CW FX pack Dynamic processor.

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Freudian Slip

Freudian Slip

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CW FX pack dynamic processor? First of all if you use it, or have do you think it is worth a shit?
If you feel you have good sucess and are able to use it for making a mixed down song loud I would love it if you could post a snap shot of the settings you use.

I know it is taboo to ask for settings on a compressor, but I am not looking for individual track compression setting. I think I am getting a pretty good mix. I have shown it to couple pros one of which I used in the past and they thought the mix was good (maybe trying not to hurt my feelings?:)) any way what I am after is to make my mix louder over all. I would like to bring up the lower sections a little and flatten the top off. I am testing different settings but this thing seems to be pretty picky.

I would love any help

F.S.
 
You need a limiter not a compressor. A single or multi-band limiter (better) will boost your signal and maintain a 0db brick wall. A good one will do this almost transparently.
 
the dbmultiband is awesome for that.
there's also the loudness maximizer by steinberg, which is pretty good. it does what the normalizer function does, but without so many artifacts, and it adds a little more bottom end. it's quite transparent, but so are most software limiters.
i use the cake fx dynamics processor often, but i have never used it for the whole mix, but you could try and set it up like a limiter, if you don't have a limiter (which you should have, if you've got cakewalk fx 1).

adriano
 
Here's what I can offer

You can use the CW FX plugin to boost the level on an overall mix, and I would learn how to do that before even conidering getting tangled up in a multi-band compressor. You really should be pretty confident with a normal compressor before going there.

Here's the thing: it's probably quick transients that are keeping your mix from getting very loud before distortion (i.e. snare drum hits and such). The idea is to limit those transients so you can get the main body of your wave form up to a decent level.

Thus, you need a quick attack time. Otherwise those transients are gone before your compressor ever kicks in. Just to begin with, adjust your attack all the way to its quickest setting (01 ms?) You can try using a quick release as well (50 ms?) Then look at your wave form and decide where the main body of the wave form ends, and all that rises above that are the quick transients, maybe somewhere around -4 db. Set your threshold there. Then set the ratio to infinity:1. Use "peak" detection method. THe "peak" option is only availabe when you use the "Dynamics Processor" instance of FX, I think.

With these settings, nothing will go beyond -4db, period. To help you understand what you're doing, you should apply the effect offline so you can see the result on the wave form, and then undo. THat way you can see exactly what you're doing and experiment. Once you've followed the above steps, you will see that your wave is now "brick wall" limited at -4 db...and that means you now have headroom to raise the volume of your entire mix without distorting.

However, compressing creates its own artifacts. These instructions are really just a tutorial to help you understand what you need to do. Use your ears, experiment with attack and release times, as well as ratios, etc etc etc.

Hope this helps,
Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com
 
Thank You. Thank you!

Thanks you very much guys!:)
I have been applying the processor to a track next to an uneffected duplicate track to messure results. It makes perfect sense to limit the peaks on seperate tracks, but I was trying to work with a already done mix. I am seeing that I can not do that. The problem I have been having is trying to use the dyn. proc. on the whole mix without getting a breathing effect or messing up the mix. Most of the problem is in messing up the mix. I am compressing the bass in it's own track, but I will move to the drums and give it a shot.

Once again thanks for the advice!

F.S.
 
I think Aaron gave an excellent explanation. If I could respond to one comment, I've never considered using multiband limiting "tangled up", it really depends on the interface. Some are fiercely complex, I agree. The tool I use from db has a super clean interface yet still gives you low-level control. It has enough presets that one can quickly get in the neighboorhood and then tweak from there. I couldn't imagine going back to a single band tool again.

FS if you are working with a finished mix you are happy with consider throwing a mastering limiter on the output bus.
 
Master limiter & multi band comp

I have tried the master limiter and not had much sucess. I think mostly due to signal spikes like Aaron was talking about.

I my self am very interested in multi band effect processing. Not just compression, but I had thought about using my crossover to seperate frequencies for use with a delay, panning, and many other things. When I heard about ozone I thought how cool, and I'll be damned! It makes alot of sence to me, but I have a long way to go. It also seems and I am sure it is true multi band compression has a lot more ability to screw with your mix. Because of this I am coming to the conclusion that almost all compression should be done on individual tracks.


Well I has a whole lot of experementation (I am sure I spelled that wrong) to do yet. Thank you for all the advise.


F.S.
 
if you compress individual tracks, you shouldn't really need to use anything more than light compression for the whole mix.
limiting is safer though if you want to just get overall levels up, and bring highest peaks down.
multiband is great, and the db pack sounds great and has very usable presets.
something i just tried was using gadget labs wavewarm on a whole mix, and it sounds great because it simulates tape limiting, plus it warms the sound with convincing results.

adriano
 
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