This compressor drains my track...?

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-- This compressor drains my track...?

Posted by ReflexLawn on Apr-18-2007 11:14:

This compressor drains my track...?

hi i have copressed this track so im fairly happy with the sound in MOST places...however in some places..like 5 - 9 seconds i can hear it audibly draining the track...any tricks to help this?

http://download.yousendit.com/141CDA2A01DD2F8F

any help apreciated thanks

Posted by T-Soma on Apr-18-2007 11:41:

The problem is that the crashes have long decays.
Not only are these decays clashing too much but trying to compress the whole track to fix the problem just makes it worse.

Posted by Nemesis44 on Apr-18-2007 12:03:

Hmmm, I hear what you are saying.

Although I don't think that the problem is the crash specifically it's more to do with the kick with verb that lies underneath. There is so much verb on the mid to low frequencies that it's muddying up the mix. This alongside the crash is causing the compressor to go into overdrive.

Also the mix sounds a little over compressed. Your attack and release might be a little too long. Basically any hard compression should really be done pre-master and should be applied to individual elements or groups of instruments rather than the over all mix.

What I would do to remedy this is rather than compressing the whole track as one, split it into three parts. Use a parametric eq to seal off each frequency i.e. 20-250 ish for bass, 250-4 to 6ish for mid and the above for the high. Apply light compression to each channel making sure that the low end stuff is tight with short attack and release times.

You might also want to use some form of maximiser, BBE sonic maximiser is a great choice. This will help define some of the characteristics of each segment.

On the bass frequency use a stereo imager to bring the low frequencies tight into the middle so set it to mono basically. Then open it up for the mid stuff and then go close to full for the high end stuff.

Then on your master channel you can apply a limiter just make sure you don't limit the hell out of it.

You will find that this technique will give your mix much more presence and will feel like it occupies more space if you do this correctly.

Or you could try a multiband compressor if you can't be arsed with the above.

Send me a PM if you want a better idea of some of the settings.

Cheers
Nem

www.myspace.com/nemster44

Posted by T-Soma on Apr-18-2007 14:34:

I just noticed that this was in the DJ booth.
Make sure to do lots of reading here.
Production Studio Forum

I have seen people mention maximizers a few times lately, are there any cheap/free vsts that are worth it?

Posted by ReflexLawn on Apr-18-2007 15:00:

wow many thanks workign on that now