How to make things still sound BIG when using compression?

poundaproblem wrote:

goldslum wrote:basically what it comes down to, this kid doesn't want any real help. he's gunna make bad music no matter what. and 90% of the "help" on this forum is going to help him get worse. dude wants to squash all his sounds and doesn't get why his bird won't fly ask for advice and dismiss it cause you apparently know better? sounds good to me.

Thats a real d*ckhead answer homie. This thread could be of good use to a bunch of forum members and honestly this was a good topic because a lot of newer producers/engineer have a difficult time messing with compression the first few times around. You should delete your post, cancel your account and go punch yourself in the temple for being an ass.

Aight now back to the thread

Theres a lot of good advice here (other than goldslum). Once of the things I was taught when I first started to mix was to compress slightly until you notice a change then back it off. One of the biggest mistakes everyone makes when they first start mixing is that they apply too much of everything...EQuing, Compression, Reverb (especially).Start gradual and make subtle changes until you find something you like. It was mentioned earlier that you should get familiar with the eq and thats the truth! If you have 2 low frequencies in the same range (say bass for example) you're going to lose some detail of the mix since the audio will be essentially fighting for the same space. Once you tweak one part you will notice the other kinda "jumps out" at you. As far as compression on the master, you could but I personally dont do it on the MPC. I do it on the master in Pro Tools before bouncing to disk

Hahaha I feel the same way fam

I actually bought a book called Mixer's Engineering Handbook and damn its giving me good info. Some shit I just didn't even realize that is so easy to do and makes big changes!

I used to exactly what you said, apply effects so much that the mix was so fake it was shit lol. But with all the infomartion in this thread and the book I got I'm ready to start mixing.

That's what's up!

i've always took it piece-by-piece. I'll keep editing each individual track until it sounds the way i like it up to that point. then i'll start editing my next sound, and repeat till its done.

I edit everything at 0 db. then very slightly turn down the tracks until they sound fit.

i never normalize tracks either. i only normalize individual sounds (drums, snares, etc.)

Pounda wrote : One of the biggest mistakes everyone makes when they first start mixing is that they apply too much of everything...EQuing, Compression, Reverb (especially).Start gradual and make subtle changes until you find something you like


.... Trust your ears - they are the best tool that you own !

I'll say one last time for everyones benefit : EQ !!

anyone know of any good 3rd of an octave EQ pluggin? (VST) I always wanted one of those in software format....