Multiband Compression

  • Thread starter Thread starter AMcB
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Multiband comps are great tools for fixing certain things.

As de-essers or as a de-popper for vocals.

A de-popper / de-scrapers on bass guitar tracks.

Or to help smooth out some harsh cymbal crashes in an overhead or drum submix.

Anything where sudden dynamic spikes occur in a track that are moreless frequency specific, or concentrated somehow in a narrow frequency range.

Now as to the whole notion of using them on a final mix ... I don't personally get the utility. I believe it started moreless out of necessity for use in brodcast and radio. But somehow it's evolved in to a means of squashing every last ounce of dynamics as a mastering tool.

Very generally speaking, if there isn't something glaring that needs to be fixed with it ... then I wouldn't advocate using it. In the wrong circumstance, it can can act an instant "suck knob," basically. And deceivingly so ... it can mess with your perspective and cause you to make poor decisions that aren't immediately obvious. I would never advocate any "destructive" use of it, and would recommend giving the ears a long rest with some A/B comparisons (with and without) before committing to anything.

:D
 
Daisy said:
Multiband comps are great tools for fixing certain things.

As de-essers or as a de-popper for vocals.

A de-popper / de-scrapers on bass guitar tracks.

Or to help smooth out some harsh cymbal crashes in an overhead or drum submix.

Anything where sudden dynamic spikes occur in a track that are moreless frequency specific, or concentrated somehow in a narrow frequency range.

Now as to the whole notion of using them on a final mix ... I don't personally get the utility. I believe it started moreless out of necessity for use in brodcast and radio. But somehow it's evolved in to a means of squashing every last ounce of dynamics as a mastering tool.

Very generally speaking, if there isn't something glaring that needs to be fixed with it ... then I wouldn't advocate using it. In the wrong circumstance, it can can act an instant "suck knob," basically. And deceivingly so ... it can mess with your perspective and cause you to make poor decisions that aren't immediately obvious. I would never advocate any "destructive" use of it, and would recommend giving the ears a long rest with some A/B comparisons (with and without) before committing to anything.

:D
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as far as mastering, i use the waves C4, i wouldnt call the stuff i do mastering because i havent mastered shit, lmaooo!

but they say that multi-band compressors can be good at lowering or boosting certain problems in the overall mix, you can kinda use it like an EQ as long as you make sure the ratio is low and doesnt overkill the processes used to actually make your mixdown..... i wouldn't advise it as a standard surgical process for your final product, but if you are used to using multi-bands it can work in your favor.... with me it's usually hit or miss at the mastering stage, i'm pretty good with it on individual tracks vocally speaking...
 
Sinistah said:
but they say that multi-band compressors can be good at lowering or boosting certain problems in the overall mix.
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IME, "they" who say that usually fall into one of two categories; real MEs who have to deal with lousy mixes, or the Sears MEs who create the lousy mixes to begin with.

The use of MBCs on a mixdown has become a popular method to use for those who haven't yet learned to mix completly to try and skip much of the mixing process altogether, and instead try and re-patch the bad mix in mastering. Like most shortcuts, such "fixes" rarely come out as good as getting the mix right to begin with.

It's just taking the ol' "fix in the mix" concept of phoning in the tracking and moving down even a step further to "fix in the mastering". I would plan to make my fortune by releasing a new multi-knob doohicky that "will fix everything in the shrink wrapping" for CDs and "fix everything in the download" for MP3s. ;) :)

But gear will never replace the engineer.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
I would plan to make my fortune by releasing a new multi-knob doohicky that "will fix everything in the shrink wrapping" for CDs and "fix everything in the download" for MP3s. ;) :)
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I believe in the case of "fixing in the shrink-wrap", you simply replace the thin plastic coating with a 1-foot thick layer of conrete so no one ever has to listen to whatever was put on the CD :D

As for the digital filtering at mp3 download time, just make it a virus that wipes the user's hard drive.
 
cusebassman said:
I believe in the case of "fixing in the shrink-wrap", you simply replace the thin plastic coating with a 1-foot thick layer of conrete so no one ever has to listen to whatever was put on the CD :D
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Gee, I don't know cuse; that might actually be easier to open than CD shrinkwrap :D.

G.
 
Decipha said:
...when running more than one compressor in series your going to play hell trying to get a natural sound...
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It's been the opposite for me. But each compressor in the chain has to be working very gently. Of course it depends on the source and compressors used too.
 
jonnyc said:
...and I'd have to say I really enjoy using multibands...
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Me too. :) It makes it easier to get a 200 yr old spruce soundboard to fit (figuratively) into a pair of man-made speaker cones.;)

But I never use it on a mix. Just on single instruments (with wide ranges and disproportionate dynamics) or submixes of the same instrument type.

Subtlety is the key. Well, also setting the crossovers.:D

And you need a good multiband... some ruin the sound just by applying their filters, never mind the dynamics changes.
 
For the most part, the time to use an MB in mastering is when you don't have access to the tracks, only the mix file. It's a limited way to reach into the mix, but the best way to reach into the mix is to go to the tracks.
 
danny.guitar said:
You've never used a multiband compressor on a single track? :confused:
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Sonixx said:
C4 is a compressor. one use is taming the bottom on guitar tracks.

AMcB, have you looked at Soniformer by Voxengo?
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I've never used a C4 on a single track. A sub-mix yes, but never a single track. EQ has done the trick for me in those situations where I was looking for sound shaping. I understand the concept that you might only want to feel the bass'ier frequencies of a guitar to a certain volume, but never needed to do so. Although, that might work nicely on some conga tracks i have.
 
I've used it on an acoustic guitar track where I wanted the bass to be under control, yet be "full" sounding and ring out/sustain, when I also wanted the mids to be pretty much squashed and the high end free to go where it wants to...not possible with an EQ, or at least it's not as easy and doesn't really give the same effect at all.
 
Why would you ever use a C4 if you've got the source material? I understand using a C4 if you've been given a mix to master, but you've got the source material. If anything needs compression you should compress that individual track (or group of tracks.. which is what i prefer to do with back vocals) instead of reaching for a C4.
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there's a pretty big-time metal producer/engineer who uses the C4 on virtually all of his guitar tracks...he squishes the low mids a little bit, and leaves the rest unaffected

i've used MBC's on OH tracks that i recorded in a shitty room, and it helped out a lot

it can also help if you have, say, some really shitty hi-hat bleed into the snare mic...sometimes EQ and gating just won't work quite right to keep out the bleed. in these instances, i'll also reach for the MBC. maybe it will sound better than using EQ and gating - maybe not. maybe it'll take a combination of MBC and gating...maybe set up a sidechain/key input?

regardless of all of the connotations and attitudes concerning MBC's, they're just another tool in the bag.
 
crosstudio said:
I've never used a C4 on a single track. A sub-mix yes, but never a single track. EQ has done the trick for me in those situations where I was looking for sound shaping. I understand the concept that you might only want to feel the bass'ier frequencies of a guitar to a certain volume, but never needed to do so. Although, that might work nicely on some conga tracks i have.
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what I was getting at is taming the bottom on a guitar track. I think of it as a variable EQ, the more bottom the less bottom. Using normal EQ is applying the same amount of gain boost/reduction which may not be the best solution. I've gone away from the C4 and now use Soniformer which I infinitely prefer. Another really useful EQ is GlissEQ... sort of a dynamic EQ.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
IME, "they" who say that usually fall into one of two categories; real MEs who have to deal with lousy mixes, or the Sears MEs who create the lousy mixes to begin with.

The use of MBCs on a mixdown has become a popular method to use for those who haven't yet learned to mix completly to try and skip much of the mixing process altogether, and instead try and re-patch the bad mix in mastering. Like most shortcuts, such "fixes" rarely come out as good as getting the mix right to begin with.

It's just taking the ol' "fix in the mix" concept of phoning in the tracking and moving down even a step further to "fix in the mastering". I would plan to make my fortune by releasing a new multi-knob doohicky that "will fix everything in the shrink wrapping" for CDs and "fix everything in the download" for MP3s. ;) :)

But gear will never replace the engineer.

G.
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i usually hear it from, engineers who are given shitty mixes without the full session files and i think my co-partner does it on our mixes because he doesn't fully understand the theory of mixing and it's tools, but he makes it work for us, it's just really unorthodox, where i would use an EQ to make things fit, he reverbs the shit..... and etc. i guess different strokes for different folks....

me i just do it(MBC) for vocals mainly to get rid of some unwanted noise commin from my rooms natural reverb or even to color up the vocals a bit at specific ranges that can't be captured with a broadband/linear compressor.....

as far as the mastering stage (or in my case a final mixdown, lol) i really stay away from compression all together unless it's to color up the mix after i finish polishing up a few-things but it's never as a corrective or "fix all" thing, sometimes my Waves C4 just makes the song sound sonically better.....

i usually leave headroom in between each application i use for my mixes to make sure if i want to boost the loudness i can do so without murdering the quality, instead of having to squash the juice out of it via compression like i've noticed alot of people do actually i'd rather use the multi-band limiter like my Waves L3 for the volume boosting.....

lmaooo@the multi-knob shrink wrap/download fixer.......... you'd make billions, especially with the new wave of home recordings even becomming popular amongst professional artists... well in the Hip-Hop world at least...
 
Can I get a multiband compressor that compresses and reduces the frequency band at which my girlfriend nags at me?
 
Agent47 said:
Can I get a multiband compressor that compresses and reduces the frequency band at which my girlfriend nags at me?
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yeah but at that stage they are not called compressors, but rather muzzles or tranquilizers......
 
Agent47 said:
Can I get a multiband compressor that compresses and reduces the frequency band at which my girlfriend nags at me?
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I think it's called the Diamond bundle. Unfortunately it's real diamonds, not the ones from Waves.

G.
 
Robert D said:
Noooooo! That's a temporary fix that ends up permanently raising the threshold.
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That's a good point.

I was going to suggest the mute button, but IME, if you start pushing her buttons, you're just asking for a crapload of trouble :p. (there is one exception, but she usually keeps that button under wraps at at the times when you need to push it then most.)

G.
 
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