Compressing sample drums

Camis

New member
Hello guys do you compress sampled drums from various sample packs i know they are already proccesed but sometimes i feel i want more punch and i try to compress them. Do you compress them often or no or never do that? Thx
 
If I use sampled drums, I usually compress only drum buses to glue all my drums together. But if you treat compression as a sound design tool, then why not compress these samples once again? Your ears need to judge if, after compression, things still sit well in the mix.
 
Yeah i ussualy also try to comrpess only busses for glue but lately i find out it makes them a little bit flat, even with slow attack setings what compressor you use?
 
I actually use the stock Ableton compressors - glue compressor and the "normal" compressor - so far, they've been doing the job for me. Occasionally I put a Soundtoys Decapitator on drum buses as well - this can work really well and bring out the character of the drums and, yeah, glue them a bit.
 
I see btw have u noticed that for example when compressing drum buss your compressor meter shows for example 4 db of gain reduction but your daw level meter shows that u need to add only 2 or 1 db and not 4db to compansate the gain
 
As reflected above, there are different approaches that can work. I will tell you that I was a bit floored, however, the first time I used compression on an already processed drum machine sample.

As always, a little goes a long way, taste and your ears are the key.

GJ
 
As always, a little goes a long way, taste and your ears are the key.

This. Don't think about what might or might not have been done to the sounds before, or just compress (or not) without thinking – if the sound/mix needs compression, then it does. The important thing is what comes out.
 
I see btw have u noticed that for example when compressing drum buss your compressor meter shows for example 4 db of gain reduction but your daw level meter shows that u need to add only 2 or 1 db and not 4db to compansate the gain

I assume this may depend on the meters you're looking at. For example, Ableton's glue compressor, from what I read, shows the RMS value, and not the peak levels - i.e. shows reduction in perceived loudness. Whereas in your track levels you may be looking at peak level changes - take a look at the RMS levels - I just tested it and it seems to be ok with what the compressor is reducing.
 
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