Not all drum tracks need compression

[wub]

Seriously. Am hearing too many tunes posted in the Dubs board where too many of the tracks have been compressed to fuck...kick drums are suffering the most from, people think overdriving the compression on the track overall will make everything LOUD and what happens is the kick gets overly compressed and turns into some kind of wet-cardboard-being-kicked sound.

Seems like too many tunes having compression spread across their tracks and assuming things will turn out fine & dandy. BTW, a compression ratio of 3:1 means that it takes a 3db increase in volume to allow the compressor to output 1db over the threshold...did you know that? Always good to see it written down in a way that translates.

[mromgwtf]

dam u str8 babygurl

You can compress everything and it'll sound awesome, but first you need to know how to compress.
Of course, compression used wrong destroys the song instantly...

Here's nice tutorial about compression: http://www.dnbscene.com/article/1474-co ... n-tutorial
Nice way to compress is to use parallel compression, you still have a dry signal so it doesn't sound overcompressed.

[wub]

The RA guide has always been a good go-to for me since they released it - http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1595


And pushing too much 50-80Hz into your kick can make it go wobbly if it wasn't sitting right in the first place....

[mromgwtf]

The RA guide has always been a good go-to for me since they released it - http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1595


And pushing too much 50-80Hz into your kick can make it go wobbly if it wasn't sitting right in the first place....

For me kicks shouldn't have any sub, I'm high passing my kicks at like 75-100hz, + I set kinda high resonance at the high pass, so it has punch.

Have you tried sidechaining your sub with kick?

[wub]

This thread was not made in relation to my own techniques and/or any of my tunes, for the record.

[travis_baker]

Seriously. Am hearing too many tunes posted in the Dubs board where too many of the tracks have been compressed to fuck.

u didnt listen to my tune now did you! but yea its shame how compression is missinterpreted, you see the being said in almost every thread for sound design, subconsiously burning inside a learning producers brain. unfair... its comes down to listening and not looking ay

[wub]

Nah, this isn't aimed at any one track in particular...just an underlying current of misinformation that is flowing around this place...compression is being held up their with resampling and sidechaining as one of the mythical 'things' that will instantly make stuff sound haymazing.

[travis_baker]

Nah, this isn't aimed at any one track in particular...just an underlying current of misinformation that is flowing around this place...compression is being held up their with resampling and sidechaining as one of the mythical 'things' that will instantly make stuff sound haymazing.

well said, ur geniouse wub.

[paradigm_x]

especially since the vengeance packs etc are all hypercompressed as it is.

its quite sad how many people just do things they read without listening to what its doing or understanding why they are doing it, just that they can because they can use 10000 compressors. yet another advantage of hardware.

[Attila]

yet another advantage of hardware.

What that you can't afford a compressor to use in the first place?

[travis_baker]

especially since the vengeance packs etc are all hypercompressed as it is.

its quite sad how many people just do things they read without listening to what its doing or understanding why they are doing it, just that they can because they can use 10000 compressors. yet another advantage of hardware.

i suffered from this for a long time, my verry first tunes sounded better than the ones i was applying all the dsf forum knowledge to. i knew what to do but iddnt know what i was doing.

[wub]

But if they released their sample packs 'dry' no-one would buy them

yet another advantage of hardware.

What that you can't afford a compressor to use in the first place?

Hold up...I've got a hardware compressor and it costs me about £20. Hardly breaking the bank.

[paradigm_x]

yet another advantage of hardware.

What that you can't afford a compressor to use in the first place?

No you only have a finite amount of resources, making you make a decision as to what will be used where.

[Sharmaji]

But if they released their sample packs 'dry' no-one would buy them

yet another advantage of hardware.

What that you can't afford a compressor to use in the first place?

Hold up...I've got a hardware compressor and it costs me about £20. Hardly breaking the bank.

agreed, my dbx163x served me well for years. $35 on ebay.

[Attila]

Well clearly I know nothing about audio processing hardware, but I still don't see the benefit of using one hardware compressor over one software compressor. Clearly if you haphazardly throw a dozen various compressors on one sound, there's a good chance it will sound less than impressive, but I don't think the possible (and common) misuse of those plugins is a disadvantage. I think if you gave the same person a hardware compressor they'd find a way to destroy their music as well, just with less variety.

[hasezwei]

compression sucks.
it's all about the overdrive

[elyhess]

This is really interesting! I def know electronic music is kinda infamous for lots of compression, i'll def keep this in mind when working on future tunes. try a few diff things out. I just hope what i've been making isn't over-compressed

[drake89]

Well clearly I know nothing about audio processing hardware, but I still don't see the benefit of using one hardware compressor over one software compressor. Clearly if you haphazardly throw a dozen various compressors on one sound, there's a good chance it will sound less than impressive, but I don't think the possible (and common) misuse of those plugins is a disadvantage. I think if you gave the same person a hardware compressor they'd find a way to destroy their music as well, just with less variety.

yeah pretty much this. I don't compress shit unless I think it needs it. I mostly use it on acoustic insturments whether I've recorded them or they're midi, to bring out the harmonics and even out the volume.

[Reversed]

Is the kick in the tune in my sig. compressed too hard? Can't really tell how much / whether i put compression on it right now, and i don't have the best set of ears for that kind of thing.

You really made me curious now, wub.

P.S.: The tiny bit of saturation is intended.

[alphacat]

A big part of this problem comes from producers who have limited monitoring options many times, I think. I mean, not always - but you can often tell where someone pushed the compression way, way too hard (esp. on kicks!) just to be able to hear it better in the mix. Try doing a mixdown on earbuds and you'll see what I mean.

And going back to basics is what i do now, in that I'll put all the faders down and turn off all DSP except EQ and add things in little increments instead of "3 sounds good so 9 must be three times as good! " Bring the faders up slowly, get your levels, make sure the overall mix is reasonably balanced with enough room for the most important aspects of the elements to shine through. You might have to make compromises, particularly if you're not working with pro gear (as I am not.)

But seriously: in the old days the OG's like Bruce Swedien never touched compression, and he engineered some of the very biggest dance tunes in history.