Compression

[StarMan]

I have a couple tracks done, mixed with some effects such as reverb. One of the tracks is purely acoustic guitars, two rhythm parts panned left and right and a melody centered. I have added slight flanger to left acoustic also as part of my aural vision (for want of better word) now I need know do I compress each track and then bounce them down into one track ready for mastering? Or do I bounce all the tracks into one stereo track and compress? If I do that, isn't that really part of mastering process? I've never compressed before so am learning how to do this.

 

[bassman1441]

Sending the tracks to a stereo bus is more of something that you would do live when you are limited on the amount of gear you have. Ex. You maybe have 4 vocals but not enough compressors so you could assign the vocals to a subgroup and then use the insert for that sub group to compress all the vocals. Its not ideal since you don't have as much control as compressor each one individually.

In your case I would do compression on each individual track since then you get ultimate control over each guitar.

 

[Massive Master]

Only *you* know if the tracks even need compression. And if they do, only *you* know what sort of settings are necessary to get the sound you want. No one can tell you what settings to use -- You need to experiment and learn the tool, then you'll know what settings you need.

 

[bassman1441]

Only *you* know if the tracks even need compression. And if they do, only *you* know what sort of settings are necessary to get the sound you want. No one can tell you what settings to use -- You need to experiment and learn the tool, then you'll know what settings you need.

I knew I forgot to say something in my post
+1

 

[soundchaser59]

The best way I can think of to describe it is this.....

You can see the compressor working on the meter (assuming your compressor has a meter) before you can really hear it working. I think that if (like John says) your track really does *need* a compressor, then the compressor should be seen and not heard.

Adjust the compressor only enough so that you can see it working on the meter taming your spikes in the signal. Then, if the parameters are set right, you will see it working but you wont really hear the difference.....and in my opinion you should not hear it working. If you have to set it so that you can hear it working in order to make your track usable, then you will get better results in the end if you re-record your track.

The most over used and most offensive knob on the compressor is, imo, the attack knob.

The best way is to record the track so that you dont need to use a compressor in the mixing. But that's not easy to do for most of us ordinary home recording types.....

 

[ido1957]

Compression is probably one of the harder things to guage, too much and it can take away some of the dynamics and add mush. Too little and things pop out of the mix (if you're not automating). What compressor are you considering?

 

[StarMan]

I'm using Audiocation Compressor plugin, very cool. Obviously I use the mono setting for indivdual tracks and the stereo setting for grouped tracks? Sorry just getting used to using the compressor.
I have tried using compressor on acoustics and it does sound better, Im using one of the defaults, 15ms (attack) 75 ms (release) -10db (threshold, 2db (soft knee and 6 db (output gain. And ratio of 4:1.

Soundchaser:Your right, the needle moves but what I hear is subtle and bit louder which is exactly what I want. I chose this plugin based on your opinion about having a needle based compressor.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

You can use it on each individual track. But sometimes I like to put the compressor on a guitar bus to get them "glued" together. It can kinda give them all one feel. Compression on individual tracks is more of a dynamic thing for me when recording, and on a bus it's more of an effect and helps them all sit nicely. Be careful of getting a pumping sound when "glueing" tracks, that is something I overdo all the time.

All settings are VERY subjective and up to you as an engineer. You could try something like attack 100ms, release 350ms, ratio 3:1 or less, and threshold to taste on a bus. That's what I've found as a decent starting point for my acoustics.

 

[StarMan]

Thanks Aaron, that helps. BTW, in regards to my question about whether I choose a mono or stereo setting for group tracks???

 

[bouldersoundguy]

The best way I can think of to describe it is this.....

You can see the compressor working on the meter (assuming your compressor has a meter) before you can really hear it working. I think that if (like John says) your track really does *need* a compressor, then the compressor should be seen and not heard.

I wouldn't limit my use of a compressor that way. I always hear what the compressors I apply are doing, at least by comparison to the un-compressed sound. I think what you're trying to say is the result should sound natural and good to the casual listener.

Adjust the compressor only enough so that you can see it working on the meter taming your spikes in the signal.

You've just described a peak limiter. Not all compression is peak limiting.

The most over used and most offensive knob on the compressor is, imo, the attack knob.

The attack knob should be set properly every time a compressor is inserted on a signal. It's not there for decoration. I can't even imagine how one would "over use" an attack control, but I'm open to enlightenment.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Thanks Aaron, that helps. BTW, in regards to my question about whether I choose a mono or stereo setting for group tracks???

If you want the bus signal to stay stereo then use the stereo plugin.

 

[aaronmcoleman]

set up the bus in as as stereo track, and send the three guitar tracks to that. Choose a compressor that is stereo. If in doubt, throw a compressor on there and listen to see if your panned guitars are still panned, and your centered one is still centered. If you use a mono compressor you'll be able to hear that everything has moved to the middle.

Also, I'm not sure how familiar you are with buses, or with routing in general, but here are a couple of tips. First, if you want the bus to control the entire sound (which i think you do), make sure the individual tracks are not being sent to the master track as well otherwise you will have the three individual tracks (uncompressd) and one stereo track with the compressions. Sometimes this is nice with things like reverb so you can mix the dry and wet signals, but in your case I'd think you'd want to have the bus control the whole thing. So it should look like: individual mono/stereo tracks -> stereo bus (compress) -> master tracks.

Or second, you could keep all three going to the master, and also send to the bus, and mix the signals to get a blended sound. This may be too much info, but you can then compress it a bit harder and mix the compressed signal and uncompressed to get a nice sound. I've rarely done this, but it may be what sounds nice for you on something someday. So this would look like: 1) Individual tracks -> master, and 2) individual tracks -> bus (compress) - > master.