I haven't been using compression enough.

  • Thread starter Thread starter HangDawg
  • Start date Start date
bdemenil said:
I don't think compression is that necessary on vocals. Much of the problematic dynamics can be fixed with a volume envelope. So compression on vocals should be more an issue of changing sonic character of the track - and bringing out sibilance.
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i disagree. who has THAT much time?!
 
aak. It depends on the track. Some tracks can be nicely evened out with compression, and then why not? I'm personally working on a song where no matter how much I compressed the vocal, I still needed to automate the volume for every single syllable to even it out. At least, for certain sections. I just need to teach that singer some proper mic technique I guess. He gets pretty over-sensitive sometimes though. Recording yourself can be a bitch.
 
i disagree. who has THAT much time?!
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That's one reason so much music is badly produced - tracks churned out of the factory like cheap watches.
 
bdemenil said:
That's one reason so much music is badly produced - tracks churned out of the factory like cheap watches.
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think so? what did they do before these new fangled automation envelopes?
 
just saying, that sounds very tedious. i just slap an la2a on, turn the knobs straight up and down, and it sounds awesome!!!
 
I don't think over-compression is nescessarily a bad thing - if you've got great gear that alters the sound in an attractive kinda way and you know what you're doing and what you're after. I don't know what you guys are using, but I'm always afraid to push the compression too hard when since I'm only using software plugins.
 
I tracked a band last weeked.

Drummer>> So consistent with his hits that the only thing that needed compression was the kick (which i replaced anyways) and of course the overheads. As for the kit (minus the cymbals ) i like to use parallel compression.

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/4706/0

Bass player>>Bassplaying in my mind invariably needs to be compressed to some degree. For rock i like it to pump.

Guitar players>> I fiddeled with thier tones amd pedal volumes for hours to get them consistent Before I tracked Them. Not a single need for compression after that. Note that these were both tube heads, which allready did most of the compression for me.

Singer>>> I used bagoogles of compression AND limiting on him just to keep it all in check. Plus some reverb.

Now i tracked a band two weekends ago....Watch this../.

Drummer>>This fella hit his drums SOO inconsistently that the coolest tricks, replacement, compression, whatever i tried didnt work. He basicly ruined the demo with his super crappy playing!

iD MENTION THE OTHER MEMBERS BUT WHATS THE POINT!?



You get good players on your recordings and all of a sudden compression starts to make sense. If not you may just be compressing a turd, which no matter how flat you squash, is still a turd.

On another note....

What compresser are you using most of the time Hangdawg?
Whats everyone else using for most of thier compression duties?
Im using DBX 166's for outboard, and for plugs i use the UAD, and Waves stuff Oh and my secret weapon for rock vocals is the PSP VW.
Also my other secret wepaon for drum submixes is the Mcdsp Analog Channel.

-Finster
 
I'm a very big fan of using the volume envelopes to correct any unbalanced volumes. I just think if you do that tedious work instead of compression, it has always sounded more "open" to me. I'm not an expert, but I'm just saying it works for me. I think compression is excellent for percussive instruments...but even then, be careful and keep in mind what type of sound you're looking for. I compared my old recordings to my new ones the other day. The old ones where recorded with only eq, and no compression. For some reason the drums actually sounded much more lively. They were more open and realistic than compressed drums. So basically, it all comes down to what type of sound you are looking for. If it's a realistic sound, you'd be better off just tediously tweeking the volume envelopes all over the place. However, if you like the "newer", "louder", almost "over-compressed" sound that you hear today, then use compression on your overall mix. Like everyone else has said, there's no real rule.

personally...rather than compressing the over all mix, I prefer just attaching a limiter plug in to certain grouped channels. For instance, group the snare, toms, and bass drum all on one channel with a limiter on them. This will "control" the percussive sounds without damaging the quality and dynamics of cymbals, or vocals.
 
xfinsterx said:
What compresser are you using most of the time Hangdawg?
Whats everyone else using for most of thier compression duties?
Im using DBX 166's for outboard, and for plugs i use the UAD, and Waves stuff Oh and my secret weapon for rock vocals is the PSP VW.
Also my other secret wepaon for drum submixes is the Mcdsp Analog Channel.

-Finster
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I use the waves comps. Like you said about good players and compression starts to make sense. Well that's what I've been saying. These guys are good and I'm not using compression to try and fix anything. I tracked it pretty well too. The compression I'm doing is helping the mix by making everything sit better. It just took more than I thought to accomplish that. I have been always afraid of over doing it. This time, I went heavier than usual and it works.
 
I tend to at least lightly compress everything if it's rock music. Metal needs more compression than that.

Since getting McDSP Analog Channel I find I'm using a little less compression on drums because I can get that "fat" sound by overdriving AC1 into the red for kick and snare, and slamming that onto the AC2 tape emulation.

Granted I'm still getting "compression" but it's the change of character and texture that I was looking for.

If you want a killer snare take something like a Bomb Factory BF76 and crank the input gain. Make sure to gate the snare beforehand or you'll have some extremely disgusting sounding high hat/cymbal bleed.

Makes a hell of a wallop though.
 
I love compression on vocals, drums, bass and light on guitar. For vox it is a must for me. It brings out their breathing, and the subtleties of their voice. I don't squash the crap out of vox, but I used to when I didn't know better. Now I go about 6:1 ratio with a thresh of 15 on average. But it really varies for each take. I just know when I got it right and I leave it.
 
KSP8 compressor sounds good on drums - better than any of the plugs I've tried. Maybe I'd like compression more if I was using better compressors.
 
stash98 said:
I love compression on vocals, drums, bass and light on guitar. For vox it is a must for me. It brings out their breathing, and the subtleties of their voice. I don't squash the crap out of vox, but I used to when I didn't know better. Now I go about 6:1 ratio with a thresh of 15 on average. But it really varies for each take. I just know when I got it right and I leave it.
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6:1? Wow. For vocals that seems pretty squished. I'm usually around 2:1 or 4:1 max.

Hey, whatever works though.
 
Yeah, whatever works for you is cool, but I was thinking 6:1 isn't what I'd call "a little" compression. But I guess that all depends on the threshold and how much gain reduction it's producing.
 
Cloneboy Studio said:
I tend to at least lightly compress everything if it's rock music. Metal needs more compression than that.
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And here I think we're getting closer to The Truth (not that there's only one. ;) )

Talking about how much compression one uses without talking about what type of music is like talking about how much salt to put on your food without talking about what kind of food you're eating. Just as someone who is eating Sugar Frosted Chocolate Bombs cereal would probably have trouble with the idea of pouring on the salt on his food, someone working mostly with jazz quartets would probably have real trouble with the idea of laying on the thick compression.

Metal takes compression much better than other music genres, and audible compression is often part of the basic Metal recipe. If he has been taking the generic advice, "beware of compression, people overdo it these days" - which is mostly referring to an ugly trend in pop mastering - and applying it to mixing metal, it's perfectly understandable how he could actually have been undercompressing his recordings until now. And conversely, his cathartic revalation that He Needs More Compression should probably not be taken too close to heart by the guy recording a local orchestral performance.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
If he has been taking the generic advice, "beware of compression, people overdo it these days" - which is mostly referring to an ugly trend in pop mastering - and applying it to mixing metal, it's perfectly understandable how he could actually have been undercompressing his recordings until now. And conversely, his cathartic revalation that He Needs More Compression should probably not be taken too close to heart by the guy recording a local orchestral performance.
G.
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That's exactly it. That's what I have been doing. Lesson learned I guess.
 
how's glen only have one rep point (not that they mean crap)
i see him give a lot of solid, and concise advice.
 
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