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General Compression Question
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| Reno |
Hi all,
I've read several articles on compression but still not sure how I should approach compression in my tracks.
I use Cubase as my main DAW with Virus TI and mainly Reason rewired for drums cause I like redrum and dr rex.
I read for example that x compression is optimal for percs, y compression is optimal for kicks etc. etc.
My questions are:
1. Should I be using a seperate compressor effect for each instrument or should I be grouping instruments to 1 compressor? For example sending the kick and bass to a group channel and having a compressor on that or 1 compressor with different settings on each insrument?
2. Doesn't compression only really have an effect when several instruments are channeling through it? Surely the threshold is acting on the input it is receiving therefore it won't have any affect on the overall sound if not much is going through it?
Your help is most appreciated.
Reno |
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| IainS |
| you need seperate compressors for each sound - be wary of compressing sampled kicks as its likely they have already been compressed! grouping the kick and bass together and slapping a compressor on top works well if you get the settings right, will add dynamics to your track, however if you get it wrong it will just sound squashed and rubbish! theres no right and wrong settings - just whatever sounds good and as a general rule - compress everything!! |
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| Project-K |
| quote: | Originally posted by IainS
as a general rule - compress everything!! |
That's a great idea if you want your track to have no dynamics and sound like .
Don't stuff your channels with useless effects if you don't know exactly why you're doing it. Compress only when you absolutely need to. |
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| thecYrus |
| compression is almost only used on recordings of acoustic instruments and vocals. synthesizers usually don't need compression at all (except you want to overuse it as a effect) |
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| Reno |
Thanks chaps. See what I mean?? That's almost 3 different opinions!!
I loaded a sample of a track I'm working on (2 mins in). Have you listen if you like and maybe tell me which instruments sound like they need to be compressed.
[[ LINK REMOVED ]]
Reno |
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| Eldritch |
Once you understand what compression actually does to the sound and how they work you will know when to use it. So read up on compression. :)
Using compression just because you can is really the worst thing you can do.
None of the sounds in your sample really needs compression. The levels and EQ could be looked at though. |
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| Ry Thomas |
| Using 2 compressors as inserts or busses can be much more subtle than using one and hammering the gain reduction, but as previously mentioned, it all depends on what you're trying to achieve |
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| theartfulducker |
I agree with the "Compress Everything". Well nearly. Synths definately need compression!!! lol. Lots of them waffle up and down levals all over the place! Compression wont destroy dynamics nesesarily, you just have to use it right. On the contrary it can create solid punchy dynamic effect.
When i strted producing i couldnt even really hear what a compressor was doing. After a while, years lol, you actually start to be able to hear the subtleties of what a compressor is doing. Its been about the hardest effect to really learn well IMO. I went through a stage where i thought compression was bad, but when i startesd working with a pro engineer for a while i realised that compression is the !! He used heaps of it! On almost everything!! The really fat pro sounding tunes are often oozing with compression! using it properly is one of things that start to make your music sound truly pro! Some of the magic of the ledgendary producers is thier mastery of compressors!! Not just in EDM genre.
I know this is a topic that people can totally disagree on, but like i say i didnt think comprssion was so important untill i watched a pro using it.... Compression is magic when you finally get your head around it ;)
Also you want different compressors for each thing generally, because you probably want different settings on them all. Comps are really low cpu neways tho. If i have a tip its to try and find a quite 'squashy' one, vintage emulations are usually quite good. One that you can actaully really hear it squashing! I do notice that some of the software comps can be very transparent and sublte and harder to hear the effect where if you play with a squashy old vinatge some you will really start to pick up on whats happening. Pro Tools has some totally awesome vintage comps!!! But no damned vst. I have never found a vst compressor to match actually lol. Personally i use the sonalksis comp. Its bloody great!!!!
My 2 cents... |
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| Ry Thomas |
| UAD are my favourite compressors |
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| IainS |
| quote: | Originally posted by Project-K
That's a great idea if you want your track to have no dynamics and sound like .
Don't stuff your channels with useless effects if you don't know exactly why you're doing it. Compress only when you absolutely need to. |
compressors are dynamics plugins - if your track has no dynamics in and sounds squashed then your not using it correctly!! its easy to go overboard with compression...:tongue3 |
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| Theran |
Compression huh!
That's really a discussion! I am glad to give my point of view on this one.
Compression can be used on every instrument, if you like.. I don't. Most of the samples people are using (like in samplepacks) are already compressed, however you can use some compression to let them stand out in the mix.
Most of the time, I use compression as an effect, it can punch up i.e. the kick a little. It's true though, that with to much compression, you'll lose your dynamics. If you are afraid the the volume levels won't stand out, you'd be better of using a limiter.
But I think, that its a personal preference to use compression. But be aware, if you don't know what you're doing, you can really f*ck up your mix. Before using it, try to understand it and experiment with it. Use your ears, thats what they are for.... |
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| david.michael |
| quote: | Originally posted by IainS
will add dynamics to your track |
Compressors do the exact opposite of this, by definition. |
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