louder than the compressed signal. Other times, (often with guitars) the dry signal may be 6-12 dB lower than the compressed signal.
 
The important thing is to not try to achieve leveling by compression alone.

I thank both of you very much for your wisdom. Your answers are just confirming things ive been trying. I guess the hardest part is finding the appropriate step by step process within my workflow so im not back tracking and working on parts for hours to achieve a sound im trying to get.
 
The method dan mentioned would work optimal for me, however, I can not attach pod farm as a plug in on any bus tracks like you would with reverb or EQ and such. I found that when I attach pod farm on a bus track it processes differently, not in a good way. Its almost like it distorts any tones that pass through that bus, but when I attach pod farm on the individual track, well, it sound clean, clear, how its supposed to. So, my attempt was to not bombard every track with a pod farm plug in. for processing purposes obviously. However, I can work around that if need be. 
 
 
 
BITFLIPPER, you mentioned this in your last response:
 
"As a leveling technique, compression works best at the micro level, to keep short (e.g. < 1/2 second) bursts of volume under control. Set the compressor's threshold very low, so the compressor is working all the time, and keep the release time long (> 200ms). After that you can choose between two possible strategies: low compression ratios (e.g. 2:1) or parallel compression with very high ratios. 
 
For parallel compression, use high ratios. How high depends on the instrument and how dynamic it is. For electric guitar (and vocals) you can use very high compression ratios of 10:1 or more. The idea is that the loud parts get severely squashed while the unprocessed signal does not. The result is that quiet parts become louder and loud parts become quieter."
 
Can you go into more Layamons terminology for me about what your saying. Im getting the gist of it, but cant wrap my head around exactly what your saying.
Ive just started to try parallel compression and I think I may be doing it wrong.
 
This is what I will do for parallel compression,
 
I have all my clean guitar tracks, separated and ready to be compressed. So, I will send each track to a "Clean Track" Bus. Then on that bus I will use my pro channel and use the PC4K S-type Bus compressor and adjust the compression to how I see fit, then adjust the DRY/WET knob on that compressor until I find a good balance between the dry original sound and the wet compressed sound.
Is that right? Is that parallel compression? Wouldnt that also be considered Side chaining?
Im just so confused!! hahah
This girl really needs some help from you people. Sorry im such a burden.
 
If this is correct, then what are some methods you guys use that could be more conducive to achieving parallel compression.
 
Dan or Bitflipper, Can you recommend any good clean/ hiss controlled DI boxes for me. Money is not a issue.
What should I look for.
 
I know this is a lot and im sure I will have more questions but I really appreciate everything you awesome guys have been doing for me. Im trying to not get my panties in a bunch, so thank you again for everything.
 
Vokalzz-
 
 

Technically, "parallel" compression is sending your track(s) to a bus that is using compression (usually more than you would add on a mix or track alone) and mixing that compressed bus back into the mix along with the original (in parallel, hence the name), non-compressed track(s). However, with VST compressors that have wet/dry mix controls, you are basically doing the same thing, just as you described.
 
You should keep in mind that compression isn't going to magically fix bad dynamics, so if you aren't getting the results you want, compression may not be the solution you are looking for. You really need to have the best recording you can get before you start.
 
If you have "hiss" in your signal, add a noise gate as your first plugin using settings that will block the hiss, but not otherwise change your signal.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

"Money is not an issue" - now there's a phrase we don't hear too often around here! Fortunately, DI boxes aren't terribly expensive (unless you're buying a dozen of them), a couple hundred bucks at most. The ones I've used most and the ones I've seen most often in studios and live venues were by Radial.
 
You are correct in thinking a compressor with a dry/wet mix control is in fact doing parallel compression. Compressors didn't always have such a feature, so it used to be common practice to split the signal between two busses and put the compressor on just one of them. Nowadays most software compressors let you do in-line parallel compression, which yields exactly the same sonic results. The old-school method still has some advantages, such as being able to meter, EQ or otherwise effect the two signals separately.

Thank you both so much for your help. It is appreciated beyond what I can express here on this forum.
 
When doing dynamic automation, or other leveling techniques. Can I use the green *volume* db output meter that is located to the right of the track as a guide. This is what I have been doing. For example, Lets say I have a guitar track that is fluctuating around -3db, but obviously there are quieter parts then others as previously discussed. I will automate parts of the track to ensure the whole track is hovering around -3db. Is that a technique that you guys use. Or when doing automation, do you just use your ears. Whats a good method for this?
 
thanks

Yes. Use your ears. We have all these wonderful tools, but don't over complicate it. Sometimes, just a simple adjustment to levels is all you need to do.

Reading your post I wonder if your having an impedance input miss-match. 
Your Focusrite has inputs 1& 2 set up for either Mike/Line or Instrument. 
If it's like mine you'll need to go into the Mix Control GUI and toggle the input to "instrument" 
You should not be getting a hiss but this might happen if you try and use the Line in setting. 
 
You should not need a DI as the Focusrite IS your DI when you use the Instrument input properly. If you use a DI then you'd set it to the Mike input setting. 
I record my guitar directly into mine and was really surprised at how well this worked compared to my other interfaces I had owned ( M Audio and Tascam) 
 
But your volume unevenness could be caused by a weak signal coming in. 
Pluck a note aggressively as you turn up the gain until it goes red, then back off a notch.  
You'll find the focusrite input meter and Sonars track meter will match up. 
Do not pay attention to the levels shown in the Mix control as they are for the monitoring system only and do not have any effect on your input level. 
 
Your tracks should only need a little bit of volume automation, not as much as your sound like you need. Get your signal set up right and all will be good.