compressing overall mix

J

johnny j

New member
i dont know if im in the right section for this advice i need but no doubt you'll let me know

i have a yamaha MD8 and were ready to transfer some songs onto a regular MD player, from this i'll put it onto a CD. there are inserts for tracks 1 and 2 which are hooked up to a compressor. we generally put vocals on track 1 and any toher tracks that are a bit weak we move to track 2 and use the compressor to boost the volume a bit

i have a second compressor lying idle so what i thought id do is to put a compressor in line between the MD8 and the MD recorder. however ive been reading a book on recording techniques and it seems to say that this method isnt a good idea. it did say if possible to "compress through the stereo bus" (i think that was the wording) but i dont know how to do this. at the rear of the unit theres a stereo out and a monitor out so i cant see how to compress the whole thing

can anyone advise on how to compress the overall sound, is it necessary even? any thoughts gratefully received to a newcomer
 
I used to think that compressing the whole mix was a must to get that gelled "as one" sound, but i have realised that it is the mixing that acheives this gelled sound. So i dont bother compressing my mix. I cant really hear a difference in the uncompressed to compressed anyway!!
 
ecktronic said:
I cant really hear a difference in the uncompressed to compressed anyway!!
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That's the idea, at least if you're compressing it correctly. Of course, if you don't trust your ears to understand the difference then that's a different story all together....
 
RhythmRmixd said:
Of course, if you don't trust your ears to understand the difference then that's a different story all together....
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Ooooh! Ow! And I'm not even a Scotsman!
 
RhythmRmixd said:
That's the idea, at least if you're compressing it correctly. Of course, if you don't trust your ears to understand the difference then that's a different story all together....
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So your saying the point is not to be able to hear a difference. So why do it then!!!!!!!!!
 
ecktronic said:
So your saying the point is not to be able to hear a difference. So why do it then!!!!!!!!!
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Well, yes and no. To somebody who understands (and I'm not saying I'm an expert on this in any way) how compression works, how the attack, release, ratio, etc. control the punchiness and pumping type effects, then they will know if what they're doing is helping or hurting the original signal. When I said you shouldn't be able to hear the difference, I meant you shouldn't actually be hearing the compressor itself working as the material is playing. The difference should be subtle enough so the compression improves the sound, but not so it's noticeable. And any Joe Schmoe (someone who doesn't mix music) listening to the mix in their car stereo wouldn't notice anyway, cause they wouldn't know what compression sounds like in the first place!

A good experiment would be to overcompress something you've mixed, and listen to whats going on. Then bring the overall compression level down, and listen to how it changes the sound.
 
RhythmRmixd, do you think that a plug-in like Waves R-comp could actually produce an effect of more punchiness on a mix? ( to a decent degree)
I understand what a compressor does and how it works with the attack and release times.
 
ecktronic said:
RhythmRmixd, do you think that a plug-in like Waves R-comp could actually produce an effect of more punchiness on a mix? ( to a decent degree)
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I don't have experience with the Waves Renissance stuff, but I imagine any compressor, used properly, could add a bit of punch on an overall mix. And, of course, different compressors alter the sound in different ways. I used a software multiband compressor on a mix the other night to one of my rap/hip hop instrumentals, and was doing an A/B comparison with it on/off while the mix was playing back. It was noticeably better with it on (I think I'm finally getting the hang of this!), but not TOO noticeable. It cleaned up my mids and highs and seemed to give that area a little more clarity, which is something in the past I didn't think a compressor was used for. I guess the point is, don't over-do it, because no compression is better than too much compression any day of the week, IMOO.
 
johnny j said:
i dont know if im in the right section for this advice i need but no doubt you'll let me know

i have a yamaha MD8 and were ready to transfer some songs onto a regular MD player, from this i'll put it onto a CD.
Click to expand...
Let's back up to this for a second... Why are you sticking an MD player in there? You know MD players use lossy data compression, right? You're hurting your sound.
 
Inspired said:
So how do you put compression on an entire mix? Specifically using Cakewalk's Sonar 2.0XL...
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Ive never used Sonar, but im guessing that you would import your stereo mix to a stereo track and any plugins that you add on that chanel will effect it.
 
have you asked yourself... what is the purpose of this? if it already sounds good, don't try to fix it. why are you compressing it? do you want it louder? you should use compression as an effect to make an instrument sound better and more even, but not to make anything louder/gel together.
 
Cheers RhythmRmixd, i put up two samples for folk to try and work out which one is compressed and which one is not compressed. Should be a bit of fun. I made sure the volumes were pretty much the same so that nothing apart from the compression effect could affect folks judgement. My ears arent trained enough yet but im sure i can hear a difference in the mix with compression. The thread is in the MP3 section. You can also just click on my link at the bottom.
 
johnny j said:
it did say if possible to "compress through the stereo bus" (i think that was the wording) but i dont know how to do this. at the rear of the unit theres a stereo out and a monitor out so i cant see how to compress the whole thing
can anyone advise on how to compress the overall sound, is it necessary even? any thoughts gratefully received to a newcomer
Click to expand...

1. putting it in the chain the way you intended will work, and be the same as "compress through the stereo bus". same thing.

2. 2:1, quick attack, quick-to-medium release, 3 db of gain reduction = ballpark

3. no it is not necessary. it is an effect like eq.
 
FALKEN said:
1. putting it in the chain the way you intended will work, and be the same as "compress through the stereo bus". same thing.

2. 2:1, quick attack, quick-to-medium release, 3 db of gain reduction = ballpark

3. no it is not necessary. it is an effect like eq.
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That is practically the settings i used for my samples at the link at the bottom excpet for 3dB gain reduction. Why reduce when you obviously want to make up the gain lost from compressing?
2=ballpark??!!??!! no comprende.
 
ecktronic said:
That is practically the settings i used for my samples at the link at the bottom excpet for 3dB gain reduction. Why reduce when you obviously want to make up the gain lost from compressing?
2=ballpark??!!??!! no comprende.
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= ballpark means these settings should put you in the ballpark. if you do not reduce than you are not compressing anything!! so you put 3 db of gain reduction, and 3 db of makeup. comprende?
 
Ah so you mean those settings will give 3dB of gain reduction, so you have to add 3dB of gain so as not to get any sound degredation. What about the threshold, surely it has alot to do with how much the gain is reduced?
 
ecktronic said:
Ah so you mean those settings will give 3dB of gain reduction, so you have to add 3dB of gain so as not to get any sound degredation. What about the threshold, surely it has alot to do with how much the gain is reduced?
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exactly. start with those settings and adjust the threshold until you have 3 db of gain reduction. my bad. should have said that.

if your'e trying to sound like green day or something really in your face, set it for 12 db of gain reduction and play with the release. heh, heh.
 
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