Dual Mono Compression

Todzilla

New member
Hey Guys!

So, I have a buddy who is an electronics whiz. He is building his own studio, by DIYing his own gear. This may take forever to complete, so he's letting me "take care" of his gear in the meantime.

He recently build a very well researched and assembled 1176 Rev D clone. This thing is stunning, with all the boutiquey goodness one could imagine. My studio is pretty well endowed (Neumann, Peluso, Neve, API, Apogee), so it's not out of place.

The catch: He hasn't configured it for stereo compression yet and given his schedule, may get around to it in a decade or so. So, my question is "How viable is it to record stereo sources (drum OHs, pianos, acoustic guitars, choirs) in a dual mono mode?"

I understand the concept is to not have the compressed signal dance left and right in the mix, as one side is compressed more heavily than the other, but I'm hoping to get a more qualitative opinion on whether it's a drastic mistake to even try cutting with dual mono compression on the drum OHs. I'd rather start with some opinions before I experiment, since I have a session coming up with a really amazing drummer and would rather waste as little of his time as possible in testing this out.

Thanks in Advance!
 
Do you have 2 of them? It sounded like just 1. But if you have 2... it will work IF both units respond the same way. I've just read (never experienced) that same type units vary so there is that possibility of mismatched compression. As a precaution I would try it out before the drummer gets there to see how they react.
 
With acoustic guitar, you could probably get away with it. With drum overheads, it probably won't work well. When he hits a cymbal on the left, the snare will drift right and vise versa. You may have more success if you put the mics in an XY pattern, but you would still need to calibrate the controls within an inch of their life to keep the image from jumping around. But, you could use them on room mics without too much problem, I would imagine.

The acoustic guitar will work better because there won't be a lot of dynamic differences between the left and right, since a guitar isn't a very wide instrument.
 
Does it have sidechain/key holes? You could either split the signals, mix them together and then split that out to both sidechain returns. The sidechain sends could be a convenient place to take the first split from. You'd probably want an active mixer in this case to avoid any chance of crosstalk.
 
Thanks for the replies. They are in the same housing, and even have the holes ready for the stereo link controls. They're just not there yet.

I don't have much opportunity to pre-test, as the drummer will arrive with his kit. I like the idea of X-Y overheads, as it should do a better job of "summing" the inputs. I will probably gently compress on tracking and mostly go for the Carnhill transformer coloration.

And I'm pretty sure they have no sidechain capability, just two ins and two outs.
 
I wouldn't compress the overheads at all if that's the case. There is no way to fix it if the snare starts jumping around
 
I have never compressed overheads ITB more than the slightest bit myself. Maybe I am missing something?

I surely wouldn't print it on the way in. Especially with a comp I wasn't familiar with.

I would say save the testing for later, especially if you have an amazing drummer and don't wish to waste time.
 
I de-essed some overheads (that I didn't record) the other day, but I can't remember the last time I used compression. It's either years or never.
 
Just record without the compressor. You can play with the compressor all you want during mixdown. The compressor won't care if it is live or a recording.
 
Y'all are probably right, although i might record through compressor without compressing for tranny sound.

My interest is that I'm loving processing drums through plugin versions of 1176, and I remember producers I worked with in the past (Don Dixon, Mitch Easter from REM's first album) who would print compression at tracking (because they had to). Adding to my difficulties is that I have just a one room studio, so I can't audition things as well as I could if I had a control room.
 
Y'all are probably right, although i might record through compressor without compressing for tranny sound.

My interest is that I'm loving processing drums through plugin versions of 1176, and I remember producers I worked with in the past (Don Dixon, Mitch Easter from REM's first album) who would print compression at tracking (because they had to). Adding to my difficulties is that I have just a one room studio, so I can't audition things as well as I could if I had a control room.

But why? You won't lose anything by doing it later. Unless you have two pairs of overhead mics and input channels to record with/without, I wouldn't take the risk of testing while recording a performance.

I agree with the idea of recording direct from the mic unless you have experience with the pre on the way in. I surely wouldn't test a new preamp/compressor on the way in. Do it later and avoid issues man...

My advice. Take it or leave it. :)
 
Back
Top