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 Now online (1)big ...and 613 guests Last 5 registered Oplandisks nothingstar N_loop yipe foxtrotromeo Browse members... |
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i am really only knowledgeable in sequencing, i dont know much about mixing / compressors and all that kind of stuff. im just really good at getting the beats layed down... that said, what are some tips on using compressors? |
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Sorry dude, no 'global' rules.... - threshold = dependent on overall signal levels - attack = dependent on the effect you have in mind - ratio = dependent on the effect you have in mind I'm afraid there is no "turn your knobs this and that" answer... |
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An introduction to compressors: *switches on lecturing voice (Kindergarten mode) -:Requires imagination:- One day all your beats were queuing for a ride at the fairground...it was one of those rides where you have to be a certain height to get on it. Alas, As the beats get to the front of the que they discovered that some of them were too short and some were too tall :( What were they going to do? They really want to go on this ride, all the other producers beats are going on it, and they will be laughed at for missing out! Luckily there was a bloke loitering around behind the candyfloss stall offering compression to the beats. They told the man what height they need to be to ride, then all stepped up to get compressed.... The beats were quite nervous :s ..... but the man told them not to worry as he began stretching the little beats with the compressor until they were big enough and hammering the tall ones down until they were small enough. Soon enough all the beats were the same size, they jumped for joy and skipped off together towards the ride. And they lived happily ever after :D The end Hope that helped |
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he asked for tips... not "compressor theory for infants and retards" ;-) keep up the good work! |
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Haha! The advanced use story is pure filth....best break him in gently:) |
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hmmm i seem to get it now i guess what long-term disadvantages did the beats risk in being compressed? what do the uncompressed beats think of compressed beats? |
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the uncompressed beats think the compressed ones don't have any dynamics since they are all the same size. |
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im totally hearing it now in all of my tracks, every sound is the same volume... and for that cause they are all the same pitch and overall it's just flat. |
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Ok, I guess you simply compressed too hard! The well-known compressor paradox is: good compression is inaudible... go figure |
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I don't use much compression any more.....try using several channels that contain different elements of your rhythm.(one for kicks + snare, one for hats etc.) If you balance these nicely, you won't need to use a compressor. |
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thats exaclty what ive just tried doing, i put the snare on an enire different channel, as well as hi-hat elements. works out much cleaner, better. more "wide" sounding, i guess? more headspace. |
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I use compression mainly on vocals and (as a hard limiter) when mastering the final stereo track. However, I am into rock music... |
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Dividing into multiple tracks isn't really a replacement for a compressor guys.... In the recordings of our band, we use 8 tracks/microphones to record each and every different element of the drum kit..... and guess what.... although they're isolated, the kick and snare drum really need compression to 'even out' peaks that get over the critical 0dB line |
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Do you have any stuff online? |
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I've had astounding difficulty mic-ing up drums. I have no idea how you're supposed to do it so it sounds any good. |
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sorry, i didn't mention recording real instruments. I was assuming that cygnus sequenced his stuff and the levels were consistent. Different ball game in your case, it's much more difficult getting a band to sound good. |
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This is what I told you last night Cyg, it's all about dynamic range :p |
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no online stuff (yet) Monday we'll start recording a RHCP cover, "Under the Bridge" [note: we've got female vocals!] Mic'ing drums isn't that hard as long as you got separate mics for: - overheads (L) - overheads (R) - kick drum (use a special bass- or kick drum mic to pick up low enough frequencies!) - snare - one mic for each tom, or one for each two toms And the most important part: it sounds like poop if you don't use noise gates to stop the sound bleeding throug all mics, which makes it too goddamn difficult to mix and apply effects afterwards.... |
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xceque: I heard that the break for Funky drummer was recorded using just two overheads. Don't let anyone tell you there is only ONE way to mic up a kit.....i just mess around until it sounds good. Cygnus: There are some really good technique articles |
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bleed has always been the biggest problem. how would you employ a noise gate with mics in hardware? (I still know little about proper-band hardware) |
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We bought a fairly cheap Behringer noise-gate with four channels for this purpose. I'm not into Behringer at all, but this particular thingie is even used in some pro-studios... |
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ah, so it's a simple (though expensive I'm sure - these bugger love to charge for their gear) hardware device that just acts as a noise gate. cunning. |
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argh, damn.... wrong one... it's the Intelligate instead of Multigate |
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the fruits of todays labor here, no compressor, attention to "dynamic range" i thnk i dunno, listen to it and critique though please |
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I know it's just an mp3, I played around with it but there are lots of artifacts that you haven't used or taken out when you made it that dissrupt straight forward compression. Work on your eq. |
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Compressors are infinately simple and difficult to use, but its always best to play it safe and think of it more as an effect then as a tool. If you are using it to control volume, it always risks making your recordings too hot bright or warm, or can screw up dynamics with any samples that were pre-compressed. It also has a tenancy to either kill or exadurate audio artifacts. When mixing, learn your eq's (most important!!), learn your volume envelopes, and use stereo separation/offsetting when you find that your bass or drums are not dominant enough. |
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i was listening to this cd with some of my electronic music on it as well as dog belch' and others on a different system (car), my sounded worse because i used to little compression i think. it's hard to hear what's too little, i guess i should use extra, small, speakers to check |
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er yea, i usually don't go over 1,5:1 and a few decibel threshold, while i noticed other people doing that (remixing dog belch for instance, he went up to 6:1 on some drums, i think it does differ which compressor you use though) the main tool i use for (overall)compression is the maximizer, though i don't set the threshold for that over 2db and i havent gone much over 0db to begin with (i maximize to -0,2 db as that sounds good on other systems imo btw) |
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a good tip for you Cygnus and Big is to stay away from the maximizers, exciters, psp vintage and what not if you don't know how to proberly use them. you will probably ruin your tracks with them start learning to properly mix with your "normal" eq's and compressors. those can already give you very good results if you know how to use them. and all those maxmizers and shit are just for that something extra. if you mix correctly you probably don't need it. leave that for the person who's gonna master your track. and the thing about your music sounding worse in your car doesn't directly have to do with using to little compression. it means your monitors in your studio are not giving you the proper reference you need. every speaker is different. so your music will sound different on different speakers. what you can do is purchase monitors that don't color your sound like normal speakers do. if your track sounds good on those. your track will probably sound good on every system. another option is to listen to your track on different systems so you know what you have to change to your track. |
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i do use the maximizer for the end result, the mastering, but i do think it's madness to mix to 0db without one i don't have monitor speakers, it's just a hi-fi system. listening on more systems is what i meant with other speakers, now i only have good speakers and good headphones and therefor no reference because i don't have monitor speakers or a less good system. i think not enough compressed music will sound good on good sytems because those will let you hear everything and not good on the radio for instance because that will only let you hear the loudest things |
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