| Poll: What do you do with compressors? |
| I use them to fix some minor problems, but I don't want you to hear that |
   |
10 |
55.56% |
| I luuuuuuuuv compressors! I use them everywhere and turn them up hard to make shit pump! |
   |
5 |
27.78% |
| Why the fuck do we need them? My shit sounds great without it |
   |
3 |
16.67% |
| Total: |
18 Votes |
100% |
 Compression |
Surya 
The Robot
Registration Date: 04-11-2002
Posts: 11,238
Helpfulness rating:
 |
|
So, I saw T.roll telling someone again to add compression to his drums... This can help, but when down wrong, it fucks up the track too. So how do you like your compressors?
I don't use them. I like that, coz it gives a clear and open feel to the tracks (imo). I think my tracks sound quite decent too, with pumping drums and all... so why should I use them? I don't intend to deliver "finished" tracks anyway, they all still need mastering...
PS: Do you hear that in my tracks, that I don't use compression? I once had someone say about a part of a track of mine: there is too much compression, but there was none 
__
"In dnb you should make people jump not swim"
- Pieter Frenssen 2004
|
|
|
19-07-2004 13:53 |
|
|
Soi
Super Moderator
Registration Date: 29-01-2003
Posts: 1,417
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
For me compression crosses the bridge between the original non-edited sounds and the final result. Compression can be used to 'enhance' your sounds a bit, or ti give 'body' to your sounds.
But most of the times, you do come across some bizar situations in which sounds aren't compressed at all, and people telling you that you did a great job on the compression....
It is a very delicate issue, if you can have a decent knowledge about it, it can help you make your track/sounds VERY different. But if you don't have any knowledge about it, why use it? You can achieve very similar results with some decent EQ'ing and/or some FX.
Off course you should experiment with anything you can get your hands on, but then i'd rather experiment with some fancy FX.
But then again, i must admit that i use compression, almost as an automatic impulse, mainly on drums and bass and on tracks/samples/wavs that could use some enhancement.
__
a myspace
my tunes
"I'm not under the alkafluence of inkahol that some thinkle peep I am.
It's just the drunker I sit here the longer I get."
|
|
|
19-07-2004 14:11 |
|
|
Akura
Kletsenboem-style
Registration Date: 06-04-2003
Posts: 223
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
Working almost without samples I always need something to make things a bit louder en more balanced. When a track rolls out of Reason already full with EQ's and the output just below clipping it just isn't powerfull. So I always go and seek my fortune with compressors at the end. The last few weeks I've been searching a lot about compressing and I'm trying to learn. One thing is right, if you don't know how to use compressors you better leave them alone (I've already made that mistake... 
) Hopefully I'll get hang of the trick to use compressors without screwing my sound
|
|
|
19-07-2004 15:00 |
|
|
thechronic
admin
Registration Date: 01-11-2002
Posts: 5,293
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
Compression is something that is really essential, but needs to be applied only where needed. I think I oughta write a tutorial or something on it.
Especially on stuff like filtered lead lines it is really necessary, but it in dnb it can also be very effectively applied on the kick, snare and bass simultaneously.
Putting it on everything is a bad idea, since it also tends to squeeze the life out of a sound. When you completely synthesize your music you generally don't need compressors since you haev total control over the dynamics of the signals anyway - you can control it by making th e velocities louder or softer, but if you use stuff like live played instruments like bass etc you reall y need comps to make it fit in with the rest.
Putting a comp on a kick drum by itself like ive seen many producers do is completely useless, theres no dynamic range in that so no need for comperssion\
__
If you find spam on the site, please hit the  button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs! 
|
|
|
19-07-2004 23:47 |
|
|
thechronic
admin
Registration Date: 01-11-2002
Posts: 5,293
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
| quote: |
Originally posted by Akura
Working almost without samples I always need something to make things a bit louder en more balanced. When a track rolls out of Reason already full with EQ's and the output just below clipping it just isn't powerfull. So I always go and seek my fortune with compressors at the end. The last few weeks I've been searching a lot about compressing and I'm trying to learn. One thing is right, if you don't know how to use compressors you better leave them alone (I've already made that mistake...
) Hopefully I'll get hang of the trick to use compressors without screwing my sound
|
Master compression is something you ahve to be REALLY careful with!! Take only 3-5 dB gain reduction in total, otherwise it beciomes really audible and it starts t o pump like hell. If your track needs lots of compression in the master you've mixed it badly...
__
If you find spam on the site, please hit the button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs!
|
|
|
19-07-2004 23:49 |
|
|
thechronic
admin
Registration Date: 01-11-2002
Posts: 5,293
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
| quote: |
Originally posted by Surya
So, I saw T.roll telling someone again to add compression to his drums... This can help, but when down wrong, it fucks up the track too. So how do you like your compressors?
I don't use them. I like that, coz it gives a clear and open feel to the tracks (imo). I think my tracks sound quite decent too, with pumping drums and all... so why should I use them? I don't intend to deliver "finished" tracks anyway, they all still need mastering... |
THere are some music styles which hardly dont use any comnpression at all, like jazz and classic, but for dnb you positively could use a bit of compression to drive the mix a bit and make it loud and jumpy.
Youre rigth in that its easy to fuck up, if you apply to much compression or wrong attack/release times the sound is completely screwed and there's no undoing that unless you have kept the original source.
Best idea is to only compress sounds that really need it, if you notice that a sound tends to have a lot of dynamics in it (ie it becomes a lot louder and softer throughout the track) you need to apply compression. if a sound is steady (like usual with triggered smmples) you dont need compression at all, and using it would only dehrade the sound!!
__
If you find spam on the site, please hit the button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs!
|
|
|
19-07-2004 23:55 |
|
|
thechronic
admin
Registration Date: 01-11-2002
Posts: 5,293
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
| quote: |
Originally posted by Soi
It is a very delicate issue, if you can have a decent knowledge about it, it can help you make your track/sounds VERY different. But if you don't have any knowledge about it, why use it? You can achieve very similar results with some decent EQ'ing and/or some FX.
|
Yeah definitely if you don't know what you;re doing then simply don't put compression on anything
Will only make it worse
Having no compression just makes a well-mixed song sound a little bit softer, having bad compression makes it sound like shit 
__
If you find spam on the site, please hit the button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs!
|
|
|
19-07-2004 23:57 |
|
|
T.roll
Cool Producer
Registration Date: 23-06-2004
Posts: 172
|
|
Imho: when you work with drum & snare samples itself you have to put a compression on, it makes them more tight and prevents clipping. When you work mainly with ready loops, they are already compressed usually, you just have to bring them in right level.
I work in FLStudio right now, so i use singleshot wav drumsamples & always use a standart FL compression on it. For example this compression parameters i use on main drum: THRES: -12.5db RATIO: 7.5:1
GAIN: may be variations usually 9.0db, ATTACK: 10ms
RELEASE: 200ms. Snares use another type, etc. Also when i use an amen(am i right: amen is kinda back drums or drumloop wich fills up the drum image of a track?) i put a snare kind of compression, so it doesn't sound like just a layered drumloop. Though i don't put any compression on highhats; toms use vitage compression etc. About final mastering compression: i mainly don't use it at all. Only eqs & loudness maximizer. About me telling Surora23, as i remember, to use a compression on drums: for me those sounded a bit empty. Like Soi said that would bring some 'body' to the drum part of Surora's track imo. Of course this was just my opinion
__
Digital eye is watching you.
|
|
|
20-07-2004 09:14 |
|
|
wicked_wayz
Cool Producer
Registration Date: 19-03-2004
Posts: 194
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
|
I read this some time ago. Kept it in mind when trying to make something new, and indeed, after some puzzling (and constant frequency analyser) i think it sounds better already, although still uncompressed. Heard from other producers they did the same, and than added a small compression in the final stage.
|
|
|
20-07-2004 09:20 |
|
|
Surya
The Robot
Registration Date: 04-11-2002
Posts: 11,238
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
Yep, exactly my though: make it sound as good as possible without compression, then you can still improve it with a little bit compression in the last stage. But since I fugere my music will still be mastered professionally before it gets released, I'd rather leave the compression work to the pro's
| quote: |
Originally posted by thechronic
I think I oughta write a tutorial or something on it. |
Be but sure (tsss, literal translations, sooo funny
) you oughta do that!
__
"In dnb you should make people jump not swim"
- Pieter Frenssen 2004
|
|
|
20-07-2004 09:52 |
|
|
Surya
The Robot
Registration Date: 04-11-2002
Posts: 11,238
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
| quote: |
Originally posted by wicked_wayz
I read this some time ago. Kept it in mind when trying to make something new, and indeed, after some puzzling (and constant frequency analyser) i think it sounds better already, although still uncompressed. |
Well, I've read it, and it's a quit good tutor indeed, too bad the part about compression is missing
But for those in need of EQ advice it's good.
__
"In dnb you should make people jump not swim"
- Pieter Frenssen 2004
|
|
|
20-07-2004 10:39 |
|
|
wicked_wayz
Cool Producer
Registration Date: 19-03-2004
Posts: 194
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
yep, i just put it here, because i think most people turn to compression 'to make their beats fatter' etc. while instead, they just need beeter eq, more layering etc. But i guess compression is the third dimension of the box, so the same rules apply
but here is some more general info about compression. or more info here After reading this all, i kinda limit compression, and just 'shave off some peaks'
quote: Dynamic compression is one of the most commonly used processes when it comes to mixing, probably second only to equalisation 
happy reading 
|
|
|
20-07-2004 11:02 |
|
|
Emblem-X
Master Producer
Registration Date: 10-11-2002
Posts: 2,135
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
hehehe I came back from using waaaay too much compression..
now i only use it only to 'glue' beats together, to mixdown basslines and for final mixdown
cheerz
__
|
|
|
21-07-2004 01:12 |
|
|
AcidMonkey
Producer
Registration Date: 01-09-2004
Posts: 20
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
It all depends on the source of the sound(s), I agree applying everywhere is a bad idea.
If you're using samples from a pro library the chances are they've already been EQed and compressed.
If you're recording your own vocal tracks then a compressor is a must to stop the levels peaking too high.
I generally use compression on the bass to reduce the dynamic range and allow it to balance more with the rest of the elements in a track.
I also use a gentle final compressor on the final mix.
BTW - Radio mixes tend to heavily compress and totally limit the dynamics of a track.
|
|
|
02-09-2004 15:22 |
|
|
tech life
Tourist
Registration Date: 04-09-2004
Posts: 14
|
|
I would read this.....
http://www.outoforder.rollin.com/techlif...teringGuide.PDF
It's the ozone mastering guide. Good read even if you don't use the plug. My friend Tim asked UFO if he used any comp in his tunes and he said no. He mentioned just turning the offending sound's channel/Fader up. So take that for what its worth.
I don't use it because, i'm very particular about things being to loud in a mix. I'm lookin for a good loud overall mix. Its seems easier to achieve with good sample source material and no comp.
|
|
|
04-09-2004 22:45 |
|
|
Surya
The Robot
Registration Date: 04-11-2002
Posts: 11,238
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
That's how I do it too Tech Life. I don't consider myself a masterer, so I'll leave the compression thing to the people who made their job of it
__
"In dnb you should make people jump not swim"
- Pieter Frenssen 2004
|
|
|
05-09-2004 09:23 |
|
|
Akura
Kletsenboem-style
Registration Date: 06-04-2003
Posts: 223
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
With good samples you won't miss a compressor that's true but what when you you make your own sounds with synth's...
Sometimes you need that damn compressor!
|
|
|
05-09-2004 18:13 |
|
|
Surya
The Robot
Registration Date: 04-11-2002
Posts: 11,238
Helpfulness rating:
|
|
I was messing around a bit and started wondering: isn't a limiter better than a compressor? It probably depends, but what is best fit for what job?
__
"In dnb you should make people jump not swim"
- Pieter Frenssen 2004
|
|
|
05-09-2004 18:20 |
|
|
|
|
