Cheapo nano compressor for Kick drum?

[undrgrnd studio]

OK so I just picked up a nanocompressor for $20. I was thinking of placing it in my bass drum chain. Right now the two worst parts of my setup are the bass guitar and bass drum. The bass guitar is going through crappy art tube mp, and the kick is going through a crappy bellari MP105. Yes I know how bad that is. I hate both of them. Often times I'll put the bass through my Art MPA Gold and a symetrix 525 compressor. But for quick recording I have everything setup to go at nearly the push pf the record button. So I was thinking of taking the nano compressor and putting it behind the bellari MP105 and leaving it there. This will save me a step, usually I compress the kick later with software.

Thoughts?

 

[Simman]

OK so I just picked up a nanocompressor for $20. I was thinking of placing it in my bass drum chain. Right now the two worst parts of my setup are the bass guitar and bass drum. The bass guitar is going through crappy art tube mp, and the kick is going through a crappy bellari MP105. Yes I know how bad that is. I hate both of them. Often times I'll put the bass through my Art MPA Gold and a symetrix 525 compressor. But for quick recording I have everything setup to go at nearly the push pf the record button. So I was thinking of taking the nano compressor and putting it behind the bellari MP105 and leaving it there. This will save me a step, usually I compress the kick later with software.

Thoughts?

Ok, I'll bite; Why

Not knowing what the rest of your setup looks like (more info might help) I'm not sure why you'd even want a nanocompressor especially if you have software compressors available. Even free plug-ins are better than that. The Symetrix is not bad but you can get better compressors as plug-ins.

I usually don't compress on the way in and have never saw the need to do so (but that's just me). Therefore, I'd just use plug-ins and use the nano as a coaster for my coffee cup.

Not sue I gave you any good advise but you did only asked for some thoughts

 

[undrgrnd studio]

Well I got it for $20 and I figured it would save me some time and RAM from compressing later. I'll see what it sounds like later. My rig is basically a Delta 1010 with a beefy PC using Audition 3 Pres are Art Gold MPA, DMP3, Rane M1, and three cheesy preamps. Stereo Symetrix 525 comp. Mics: AT4040, M Audio Luna, M Audio Nova, SP B1, 3 Sm 57s, and a bunch of instruments and toys. And a pathcbay of course.

 

[undrgrnd studio]

Well I went ahead and gave it a try. It was barely even noticeable actually, but it did reduce a bit of the highs and initial punch of the kick. All I really want this thing to do is act as a limiter because I get a lot of pops and clicks on my kick. What I really need is a dedicated kick mic instead of the sm57 I use, and a good mic pre. But first I need a better drum kit, oh well.

 

[witzendoz]

Didn't notice it?

Try Fast attack, slowish release ratio 8:1 or more, set it to peak, hard knee.

Can you hear it now? Yes? Then experiment with it.

Cheers

Alan.

 

[dintymoore]

Well I went ahead and gave it a try. It was barely even noticeable actually, but it did reduce a bit of the highs and initial punch of the kick. All I really want this thing to do is act as a limiter because I get a lot of pops and clicks on my kick. What I really need is a dedicated kick mic instead of the sm57 I use, and a good mic pre. But first I need a better drum kit, oh well.

I actually think that it's a good idea. Used properly you probably can get good results with it.

My standard fare for compressors is ratio to infinite (limiter), attack = fast and release = fast. Do that and slowly lower the threshold and stop where it sounds good. It's signal strength dependent, turning up the input signal is the same as lowering the threshold.