I've been producing for about two years now and I can never seem to get the compression right in my mixes. Most of the time when I try compress a track it doesn't sound any different than it did without the compressor on it. Is compression as important as people make it seem to be or is it just a something you need every once in a while in a mix?
How important is mastering the use of compression in your mixes?
- Thread starter JMolter
- Start date
B Side Producer
Moderator
There is a lot of controversy about this subject. I personally don't compress unless it's necessary. That would speak for me thinking ppl compress too much or too easily. This is different for master bus compression.
There's some nice youtubes and courses out there about mixing and mastering.
I found these really helpful
There's some nice youtubes and courses out there about mixing and mastering.
I found these really helpful
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manducator
New member
This video might help. It explains about setting up the compressor by adjusting the parameters in a fixed order:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm13HI0z7D0
Congratulations, you found a way to use transparent compression. Do you have more headroom after compression? If yes, you did a good job!
Mmh, difficult to say. Try it for yourself and decide if your music does need compression. It even depends from song to song. Classical music doesn't need any compression. EDM heavily relies on compression in lots of cases.
krushing
Moderator
Just to put things into perspective: compression is most likely the hardest of the basic mixing processes to get to grips with. I can safely say I'm not very good at it myself.
That said, nowadays even the most wet-behind-the-ears newbies will experiment with what formerly might've been considered as fairly advanced processing like parallel compression or even multiband compression – but while there's nothing wrong with trying things out, I've seen a lot of people just compressing the hell out of their tracks with very little understanding on why they're compressing. And when asked, the answers are usually along the lines of "well I heard it's important" and "well it's supposed to make my drums punchy" (cue weak-ass overcompressed drums). And what all this comes down to is what manducator said above: does your music need compression? It should never be something you just throw in there because that's what you're "supposed to do", but of course it's understandable that learning 1) to listen to what compression actually does; 2) what different types of compression do; 3) how the different parameters of compression interact with each other and thus 4) how and when to use compression can all be quite difficult to put together. So I guess the point of this post is simply that you need to start easy, start small: take a drum loop, take a compressor and carefully adjust the parameters to understand their interaction. And of course there are numerous tutorials and articles on the subject, like this one: Compression Made Easy |
That said, nowadays even the most wet-behind-the-ears newbies will experiment with what formerly might've been considered as fairly advanced processing like parallel compression or even multiband compression – but while there's nothing wrong with trying things out, I've seen a lot of people just compressing the hell out of their tracks with very little understanding on why they're compressing. And when asked, the answers are usually along the lines of "well I heard it's important" and "well it's supposed to make my drums punchy" (cue weak-ass overcompressed drums). And what all this comes down to is what manducator said above: does your music need compression? It should never be something you just throw in there because that's what you're "supposed to do", but of course it's understandable that learning 1) to listen to what compression actually does; 2) what different types of compression do; 3) how the different parameters of compression interact with each other and thus 4) how and when to use compression can all be quite difficult to put together. So I guess the point of this post is simply that you need to start easy, start small: take a drum loop, take a compressor and carefully adjust the parameters to understand their interaction. And of course there are numerous tutorials and articles on the subject, like this one: Compression Made Easy |
KonKossKang
Ozagas
I would save compression for when you want to actually use compression.
Like when you want to use it specifically for something aka heavy sidechaining.
Mastering is a combination of many things not just slap a compressor on the master channel.
There are no rules, after sequencing and arranger simply utilize the appropriate effects for the job like equalizers & compressors/limiters, checking the phase and stereo field and whatnot afterwards.
Like when you want to use it specifically for something aka heavy sidechaining.
Mastering is a combination of many things not just slap a compressor on the master channel.
There are no rules, after sequencing and arranger simply utilize the appropriate effects for the job like equalizers & compressors/limiters, checking the phase and stereo field and whatnot afterwards.
alienaircraftmusic
Member
It depends on what you are mixing, if your mix contains primarily recorded samples, then compression plays a big role. But, if you have designed the sounds electronically, compression isn't going to do a lot to take your mixes to next level and you should revisit your sound design to take it to next level, but again, multi-band compression as a creative tool can be used extensively in sounds that are created electronically.
Natural sounds generally have big dynamic range, and that's their charm, which separates their "feel" and fidelity from electronic sounds, however purely natural sound may feel weak in a mix, and there you use a compressor to reduce the dynamic range and make them more powerful without altering their character.
Natural sounds generally have big dynamic range, and that's their charm, which separates their "feel" and fidelity from electronic sounds, however purely natural sound may feel weak in a mix, and there you use a compressor to reduce the dynamic range and make them more powerful without altering their character.
Croatia MD
New member
Compresing single line is fine. But whole mix? Only multiband compresor or some sort. Basic compresor shouldnt go on master.
The Funk Junkie
Moderator
I find compression to be the most important technique/effect that I use, closely followed by eq... Yes compressors can make your stuff sound bad (over-compressed...) but they will also help add thump to your drums, consistency to any vocals, make instrument groupings gel together (master or bus tracks), even out bass lines, decrease the attack on anything, increase the attack on anything, sidechain so kicks pop through, create crazy effects when used with reverb or delays, blah blah blah the list goes on forever
localspace
New member
For my style, good compression is key, but I wouldn't call myself a master by any means. I'm still finding too many ways to improve.
It's one of the hardest things to get right... the best tip I ever had for it was: know why and what before you do it. If you find yourself just slapping on compressors to get a 'fat' sound then you're probably doing more damage to your sound than good.
Personally I like to have some parallel compression going on in my master bus while I work, to give everything a general fattening so I don't overdo it (*too early) on any of my individual channels.
It's one of the hardest things to get right... the best tip I ever had for it was: know why and what before you do it. If you find yourself just slapping on compressors to get a 'fat' sound then you're probably doing more damage to your sound than good.
Personally I like to have some parallel compression going on in my master bus while I work, to give everything a general fattening so I don't overdo it (*too early) on any of my individual channels.
U
ullsbor
Guest
Great post. Still learning myself. I think it depends. If you have a workflow without compression or without knowing you're compressing and you're happy about your result, I think you're doing fine. But one could always hope to learn something new.