Compressor Confusion. It still hasn't ended#@!!#@*#

[frank_1]

--Thanks for responding to my other compression posts. But can you answer these questions. Hope their not too confusing.

Compression is getting confusing. I have a few questions in mind; I have a Tascam 414mkII portastudio that I record on. I am a one man band, so I use a drum machine (Alesis SR-16).

Now my problem with bass is that the peaks get too high and them jumps down too low, so I guess compression should be used on bass. But what kind of unit; Stomp box pedal or a rackmount? I already have a guitar compressor pedal to use, should I skip that and go for rackmount? I don't have a lot of money, and I am not a professional so I would like to spend very little, but of course I don't want a junk sound either!

I don't think my drum machine needs to be compressed, right? What about my guitar, I use a distortion pedal 90% of my playing. Should I use compression or will that take away my distortion?

Finally the most important question. Above I am talking about using compression from, instrument > to compressor > to recorder. But the question is, during mastering would it be wise to use compression over the whole song, before it gets recorded on my cassette deck. Or should I just use compression for individual tracks?

 

[bvaleria]

Now my problem with bass is that the peaks get too high and them jumps down too low, so I guess compression should be used on bass. But what kind of unit; Stomp box pedal or a rackmount? I already have a guitar compressor pedal to use, should I skip that and go for rackmount? I don't have a lot of money, and I am not a professional so I would like to spend very little, but of course I don't want a junk sound either!
You can use a stomp box, but they tend to have a negative effect on sound quality, plus extraneous noise.... I'd go for a rack-mount... like maybe the RNC


I don't think my drum machine needs to be compressed, right? What about my guitar, I use a distortion pedal 90% of my playing. Should I use compression or will that take away my distortion?
Clean guitar sounds usually require a little compression, but dirty signals are essentially already compressed enough (due to the nature of them being distorted!)


Finally the most important question. Above I am talking about using compression from, instrument > to compressor > to recorder. But the question is, during mastering would it be wise to use compression over the whole song, before it gets recorded on my cassette deck. Or should I just use compression for individual tracks?
Use compression on individual tracks only when needed. Compressing an entire mix makes sense when going to tape to get the levels as far away from the tapes' noise floor as possible, but use it sparingly...

Check out Ed (sonusman) and Shailat's excellent article on using compression here: http://www.Geocities.com/Shailat2000/


Bruce

 

[KingNothing]

Hey Bruce. Ok. I have a question about your last statment. I dont own a compressor. I dont know how I have recorded or done much without one...not very well I guess. Anways, you said that most clean guitar needs a little compression. Are you talking the guitar itself or the microphone signal of the guitar?

 

[bvaleria]

Not sure I understand what you mean by "the guitar itself"? If you mean a DI'd signal - then the answer is "it depends". If you record a guitar DI (intending to re-amp it later) then you don't touch the signal with ANY effect (so that it's a true representation of the guitar performance to be run into the amp later). If it's DI'd like from a POD or similar, then yes you may need a small amount of compression to tame some of the peaks (slightly!)

On a close-mic'd amp, you generally need a SMALL amount, on a room-mic'd amp, you may not need it at all.

Keep in mind I said "GENERALLY" - before you touch the compressor, use your ears to determine if you really need one! If a track doesn't seem to sit evenly in a mix and keeps "jumping out at you from time to time", it probably could use a bit of compression. The key is using it sparingly...

King - you said you've gotten by without a compressor. That's fine - your ears may have been telling you that nothing was needed!!

Bruce

 

[enemyofthesun]

for bass just buy a TECH 21 'Bass Compactor'. It is a very high quality compression pedal that is designed specifically for the bass. It also has a feature to add more presence to your sound. It runs about $99.