Bus Filter

[andrushkiwt]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the "filter" I use on my Guitar Bus compressor? When I select the filter, it seems to bring the vocal to the forefront and quiet down the guitars on that bus. Am I interpreting its purpose accurately? Is there something else, or different, that it's doing? If I am correct, how does it know which tracks to boost or bring down?

The "filter" button I am referring to is found in Studio One 2 Pro plug-in compressors. Also, there is a separate button underneath the filter called "actively listen"...or something to that extent.

Thoughts on these tools? I apologize if I'm leaving anything relevant out. Let me know.

thanks!

 

[andrushkiwt]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the "filter" I use on my Guitar Bus compressor? When I select the filter, it seems to bring the vocal to the forefront and quiet down the guitars on that bus. Am I interpreting its purpose accurately? Is there something else, or different, that it's doing? If I am correct, how does it know which tracks to boost or bring down?

The "filter" button I am referring to is found in Studio One 2 Pro plug-in compressors. Also, there is a separate button underneath the filter called "actively listen"...or something to that extent.

Thoughts on these tools? I apologize if I'm leaving anything relevant out. Let me know.

thanks!

Found this online, but still have some questions...

"You also can use the sidechain insert for ducking: reducing the level of music or other background sound whenever a narrator speaks or vocalist sings. You’ve often heard the effect of this in broadcasting, where ducking ensures the announcer’s voice is heard. In this application, the vocal signal is routed to the sidechain input, while the music is routed through the main compression circuitry. Now the compressor will automatically duck—that is, reduce the level of—the music whenever the narrator speaks or the vocalist sings.

The ACP88 is the only current PreSonus hardware compressor with a sidechain insert but all Studio One compressor plug-ins offer this feature."

so...

-How does the plug-in know what the vocal is? If I set the sidechain filter on, how does it recognize vocals if I haven't set anything on the vocal tracks to link it?
-This feature really increases the level of the guitars when there is no vocal. If I toggle on and off during a no-vocal segment, the guitars are blasting. otherwise, it's very useful.
-the feature i mentioned earlier is "look ahead/listen"; and additional option of the sidechain. When do you guys use this?
-thoughts on putting the sidechain on each individual guitar track or the guitar bus...?

 

[mixsit]

Seems you're confusing two dif functions of a 'side chain'- which is an access point -an insert point making a new inline path to the compressor's detector.
- One is to put a filrer- or an eq of some kind, to emphasize, or de-emphasize to compressor's reaction to frequencies in the original source.
- The other is to remove (break) the original out of the detector, and replace it with another track- i.e, when the other track is hot, it 'ducks the original out of the way.

-How does the plug-in know what the vocal is? If I set the sidechain filter on, how does it recognize vocals if I haven't set anything on the vocal tracks to link it?

It shouldn't. You said it was on a guitar sub group ('bus). Is there vocals mixed in with this bus? (Turn in down. Do the vocals go away too?

-This feature really increases the level of the guitars when there is no vocal. If I toggle on and off during a no-vocal segment, the guitars are blasting. otherwise, it's very useful.

If it is ducking' then the guitars ought to come up when there's no vocal.
But you generally would not want big jumps i loudness between 'comp on' and 'bypassed'. Sounds like way too much reduction going on.

-thoughts on putting the sidechain on each individual guitar track or the guitar bus...?

Look up 'deesser, An example where a high boost eq is made to 'trigger and reduce on excess hi freq content

 

[andrushkiwt]

What I don't understand is how the compressor knows to "duck" for the vocals only. Why doesn't it do so for guitar leads? Or other tracks? Why the vocals? I don't have my DAW in front of me, otherwise I would check to see if highlighting the filter box sets some frequency range to cut down the guitars, which would also be the range that vocals would lie in...but I'm just guessing, I'm probably way off.

The other concern was that toggling the filter on makes that track(s) much louder. I haven't done any customizing to the settings, I'm only using the default settings when toggling bypass.

Am I wrong to think of using a sidechain as a way of reducing the amount/drastic-ness of automation I would otherwise be doing?