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silentk wrote:compression is not that finite
i hear so many people at college saying shit like, "have you done your compressing yet?" "should i compress this?" "does a snare need compression?"

I think you probably need to read a little more about what compressors are and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_range_compression

There's nothing you should or shouldn't be compressing, it's about what needs it

Are the levels on your bass part jumping all over the place?
is the attack on you snare sounding a bit flabby?

Personaly, in terms of drums, there are very few elements i would individualy compress, and rather group sounds into hi hats and odd percussion, then a snare/kick channel, compress those busses, and then group those two into one final drum bus and have a compressor there to gel everything together and get it punching nicely. but that is personal preference.

Side chaining is a very diverse technique, you can do the usual bass sidechained from the kick and get the classic house pumping sound, but sidechaining can be used on anything you want, again there are no hard or fast rules, just experiment with different things. Do bear in mind though, that when sidechaining it's good to use something which varies a lot in level as the source, like a kick drum. if the sidechain source is a constant volume it's not gonna do anything to the target than reduce the overall volume, ya get meh?


hope 've been of help, tell me to fuck off if you already know this shit and i'm being patronising!

Rekah wrote:

silentk wrote:

Are the levels on your bass part jumping all over the place?
is the attack on you snare sounding a bit flabby?:

nitz wrote: Compression is a dynamical controller, (however, it can be used for many or things and techniques) in essences in a lazy way to control levels. E.G if you sub is not at a controlled level, i.e the level is tending to fluctuate alot, then compression should be applied to keep a controlled level, by reducing the dynamic range (the difference between the lowest level and the highest level)

silentk wrote:

nitz wrote: Compression is a dynamical controller, (however, it can be used for many or things and techniques) in essences in a lazy way to control levels. E.G if you sub is not at a controlled level, i.e the level is tending to fluctuate alot, then compression should be applied to keep a controlled level, by reducing the dynamic range (the difference between the lowest level and the highest level)

This is the crux of it

Think of it like a really bumpy bit of tarmac, and you're getting a big 'ole jackhammer and smashing down all the bumps so that it's even.

(in it's most severe usage, known as brickwall compression)

Macc 2 years ago wrote:Idiot's description of compression:

Compressor listens, hears a 'loud bit' (threshold), turns it down a certain amount (ratio) as quickly as it is told to (attack). Loud bit finishes, compressor starts turning it back to normal level (release).

Think of watching TV - the adverts start and blow your head off cos they're so fucking loud. You could say it exceeded your 'threshold'. So you fumble for the remote control and eventually manage to turn it down by hammering the volume down button (attack). Eventually after you turn it down by a certain amount (ratio) it sounds alright. Then the adverts finish and you can't hear the fucking programme you were watching, and you have to find the remote again to turn it back up to where it was in the first place (release).

That's an idiot description but it is actually quite good

This explains it rather well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_ra ... 28audio%29

Personaly, in terms of drums, there are very few elements i would individualy compress, and rather group sounds into hi hats and odd percussion, then a snare/kick channel, compress those busses, and then group those two into one final drum bus and have a compressor there to gel everything together and get it punching nicely. but that is personal preference.

How would I go about 'grouping' in Logic? You mean like sending 2 channels to the same compressor?

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?om1e9klf36ug0x9

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?ahrhvliy85y42cu

Hope that helps

Sharmaji wrote:i compress until it gives me a boner, and then I limit for dynamic range.

Sharmaji wrote:i compress until it gives me a boner

macc wrote:

Sharmaji wrote:i compress until it gives me a boner

You, my friend, have real problems.