Should I add compression on heavier hitting songs?

[dupedd]

I've been looking through the search engine and still can't find specifically if I should, or if it's common to apply compression to drums on the way in(when recording). Right now I have good levels, between -18 and -12 on average, some peaking at around -9 but I'm wondering if I should maybe apply at least a limiter or some compresion on the snare and kick and maybe get more prescence out of them wiith the increased gain that I'll be able to afford.
I apologize for the newbie question, but I've been spending hours tonight pouring over the forums looking for some answers I need by tomorrow's recording session. A couple of the songs really have some heavier hitting on the snare and kick but have really light sections as well so turning down to keep the heavy sections levels in the right place has the quiter sections maybe too soft sounding. Is this a time to apply compression when recording?

[scorpio01169]

me personally i would try and get those levels into the -5 to -3 range.....and yes compression will tighten the hits up a bit with a setting between 3.1 or 4.1 depending on your compressor

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by dupedd

I've been looking through the search engine and still can't find specifically if I should, or if it's common to apply compression to drums on the way in(when recording). Right now I have good levels, between -18 and -12 on average, some peaking at around -9 but I'm wondering if I should maybe apply at least a limiter or some compresion on the snare and kick and maybe get more prescence out of them wiith the increased gain that I'll be able to afford.
I apologize for the newbie question, but I've been spending hours tonight pouring over the forums looking for some answers I need by tomorrow's recording session. A couple of the songs really have some heavier hitting on the snare and kick but have really light sections as well so turning down to keep the heavy sections levels in the right place has the quiter sections maybe too soft sounding. Is this a time to apply compression when recording?

Instead of being stuck with the compression you recorded, and maybe not like it, why don't you record with no compression and then add it later. Your levels seem to be fine, so you don't need to compress for that reason. And if you want to compress simply for the "sound", you can compress as hard and as often as you like once it's on "tape".

[dupedd]

my thought was maybe it might be a good idea for songs that have very dynamic volume and intensity changes on the drums. This one song we're recording has very soft and very heavy hard rock drumming but we have the levels set for the hardest hitting parts, leaving the softer parts MUCH lower in volume. I thought if I at least added a limiter for the hardest hitting I could raise the gain for the all around, therefore giving more prescence to the softer parts. Does this make sense?

[BurnBarfield]

What I would typically do in your situation is to automate your effects, that way you can have different levels set for the different sections.

[ez_willis]

Originally Posted by dupedd

I apologize for the newbie question, but I've been spending hours tonight pouring over the forums looking for some answers I need by tomorrow's recording session.

Damn, dude, don't beat yourself up. That's a totally valid question asked in a clear and precise manner. And you did your homework first by using the search function.

Now go pick on a few people in the newbie forum for shits and giggles.

[dupedd]

We got some pretty good takes yesterday. Rock on!

[CJWalker]

Well I still consider myself a 'newb,' though I've been having luck setting the overall levels on the kit and running the drum bus send through a compressor, adding to taste for more punch. I try avoid a lot of compression for individual drums though I seem to like it on toms.