Beware of Compression

I know we all want that "fat" sound but beware of adding too much compression. For those of you that sample drums from records or CDs, remember that kick did not sound like that initially. Those drums have been compressed, EQ'd, and mastered. So when you incorporate them and other samples into your mix be sure not to add any compression. This is another example of where tracking/multi-tracking comes in handy. If you solo each track you can add compression where need be instead of the whole song. Say for example you sample some drums from The Roots, but your melodies come from your sound module. The melodies may or may not need some compression, but I guarantee the drums will not. If you are already hip to this cool, if not please take note. This is something I just picked up on. When I would listen to other recordings compared to mine they would sound "thinner" when in actuality mine were too thick. This was taking away from the quality as well creating a muddiness in the kicks and bassdrums. Hope this helps atleast one person.....if so then it has served it's purpose.

D. James

informative

Here is a nice write up on this current topic........

http://www.mpc-tutor.com/articles/index.php

Even if you sample a kick you are still going to use it at different velocities and ad eq and change the timber of it as a whole... Its not going to retain the same attack and decay qualities of the original as it has been compressed, but to discount adding compression is wrong!! What if you gated that kick so that it had a more distinct attack... you would then perhaps treat it as you would any other kick.... I think the key is IMO try out different amounts of compression and listen to the results, save your favorite 4 settings then test them all in the mix down stage.... However, I agree that less will end up being more in the end... you can always compress the whole drum track later.... A good option is to compress all the drum tracks as one track with stereo compression.

Run some very light compression on the whole drum mix together, say 4:1 with only -5db of compression... this will squash the drum mix just enough... make it sit tighter in the mix... and make it pump just that little extra....!

id say use compression if you feel you need it....djames brings up a good point in that dont reach for the compressor just for the sake of it...actually some of the bd's ive sampled recently are so tight they really dont need compression........i have used mild comp to sometimes tie disparate sounds together but yeah only use when you feel its lacking....if you've sampled a liam howlett bass drum you can bet your ass its as compressed as diamonds...



greg

I've never used any compression on my drums.. only for vocals. I always thought compression was maninly used to tame signals that peak once in a while.. so if a singer sings a part too loudly, it would compress it, and make it fit with the rest of the track. If you want your kick to be louder, why not normalize it, or to be really simplistic, just add more gain? I've never had a problem with a drum sound needing to be fatter.. I usually need to 'thin' it out a little if anything

. ..roxstar. ..
http://www.soundclick.com/creamofbeats

normalization or adding more gain isn't quite the same thing as compression....

greg

if it sounds right, it sounds right.

Glad to see another MPC head in Nap.
NESROCKER
317
FYP

fellers!
really interesting topic! i was planning to get a compressor recently but honestly (even if i mess around with many other fx"s) i have little if not non experience with compressors!
the reason why i want a compr. is that the sounds comin out my speaker/mixer are all quite nice, ... but even if each sound has its own channel the whole song is not absolutely clear! so i came to the idea, well ... maybe you just need a compr.!
in my music makin i run basically 10 outs from my mpc in the mixer and 6 from my synth (access virus)! sometimes i add some voices and a guitar!
my questions are related to live applications rather than to studio perfectionism:
1. what i"ve learned til now is that you never should compr. a sound twice! is that right? eg: if i"ve sampled my bd thru a compr.? the other sounds are (compr) clean! i m in a live perf. and to avoid that some of my sounds come far too loud i sent each channel to a certain degree to the compr. (through send)! question is it better to leave the (pre-compressed) bd out there? ... or is it even better to run the whole sound from the main out insert to the compr. and back again?
2. as different sounds require or should have different compr. settings, does it make sense (also in live perf) to run everything thru one compr (which obviously has just one setting) at all?
3. still for live applications: do you run your compr. as send or as insert?
any advice is welcome
cheers
alto

dubmonkey , can u send me a bd or 2 , the oens you say are so tight you dont need compression , i love to get kicks from peoepl i need better ones than what i got i just want to cjeck em out! email one or 2 to me please! thx

Altopiano wrote:fellers!
really interesting topic! i was planning to get a compressor recently but honestly (even if i mess around with many other fx"s) i have little if not non experience with compressors!
the reason why i want a compr. is that the sounds comin out my speaker/mixer are all quite nice, ... but even if each sound has its own channel the whole song is not absolutely clear! so i came to the idea, well ... maybe you just need a compr.!
in my music makin i run basically 10 outs from my mpc in the mixer and 6 from my synth (access virus)! sometimes i add some voices and a guitar!
my questions are related to live applications rather than to studio perfectionism:
1. what i"ve learned til now is that you never should compr. a sound twice! is that right? eg: if i"ve sampled my bd thru a compr.? the other sounds are (compr) clean! i m in a live perf. and to avoid that some of my sounds come far too loud i sent each channel to a certain degree to the compr. (through send)! question is it better to leave the (pre-compressed) bd out there? ... or is it even better to run the whole sound from the main out insert to the compr. and back again?
2. as different sounds require or should have different compr. settings, does it make sense (also in live perf) to run everything thru one compr (which obviously has just one setting) at all?
3. still for live applications: do you run your compr. as send or as insert?
any advice is welcome
cheers
alto

Yes it makes sense... Compression is really to avoid fluctuations in levels... Most often Compressors have a Limiter as well as a compressor in the same channel, this is used to stop peaking levels distorting when they are driven hard commonly from playing a live instrument you may hit that note a bit too hard.... However, it does do wonders for fattening up Kicks and snares etc.., With all those channels as you describe you would have trouble compresing them all so you may just want 4 channels of compression.... You can also use Compression as a SEND effect if you want to add some full ness to a Bass Drum... etc., you should expriment with different methods and decide how much your sound needs... However on Drums if you wan't a punchy sound.... Go For It.... get a used one on ebay for cheap and see how you do.

joebonix, ill have a dig- im currently wiping my pc so may take a while as all my stuff is on scsi....

the bass drums im refeering to may well have already compressed somewhere along the line, ive just got em as samples and feel they do not need any more compression....

greg

thanx madness for your advice! i know (since last night) and i'll do that! tested 3 compr. (which i have on some other fx's) last night side by side and came soon to the decision ... in need a 4th one who is just doin that! .. the sooner the better!
i m gonna launch it as a new topic! since i m a complete newby with compr. anyone's advice regarding this is very welcome!
alto

what are peoples thoughts on not compressing individual songs but compressing the entire mix during mixdown. Do most people do this and what kind of setting do you use?