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compress the low end?

Arys Chien

Active Member
The easy rescue is to use a multi-band compressor to squeeze the low out of your mix.

Yet if you are serious about your music, or not right on the deadline, I'd suggest that you do a remix.
 

ed83

New Member
I am happy to remix the track
the song consits of drums,bass,guitar and E piano
should I be compressing each part more to add low end?
 

BTLG

Established Member
Compression isn't something that really 'adds low end' to a mix.
It's a hard problem to suss out without some kind of sample. Do you have a way to post one ?

People have a misconception that compression makes things sound bigger. The truth is quite the opposite.... Kill all the plugins on your mix and do a 'faders up' mix. Find the level that you like and work from there. I think you'll a) do a lot less and b) find your mix coming together much sooner.

Don't fall prey to the idea that because you're mixing that you HAVE to DO a lot.
 

ed83

New Member
I find that when I listen to the recording with no processing apart form a little eq it still lacks low end.

I don't know how to post a track on here?
 

Fundy

Established Member
Bass should only be compressed in the right circumstances, if you boost the lowend by say 9dB and you have about 6dB clipping then I would be using between 5 to 7:1 ratio and a fairly loud threshold of say about -18dB to -12dB or so. This is just for examples sake, playing with the attack and release should help shape the sound and control the perceived loudness.
 

BTLG

Established Member
Based on that statement though, anything should only be compressed under the right circumstances.

I think what's really lacking in this situation is an understanding of what compression DOES in mix. Not in terms of 'level control', but the effect it has when used in a mix situation.

Ever done a mix where you put a compressor on 9 out of 12 tracks and then found things getting lost? Take the compressors out and BOOM the whole track comes back.

I find myself reaching for the compressor less and less these days. I find that when you do too much to the tracks you don't pay enough respect to what's already there.
 

Fundy

Established Member
I think it's also important to remember that Parametric equalisation could also be considered a form of compression, or rather a frequency dependant compression method.

You may use a 12dB/oct or 24dB/Oct low-shelf cut at 50hz, boost it at 125Hz, cut it between 250-600Hz and add some harmonics at 700Hz. Although this strictly isn't compression it can sometimes eradicate the need for compression in some cases.

This goes for any part of a mix, equalisation used to create space. Also using slight panning to create a wider sound,

Compression is nice for giving your mix punch when adding volume to certain frequencies, keeping it out of the red and depending on the compressor used, adding some nice musical harmonics.

Over at some forum called KVR, they rave on about new and wonderful Eq's, compressors/limiters and other tools. However I think you should try to learn to get the best out of what you use and you may find you can get satisfactory results from just using a small arsenal of tools and a home studio.

But anyway...

I certainly agree you just don't have to compress everything within a mix.
 

BTLG

Established Member
I strongly disagree that parametric EQ is a type of compression. That's a pretty confusing statement to make.

In a frequency dependent compressor, the threshold is keyed based on a frequency. When said frequency crosses the threshhold, then the compressor kicks in for the entire signal. That is NOTHING like EQ'ing. When you EQ, you're boosting/cutting a frequency throughout the entirety of the signal no matter what the level of the signal is.

I see what you're trying to say, by cutting/boosting a frequency you're effectively controlling the level of a sound, which is to some degree true. It's no substitute for a compressor for that effect though.

What I meant was, compression adds up. You compress your kick/snare/elec guitars/bass/vocal all with a similar ratio and attack time - your mix is going to sound small and there'll be no interplay between parts.
 

Fundy

Established Member
Agreed parametric,multiband or otherwise forms are not compression and I wasn't advocating that they were (well at least not intentiionally). You do bring up another point though, when do you use sidechaining in the mix process.

\"Although this strictly isn't compression it can sometimes eradicate the need for compression in some cases. \"

As the lawyers say, I think I covered my ass there.
:D
 

BTLG

Established Member
\"I think it's also important to remember that Parametric equalisation could also be considered a form of compression, or rather a frequency dependant compression method. \"

what are you? some kind of politician? did you 'vote for it before you voted against it' too?

:lol:

All in jest my friend.

Sidechaining? Occassionally. I had a track with a drum loop layered with kick and snare samples, so I set up the compressor to clamp down a couple dB on the loop when the kick and snare crossed the threshold in order to add some punch to the track. I've frequency sidechained on bass before when certain notes hit the mic harder than others. Or when I have a drum loop that lacks some sub bass, I'll sidechain a gate with a shelf of 70hz or so and below, send the loop to a subsynth and blend that with the full loop.

it's something I use sparingly. you?

Matt
 

Fundy

Established Member
I'm not very \"up\" on the sidechaining issue although I have used De-essing in the past which is a form of sidechaining, usually high-end percusssion or vocals.
 

BTLG

Established Member
You should try it, you'll get some interesting musical results. I don't care what anyone tells you, you can do it in VST 2.0, it's just that you have to route things in the box intelligently to make it happen.

OR you can use a FMR Really Nice Compressor, those things are pretty great.
 

Fundy

Established Member
I almost managed to create stereo sidechain today, although both signals (the kick track and bass track) where being routed properly in a Quadrophonic setup. I'm still not quite getting the trigger sound I'm looking for, perhaps this will come together when I eq and effect the drums. Work in Progress.
 

Fundy

Established Member
BTLG said:
Fundy -

what plug/gear are you using to do it ?

Matt
I'm trying out all sorts of freebies and what not so far. However the general consenus is you different dynamic effect for different vibes.

For pumping disco, a compressor/gate combo is pretty much the thing to you use. Or for frequency dependent a eq/limiter/sidechain or de-esser is pretty much what I would need.

I have Fairchild compressor, although I am not sure how to implement the sidechain function on that. Any tips on that.
 

Akis

Sadly, left this world before his time.
Moderator
Fundy said:
I have Fairchild compressor, although I am not sure how to implement the sidechain function on that. Any tips on that.
The sidechain on the Fairchild works only to sidechain the 2 channels; it's not an external sidechain.
 

BTLG

Established Member
Usually I'll use the Waves C1 or the FMR RNC for sidechaining. The RNC usually yields better results.
 
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