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They say SOME tracks doesn't need to be compressed at all as it will ruin a track or destroy a certain dynamic effect to a certain section of your song. what are those certain tracks that usually doesn't need to be compressed? I'm just confused about this, but it does make perfect sense to me, i just want to know WHAT are those kind of synths or tracks that doesn't need any compression at all.

The key is understanding exactly what compression does.

http://www.resoundsound.com/effective-t ... mpression/

http://www.resoundsound.com/9-tips-working-compression/

Then you can decide for yourself when something 'needs' compression or not.

sounds cliched but use your ears. if compression isn't making any discernible difference to the track or you're just doing it for the sake of doing, you might be better off not doing it at all.

also agree with andius's comment as it doesn't sound like you know what compression does to begin with.

thanks guys! i do know compression, i just dont know how to deal with it fluently just yet, pretty sure it will take time though. and yes im a newbie

soronery wrote:sounds cliched but use your ears. if compression isn't making any discernible difference to the track

If compression isn't making any noticeable difference to the track, you're not using enough of it.

Back to the thread. Compression works best on things that have tails. Like a snare, or a ride cymbal.

PS. Be smart, use multiband compression. When compressing a snare, go only for the highs. That's where the tail is.

In the mix we create elements and process them in a way which gives musical relationships between them.

- The way the kick hits compared to how the sub moves
- The way the snare hits (usually in contrast to the bass'y rhythm elements) etc etc

All of these little things add up and move us in a certain way. When adding compression whether it's in the mix or mastering stage it can exaggerate some of the better parts of these relationships and can enhance what they brought to the table. In other situations if used incorrectly we can end up going against what these things were doing which gets classed as "over-compression" "ruining a track" etc etc.

The key is to put in a great deal of time when starting out with compression and make sure you can really hear what's going on, try the different parameters and at the end of it be brutally honest whether or not it has actually improved the sound or just made it "louder" if it's the latter then don't be too attached to the plugin, simply bypass and move on, either you haven't nailed the correct settings or it didn't need compression in the first place.

to add to that, when you a/b with compressed/uncompressed sound make sure the levels are the same as like outbound says louder is not necessarily better

The way I look at general compression:

if you have a sound that changes in volume throughout its duration, then consider compression.

If these changes in volume are different depending on what frequency range you are looking at, consider multi-band compression.

To answer the original question, I would say usually you don't need to compress if the track already doesn't have any significant volume changes. A good example might be a supersaw pad with full sustain, a quick attack, and a quick release; compression would do very little to that sound except just raise or lower the overall volume. On the other hand anything that is transient heavy is a much better candidate for compression; usually compression is good on plucks, kicks, snares, guitars, piano, etc etc... anything with a transient. Of course that doesn't mean you HAVE to compress these elements, only if you think it makes it sound better.

Basically its comes down to 2 main things that everyone else has already said: 1st, understand why you want to add compression to a given track, and then 2nd, A/B it and decide whether it sounds better or not.

Also, Pro tip: close your eyes when you A/B and toggle the bypass button a bunch of times so you don't know whether the effect is on or off, then decide which one sounds better and open your eyes. Do this, say 3-4 times just to make sure you actually can tell the difference. I find this is useful for me since I'll spend 30 minutes on really subtle effects and then realize that either I can't tell the difference or I liked the unprocessed version better

You usually don't need compression. Two uses are when you have a filter that moves, and live instruments. The latter I've actually stopped using, though.

jonahmann wrote:You usually don't need compression. Two uses are when you have a filter that moves, and live instruments. The latter I've actually stopped using, though.

Yeah the more complex/modulated a sound the more likely you will find compression beneficial.

Something like a simple sine wave with no dynamic variation won't really have much difference from compression (if any) unless you want to make use of compression distortion or other creative dynamic effects.

mromgwtf wrote:If compression isn't making any noticeable difference to the track, you're not using enough of it.

Disagree. On decent speakers you can hear even very small amounts of compression. If compression isn't making any noticeable difference then your monitoring setup (or ears) aren't good enough.

I used to compress/limit shit almost just for the sake of it. Wasn't til Adam came along that I could actually hear what compression really does. Now I only use it when I think I need to.

edit: to try and answer the OP question though: If in doubt, don't compress.

I think of compression as a utilitarian thing, not an artistic thing. Generally, if something is objectively un-even sounding, I'll draw for a compressor. If I want to fuck with sound and get creative, I'll distort or saturate. When I draw for a compressor it's to fix something.

It sounds like you're confused and want a "golden rule" for compression, but there isn't one. Generally speaking though, don't use it on synths. If part of the synth sound is too loud, edit the ADSR envelope, that's what it's there for. If you've run a synth through a ton of FX though, yeah, you might want to stick a compressor on the end to even out any resultant peaks from your mad FX chain.

Whole tracks (e.g a complete tune) - just quickly run it through a limiter, no more than a few dB of limiting. Don't waste your time trying to get the sickest self-master, it's not possible. Work on the mix, not the master, you already have the project file. Leave in-depth compressor-tweaking depression to mastering engineers - that's what they get paid for. Use compression as a tool when there's a definite need.

jonahmann wrote:You usually don't need compression. Two uses are when you have a filter that moves, and live instruments. The latter I've actually stopped using, though.

And you don't need compression for electronic drums? Are you crazy?

if you have to apply compression to an element to make it sound good, either your sound design/sample choice is weak, or your mixdown needs another look.

You can choose to use compression for creative/sound design reasons, but as a mixing tool, you rarely need it when you're producing electronic music. Electronic sources of sound aren't that dynamic unless, as previously mentioned, they're heavily modulated. It's usually only "necessary" on certain samples.

I barely compress. I'm not good at compression, mind you, but I've only rarely felt like I really needed it. I didn't really feel like I needed it until I started mixing down bands.

Edit: a lot of things people use compression for can also be attained with saturation btw. It reduces dynamic range somewhat, it glues things together and adds character. I think Dom & Roland even prefers saturation over compression. I essentially saturate everything (mostly buses or sounds lacking high-end/mids).

£10 Bag wrote:

mromgwtf wrote:If compression isn't making any noticeable difference to the track, you're not using enough of it.

Disagree. On decent speakers you can hear even very small amounts of compression. If compression isn't making any noticeable difference then your monitoring setup (or ears) aren't good enough.

I used to compress/limit shit almost just for the sake of it. Wasn't til Adam came along that I could actually hear what compression really does. Now I only use it when I think I need to.

edit: to try and answer the OP question though: If in doubt, don't compress.

I think of compression as a utilitarian thing, not an artistic thing. Generally, if something is objectively un-even sounding, I'll draw for a compressor. If I want to fuck with sound and get creative, I'll distort or saturate. When I draw for a compressor it's to fix something.

It sounds like you're confused and want a "golden rule" for compression, but there isn't one. Generally speaking though, don't use it on synths. If part of the synth sound is too loud, edit the ADSR envelope, that's what it's there for. If you've run a synth through a ton of FX though, yeah, you might want to stick a compressor on the end to even out any resultant peaks from your mad FX chain.

Whole tracks (e.g a complete tune) - just quickly run it through a limiter, no more than a few dB of limiting. Don't waste your time trying to get the sickest self-master, it's not possible. Work on the mix, not the master, you already have the project file. Leave in-depth compressor-tweaking depression to mastering engineers - that's what they get paid for. Use compression as a tool when there's a definite need.

I see... Any example of those "synths" that you dont usually compressed? most of the time i compressed all of my synths except for my pads and sometimes my arps. I don't usually compress the master though, But i do group my tracks and compress it, mostly my drums. Didn't realized how complex a compressor can be although you guys have been a really big help

compression is not black and white

hellagargoyle wrote:compression is not black and white

this one is

kaili wrote:to add to that, when you a/b with compressed/uncompressed sound make sure the levels are the same as like outbound says louder is not necessarily better

Deffo make sure ur output gain is set to make up for the gain lost due to compression otherwise when u a/b u won't be able to hear the change properly.

I like to compress the fuck out of everything over the last few weeks. It works in hip hop anyway at least. I think u need to practice more subtlety in dubstep aha

i was under the impression that it was just some sort of 'loudness' tool (by squishing the elements together)

faack