Compression

D

DYEONE

Guest
Compression;

What is the best method of using compression, and at what stage is it best applied ?

I understand the basic's of why compression is used etc, my only query is on the most practical & effective way to apply it;

Question 1;
- Is it best to process/compress each individual sound seperately, for example each drum hit, each bass sound and then resample ?
If this is the case how do you know you have the amount of compression applied just right if you're not able to effect a whole variety of sounds at the same time (i.e a drum loop consisting of various drum and percussion sounds) ?

The easy answer to this is obvioulsy to have a whole rack of compressors with each sound routed through seperately, but obviously this isn't possible with a small set-up like my own.

Question 2;
- Is it best to add compression to dry sounds or will more benefit be gained via compressing an already effected sound (i.e a heavily reverbed snare) ?

Question 3;
- I've also heard that subtle compression should be added to the final mix of a track to give the whole thing extra warmth. What i need to know is when to add it. Is it best done before mixdown, or is it best done prior to the final recording ?

Also, somebody recomend me a cheap, effective compressor, what's the TLA Fat 1's like ?

Thanks in advance

Rich.
 
Dyeone, if you haven't checked this site already then do so, cos it's got loads of good stuff about compression.

The main answer I can give is that it depends on what sound you want and you'll have to just play around to find out what works. But that's not very helpful is it, so here are my thoughts....
1. A lot of people do both of these. However if you're using samples from records/cds or sample cds then bear in mind that individual sounds may well have been compressed already. People particularly like to compress bass drums and bass parts because the longer a bass note (any note?) sustains the louder it is perceived to be. However it is also common to compress a whole loop as well which gives a different effect - for instance if you really push your compressor you will get an audible 'pumping' sound. Sometimes people want this (witness Daft Punk's One More Time when the kick sucks out all the other sounds). Compressing a loop can make it gel together better, so that it sounds more unified (sorry I'm really shite at describing sounds).

2. In general I would compress a sound first and then add other fx, because with, say, a heavily reverbed snare you'll compress the sound of the reverb as well, but I guess it would depend on what you want to hear.

3. I'm not sure that compression at mixdown gives warmth as such (it would probably depend on what piece of kit you use) but it can make a mix sound more coherent (like on a drum loop). I'm not sure what you mean about when it should be added, this kind of thing is often referred to as mastering, which in the traditional set-up works like this: band/producer finishes final stereo mixes to 1/4 inch tape, this tape is then taken to a mastering house where the mastering engineer uses a bit of expensive multi-band compression, possibly a bit of eq and even the merest hint of reverb to tart up the final mix. The finished recording is the Master. So I guess what you are talking about (given that I assume you are planning on doing this yourself) would be the last stage of your recording process. Mastering is a bit mysterious though, maybe because it's kind of subtle?

A friend of mine has the Fat Man, and it rocks - it's not exactly transparent but it has a nice character. On the budget side, check out the Behringer Composer Pro and the Alesis (schitt can't remember the model number, think it's the 3630 - sumink like that anyway!)

Hope this helps,
KasioRoks.
 
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Thanks for that, really helpful. I'll keep this info and try it when i get my studio sorted out.

Thanks for the link also, excellent site.

Rich.
 
:D
Pleasure, gives me something to do when I should be working! If you check out Future Music and SOS back issues, they both ran features on compression in the last year or so (FMs went over a few issues I think). Both are good, especially SOS for the more technical stuff on ratios, type of knee, etc. Didn't go into it here, cos I might not get it right from memory, but check them out. hey I just found the FM one!. This site has loads of other tutorials as well.

KasioRoks.
 
What KasioRoks says is good advice. To add I would say if you use too much compression you can take the life out of a sound or a track. Many Pop produced tracks end up suffering from this due to the constraints of engineering for radio play. ( a medium for which things have to be heavily compressed ).

If you know what you are doing it is best to masters yourself rather than leave it up to a mastering engineer , but for this you need to know the qualities of the medium you are mastering for.

If you do not know get a mastering engineer to do the job.

Compression also affects the EQ of a sound. I know some masterful engineers who tend not to use EQ and instead use compression to shape the sound.

By using the attack setting you can shape the first few miliseconds of a sound , which the ear uses to define the sound. ( Try taking the attack off a trumpet and see if it sounds like a trumpet ). High frequencies change volume quickly , low frequencies slowly. You can use the attack and release to change the way these frequencies occur in a sound.

By changing the ratio and threshold you can alter the amount of volume difference between frequencies , bringing their levels all closer together.

The best way to understand compression is to use your particular tool alot in different situations and listen to the difference as an A/B test.
 
Just to add to what RobinH said
Many Pop produced tracks end up suffering from this due to the constraints of engineering for radio play.
Click to expand...
radio stations will compress the living bejesus out of your tune as well, so if it's heavily compressed already you may find it totally flat by the time it gets on air.

KasioRoks.
 
Yeah , Radio stations use an 8 band compressor to compress their material , so if you know where they divide up the frequency spectrum , you can mix your track to fit in nice sections in these bands , this means the mutiband compressor doesn't have to work on material inbetween the bands , which always ends up sounding crap.

Not a nice way to do things , I personally leave radio mastering up to a pro ... it is a very tricky art , as is mastering to vinyl.

Sometimes before going to mastering houses I like to apply a little light compression to 'guide' the mastering engineer's compressor , so it does the job I want.
 
Not off hand , but I have it written down somewhere. God knows where though.
 
I have just moved house and studio , so everything is in a state in boxes. It is in my lecture notes I had from SAE. Tricky I beleive is doing the course and maybe a few others on the board , so they might know also. Post a new topic with a suitable title and you may catch their eye.

Robin
 
:monkey:

I did that course at SAE, back in 98. Ended up writing a book from the amount of course notes... Do they still have the Neve and SSL ?? J series if i remember, with the spectrometer in the middle, very good at quad recording...

You right, compression is so specific to genre of music, NEVER though compress to tape... always have a dry version of your track somewhere (baby talk I know, but I've only just joined !) even with a million 'un-do' capabilities its safer to save and store...

Regards

Alex
alextrov@hotmail.com
 
G series 4000 + , if you were there around that time I probably knew you alex , as I would have been finnishing around 98.
 
:cool:
Hows it going Robin... AED198x was the class I was in... what r u up to?? did you find the course useful?

:cheers:
 
AED997P , so that was 18 months so we would have crossed over , espescially during the Neve and SSL days.

I did over 450 hrs in the Neve and SSL , so yes I found the course immensly helpfull.

For getting a job though , that started through who I knew , and my education there had no relevance whatsoever .. infact I have since found it has been a reason for rejecting people. Alot of poor students come out claiming the course as a qualification ... and at the end of the day it is etiquette which is the most important quality in a pro studio.

However I have been in situations with famous producers , who had been customed to using a desk a a split console and didn't know of the inline capabilities of a Neve or SSL. In a pro environment I guess you don't get much time to learn new tricks.

I felt that this basic grounding in a kind of all over way is one of the best benefits of the course. Although you most certainly do not learn how to callibrate a 24trk tape machine properly and that is one of the modt fundamental , important tasks you will need to know.

All in all I feel it was a very good experience and worth while , but I always felt the full time students didn't get enough time in the pro level studios.

Robin
 
Oh yes and about compressing to tape , although that is normally the rule , you don't. Richard had an engineer friend from Manor House in there once and they EQed the snare to tape boosting heavily at 200hz and 7kHz on the neve and then used the UREI to compress the hell out of it and drove it really hot to the tape. The resulting sound was FAT , and full of punch .. amazing snare sound.
 
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