Compression Question

G

guinsu

Member
I've got a specific compression question, not a "what plugin to use" one. I saw this article:

http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/0/b425578c027460898625661000745390?OpenDocument

I wanted to use the technique to take a mushy guitar with too much gain and use a compressor with a longer attack to make the track stand out a little more (its a demo, can't fix the tracking problem now). On the track I am mixing the bass is a little lost as well, due to the bassists tone. I was thinking of trying the same technique to get the attack of the bass to jump out more and make the line more audible. My question is, will using the same compression technique on two separate tracks interfere with each other? Will adding more attack to 1 panned guitar and the bass cause them to just get lost again?
 
Just haven't gone down to the basement to try it, I was planning ahead to what I'd do tonight, figured I'd see if it was a good idea or if there was a better one.
 
Yeah, ol' Rip doesn't know what the heck he's talking about, :)

I'm kidding, of course.

Compressor are dynamics controllers- just because the most common use it to even out volume differences, they are just as capable of *creating* volume differences. This is somewhat advanced use of compression, but GO FOR IT! This is a critical technique to learn if you want to mix well.

Getting the settings right is the key and you have no choice but to use your ears. Here's how I do it- let's say on a bass that I want to level out and add some attack to (like Rip did with the guitar in that article.)

1) Patch in the compressor.
2) Set the ratio somewhere around 3:1 - 6:1
3) Set the attack to its fastest setting
4) Set the release to about the middle of its range.
5) Then adjust the threshold and make-up gain put the average level of the bass where I want it. (Gotta listen! Not worried about the attack, yet- just listening for overall loudness)
6) Raise the attack until I hear the initial punch of the bass coming through. There is a sweet spot in there somewhere when the attack value is in time with the song. Gotta listen, again.
7) Move the release around a bit till its also in time with the song. Usually its pretty short: I like relatively natural note decays and I want the compressor to have fully released by the beginning of the next note. Occasionally it works on bass to set the release longer and it time with the song, but that's more common on drums.

Anway, DO play around with shaping the attack on your tracks. You can't always polish a turd and sometimes there is just no hope for the mushy guitar track (i.e trying to amplify attack transients that just arn't there) but you can almost always get it to sound *better*

Have fun,
Chris
 
Oh, I wasn't questioning whether the technique was any good, I just was wondering if it was bad to do this to several tracks in a recording, if it would lose the effect basically.
 
Chris Shaeffer said:
Yeah, ol' Rip doesn't know what the heck he's talking about, :)

I'm kidding, of course.

Compressor are dynamics controllers- just because the most common use it to even out volume differences, they are just as capable of *creating* volume differences. This is somewhat advanced use of compression, but GO FOR IT! This is a critical technique to learn if you want to mix well.

Getting the settings right is the key and you have no choice but to use your ears. Here's how I do it- let's say on a bass that I want to level out and add some attack to (like Rip did with the guitar in that article.)

1) Patch in the compressor.
2) Set the ratio somewhere around 3:1 - 6:1
3) Set the attack to its fastest setting
4) Set the release to about the middle of its range.
5) Then adjust the threshold and make-up gain put the average level of the bass where I want it. (Gotta listen! Not worried about the attack, yet- just listening for overall loudness)
6) Raise the attack until I hear the initial punch of the bass coming through. There is a sweet spot in there somewhere when the attack value is in time with the song. Gotta listen, again.
7) Move the release around a bit till its also in time with the song. Usually its pretty short: I like relatively natural note decays and I want the compressor to have fully released by the beginning of the next note. Occasionally it works on bass to set the release longer and it time with the song, but that's more common on drums.

Anway, DO play around with shaping the attack on your tracks. You can't always polish a turd and sometimes there is just no hope for the mushy guitar track (i.e trying to amplify attack transients that just arn't there) but you can almost always get it to sound *better*

Have fun,
Chris
Click to expand...

Hey, this was very good! It cleared up some things for me and gave me a handle on my bottom end. It really helped a lot. Thanks!
 
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