Multiband compression

[grinder]

Are there any situations where multiband compression would be used on a single track/instrument?

 

[kylen]

Hi grinder,
I'll jump in here and say that I'd probably think about using one if I had a multi-octave instrument that needs to either fit in the mix better or simply needs to be re-balanced a bit on a solo piece.

Some things like:
a piano - many octaves, potential for bass, mids and himids at the same time.

a snapin poppin bass guitar where there's bass, mids, himids all happening at the same time.

stereo submix of a drum kit with kick thru cymbol octave ranges.

I guess anything that can have many notes happening at the same time that span more than a couple of octaves in the bass, lomid, and himid range is my first thought.

Another thought would be if you've picked up some bass or lomid resonances that you need to fix 'in the mix' (oops bad one!). That's another example of re-balancing a track using dynamics I guess.

kyle

 

[mixsit]

I want to try it as a pseudo dynamic eq on some vocals that don't set right.
Wayne

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Grinding One:

Try micing the vocal into a good mic pre, then into an RNC compressor -- you will be surprised at what you can do.

Green Hornet

 

[Bass Jas]

I would think if you have the luxury and the equip. to do it, use it on everything, esp. bass, vocals, and kick. Not in that order, unless you are recording heavy dirty guitar, which it would be a godsend and paramount.
Green, I think you responded to mixsit, not grinder. Grinder, most times mutiband is used for mastering, what are you looking to do? When you arrive at your best mix, you then send it to a mastering house which monitors the full spectrum and applies compression to necessary bands of eq that are out of control. Need more info on what you want to accomplish. And ofcourse not to insult your intelligence on that "this is what it's used for" part of my post.
J

 

[grinder]

Green, I think you responded to mixsit, not grinder. Grinder, most times mutiband is used for mastering, what are you looking to do? When you arrive at your best mix, you then send it to a mastering house which monitors the full spectrum and applies compression to necessary bands of eq that are out of control. Need more info on what you want to accomplish.
J

I'm not looking to do anything, really.Just curious as to uses for multiband other than mastering.Just looking for tricks of the trade.Maybe a special situation where someone used a multiband to save a track, that's all.

 

[starch]

I think kylen explained well.

The only time I would use multi-band comp on a single track is if it is a multi octave sound (piano, vox, guitar) where I would want to control a certain frequency band, but not eliminate it. If I am having low-mid freq problems with a vocal, and I want to tame those frequencies, but not eliminate them with eq, I might think of a multiband comp.

Maybe, I am a slow learner, but multiband comp was much more difficult to learn to hear than typical comp. So it took me some time to use it based on what I was hearing.

 

[Bass Jas]

Amen Starch, learning everyday here. I would think it is most usefull on single tracks if you are mixing a project from a diff studio that might be sub-par, like the one I operate.

 

[chessrock]

I use a multi-band compressor on tons of shit.

Especially bass guitar. God, does it ever do the trick on bass if you use it right.

I use one on drum overheads every time without exception. I set a low band to reduce the kick drum significantly from the overheads. I set another somewheres in the midband to help reduce the "thwonk" of the snare hits and get them tighter. And I set another high band to reduce cymbal crash impact and to tame bright cymbals.

I use 'em on vocals all the time to cure sibilance, plosives, and to help them sit better in the mix. Also when I want to control dynamics with minimal color / artifacts.

 

[grinder]

Yeah, that's the kind of info I was looking for.Why are you using it on bass, is it because of boomy or uneven notes that eq can't help?Any tips for using it on bass?Thanks, Grinder

I use a multi-band compressor on tons of shit.

Especially bass guitar. God, does it ever do the trick on bass if you use it right.

I use one on drum overheads every time without exception. I set a low band to reduce the kick drum significantly from the overheads. I set another somewheres in the midband to help reduce the "thwonk" of the snare hits and get them tighter. And I set another high band to reduce cymbal crash impact and to tame bright cymbals.

I use 'em on vocals all the time to cure sibilance, plosives, and to help them sit better in the mix. Also when I want to control dynamics with minimal color / artifacts.