compressing individual tracks

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compressing individual tracks

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broadside broadside is a male

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Registration Date: 17-01-2005
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ok, anyway . . . so am I to understand its not really all that important to compress the final mixdown, but you should compress the individual tracks? I swear compression seems to be one of those things everybody seems to have there own litle ideas and "superstitions" about. Personally, though I think I finally get the concept, I have yet to find it make an appreciable improvement to what I make. But that is no doubt my own incompetence. Would it be fair to say, that compression is designed to make your sound a little less raw? Is this why they dont use it when mastering jazz and classical music?

alright, so do you use different kinds of ratios and thresholds for different types of layer - drums, bass, leads etc? and if so, what?

edit by thechronic: this has been split off from the thread compressing at the end

This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by broadside: 13-08-2005 11:16.

13-08-2005 11:16

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a compressor squashes the dynamic range of a sound.....so you can use them to place something in a mix, yknow it enables you to tighten up lots of "flabby" sounds, so you can squeeza more into a track.......well....if you do it properly Big Grin

and yes you do use different thresholds and ratios for different instruments.......but its a bit difficult to tell someone what to do exactly as its horses for courses....it just depends what a sound requires.....try a decent quality compressor with lots of presets you can load up, then check the settings on the presest and listen to what they do to a sound.......personaklly i lke waves audiotrack.....

13-08-2005 14:23

thechronic thechronic is a male

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quote:

Originally posted by broadside
Would it be fair to say, that compression is designed to make your sound a little less raw? Is this why they dont use it when mastering jazz and classical music?

Depending on how you use the compressor it can start to sound very rough indeed.

They don't use (much) compression in jazz and classic because these are music styles which are very dynamic, ie there is a big difference between the loudest and the softest parts of the music. By using compression you make it less dynamic and that's unwanted in those styles.

quote:

Originally posted by broadside
alright, so do you use different kinds of ratios and thresholds for different types of layer - drums, bass, leads etc? and if so, what?

You have to set it up manually every time, depending on the effect you want to achieve. There are no rules about it, it all depends on the context, the sound you're after, the way the sound is placed in the mix, the way it is recorded or played, ...

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14-08-2005 18:01

Greyone Greyone is a male

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I don't know where my fault is , but i always need to compress my bass in order to fit on the drums.
surly if i distort my bass.

but when i compress my drums , they slam much harder but then they are like ... muddy.

I don't know much about ration , treshold or knee - settings so i guess theres my prob.

13-10-2005 19:28

Friscko Friscko is a male

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