help with compression

[-rich-]

hey could any1 help me out a little with some tips?


I am struggling to get the compression right on my tracks, i understand what i am trying to acheive by compressing but i am not very good at it at all.


should everything be compressed together? seperatly? how do you use compression to get a tighter mix?

[FOKI26]

Compress everything seperately to start with, and by everything i mean the obvious stuff like drums, perc, bass....any sounds that have spikes that could overload the meter levels.





Try to get a reasonable balance of all your sounds, if anything else is standing out in the mix too much, again compress that (or simply turn its volumedown if it is a fairly static sound)





Upon mixdown, a compessor on your master track is useful to help all your sounds gel together, and keep the whole thing in check.





What compressor are you using, some have different settings for different sounds.





For the final master a lot of people recomend the Waves - Ultermaximizer, which is very good and brings the whole thing up so it sounds nice and loud.





This is basic, it's trial and error mate, just don't overdo it or your track will sound too flat.

[FOKI26]

In addition to this, EQ your sounds to the best you can getthem before compressing also, as this can make huge differences to the overall track.

[-rich-]

thanks foki thats is definately helpful,


i have only been using the compressor in reason.

[FOKI26]

Never used it so don't know if it's any good, or not....





Can you use other plug-ins in Reason, if so irecomend you look into getting hold of the waves bundle.:smiley2:

[-rich-]

no you cantunfortunately but i use cubase aswell so i'll check it out

[FOKI26]

There's a bit of an argument around these things but Cubase is much better than Reason.... a lot more professional and versatile.





Altho, being a Logic user i think Logic is a bit better than cubase, but it's probs more down to personal taste rather than functionality.

[-rich-]

reason is great, rewire it into cubase and what more do you need?

[MELLY]

reason is ok , but the compressor in it is not great at all, i would recomend using the akai quod comp vst (multiband masteringcompressor/expander) tis a wicked tool, one thing you want to watch is to not over compress, i have some good tutorials some where on the harddrive , i'll dig em outy later hopefully! another thing is , why dont you just try using the vst's , i use to find them better than rewiring reasonhttp://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley10.gif


cheers





Rodg...........http://www.itstooloud.com/smileys/smiley14.gif

[Tobes]

theres loads of tutorials in our ftp folder also :smiley2:

[-rich-]

cool thanks guys i will be reading up for the next few days, alot of info!

[FOKI26]

Alternatively get yourself a hardware compressor, i use a Focustrite penta and it just sounds so much better than any software comps i've used.





There are also compressors built into my Yami sampler which again beat any software i've used hands down....





I'm not in this whole software thing, can you tell...... A lot of it just doesn't quite cut the mustard when comparedto hardware IMO (but that's a whole different argument).

[-rich-]

i agree i was looking at them earlier, but i lack the space and the money so i just have to make do for this moment in time...besides whats the point spending £100 or so on the hardware and not really know how to use it to its full potential:smiley1:

[FOKI26]

Couldn't agree more... get to know the basics first of using any compressor (they all work the same).





My set-up is more or less all hardware, so it made more sense for me to have a hardware one for the convenience as well as the quality.....





I primarily use mine on my Nova, as myTriton has it's own compressors built in, and so does my sampler...





I have a TC Elec' M-One FX box (primarily a reverb unit) but that also has a really nice compressor in it that is probably often overlooked on that unit.....





Edited by: FOKI26

[jcat]

The last word in compression (without spending £££££££££)...


http://www.uaudio.com/products/software/uad-1.html


The mostfundamental classic compressors modelled to perfection by UA. you get 1176, LA2A and even a Fairchild (the real fairchild units are worth $30000)http://www.itstooloud.com/webwiz/smileys/2thumbs.gif.


UA are really good at modelling analogue gear, and it all runs on a powerfull 64bit DSP card. I've got two, they sound wicked, waves etc arepoor in comparison. Check the forum for info...


http://www.chrismilne.com/uadforums/





Cheers,


jcat


PS and no, I don't have shares... :smiley2:

[jcat]

Oh yeah, PPS.


The Pultec EQ (also on the UAD-1) is the best digital EQ I've ever heard. Believe...





Cheers,


jcat

[-rich-]

looks good man, downloading now