Re: the voodoo of using using compression in the mix buss. You may be right, it may be voodoo! Of course, many pros do this in the studio. Hell, by the time you get to Mastering you may have 3 stages of compression or more. But some FOH engineers don't like it. Different strokes Even if it's not for you, or your specific situation.
And just because pros do it doesn't mean it's right for you or your mix, or that it's a hard and fast rule, either. Plus, I've done many projects where there was no compression on the mix buss at all. I've found it to be a useful approach in many cases, that's all I don't want to buy a new board right now, and I don't want to buy 16 ch of higher quality compression now either. And yeah, thanks KEL for confirming my feeling on the Of course, the proof is in the pudding I'm going to borrow a few different units and see what I think.
If it doesn't work and it "ruins" my mixes, I'll be the first one to post back and admit my folly! Using a compressor on the mix bus to control dynamics or just because you like the sound is NOT voodoo Joe Polizzi.
I'm surprised by most of the answers here. A little buss compression is very common, especially on studio mixes. Also - I thought that it was pretty obvious that the OP wasn't talking about fixing something that was somehow 'skipped' in the backing mix, but to glue the backing tracks with the LIVE channels - which, of course, weren't available, 'cause..
And 'glue' is the term that I use, and the effect that I hear. One of the 'secret sauce' things I do for my relatively 'famous' mix quality famous among a few hundred Locals in this Greater Milwaukee tri-county area.. I usually use a little less than ratio, pretty fast attack - like of-the-clock - about Noon on the release, Overeasy.
And then, instead of using the 'contour' detector highpass, I usually put one of their cheap EQs in the sidechain, set to approximately an 'inverse Equal Loudness Contour' with the low-side bottoming out at minus-twelve, of course - so besides the lowcut, there's a little up-bump between 1. Yep, nothing like having the same "secret sauce" on everything you eat Just read the whole thread. This is a balance issue not a "glue" one. Do not reach for a compressor here, you will just overwork it.
Walk in to the venue, tune your room, bring up your vocal, get it sweet sounding, Bring in your backing tracks, Sculpt em up with eq to work around the room and your vocal. Anything more than 4db in any direction between hz-8khz will sound unnatural if they're properly mixed.
If you've got good tracks, you really should be set to go after this, a lot of times you'll notice one element poking out and sounding weird in the room and this is a good time to go in and bring that down. If you get to this point and you're happy, throw a comp on, Don't make it work harder than 3db GR, it won't matter too much what it is compared to the PA, Room, Mics, etc.
In my experience with the Presonus mixers, simply having an outboard mic preamp and single channel of good comp for that makes the most difference. But i'm of the philosophy that the lead vocal is THE most important aspect of most bands. Does it sound better? To my ears yes, but it's a subtle thing. Subtle at the level you're talking about doesn't work - you're not going to get the "glue" live with a Presonus board, and compressing already compressed backing tracks isn't the way to go.
I had a back when I had a Mackie - but it was used as 4 vocal mic inserts, not for master buss and 2 others. Sold it all when I went digital with an 01v. Adding a hardware compressor isn't going to get you that extra something - it would be like having a boutique mic pre into your current mixer. It might make you feel better, but the sound quality won't improve. Check your EQ on the backing tracks, and if you're mixing from stage, you need to either have someone else turn the knobs while you move out to the front to hear what it all sounds like, or dump the Presonus and get a Mackie DL or 32 mixer and a tablet to mix from wherever you want.
Makes a big difference when you can change the parametric eq on a channel or levels from FOH vs. I won't go back to mixing traditionally. You think that strapping the same compressor with the same settings across every mix is the same thing as using the same console or the same loudspeakers? Do you use the same input gain and the same processing on every input channel all the time?
Are the loudspeakers tuned the same all the time too? But I think it's a good example of how you have to "work with what you have". Your compressor kicks in and reduces the signal 4 dB. Your bassline is drops 4 dB along with the guitar so the mix is still wrong. I see your point. Now, assuming this is the case: When we mix the tracks, we mix them on our Pa system.
Always start with the bass line and use a db reader. We try to get that somewhere between 90 and 95 db. Of course, it always fluctuates due to what register the bass line is in and etc, but relatively always somewhere in that pocket. We then mix in everything else with that. So, our mixes are usually always pretty solid relative to each other ie, bass line, guitar, harmonies, etc.
In other words, we usually wouldn't have a mixed track where the guitar track might be 4 db louder. Once they are mixed down to one track though, that is where the volume levels from track to track start to fluctuate. I understand what you are saying, and this whole process is frustrating.. So, basically you think I shouldn't even bother compressing that channel? Been there, done that. We went from a 6 piece band together for 8 years and down sized to three.
Too many problems, egos, arguments, etc. The band now consists of me, my sister and brother in law, so it is kind of a family thing. We own our own sound and light system and do not have to answer to anyone anymore. Are you using compression at mix down? I will usually compress all of them. Multiband compression is a lot more complicated than that.
The great thing about multiband compression is that you can target specific frequency ranges of instruments. This is great when you have instruments that have a wide frequency range if you need to only compress certain aspects of that instrument.
Why do you need to send a song to mastering? There might be already much treble and sheen etc on the music. It might not sound dull anymore after the mix, or are you to make it sound dull so the mastering engineer can pump it up? Make the best mix you can.
One might be louder; another might be brighter and third might be much quieter. Making the songs sound like they belong together on an album is the purpose of mastering. You can achieve something similar without compression, just with a little more work. Normally, automation is the last step in making a mix sound good. Using compression is just the easier way to go. It takes less time to learn how to effectively use a compressor instead of spending hours automating to get the same effect.
EQ and compression are your best friends for making better sounding mixes. They go hand in hand to create separation between your instruments and punchy and tight dynamics in your tracks. Learn what all the buttons on your compressor do, experiment with the different compressor styles, and then start applying the aforementioned compression tricks in your mixes. He helps musicians and producers turn amateur demos into professionally produced records they can be proud to release. We help home studio musicians and project studio producers make a greater musical impact in their lives by teaching them the skills needed to grow their hobbies and careers.
We do this by offering simple and practical music production and success skills they can use right away to level themselves up — while rejecting negativity and gear-shaming from the industry. A rising tide floats all boats and the ocean is big enough for all of us to surf the sound waves. But compression is different. Compression is highly subjective, and you can use it so many different ways. Why Compress? What Does a Compression Do?
It manages your signal for you, raising it and lowering it depending on how loud it is. But using compression and knowing how to compress are two different things. It comes down to the mentality of using compression as a tool, not as a crutch. Do you need to tighten the drums? Do you need to level the vocals? Do you need to tame the attack of the transients?
Once you know that you can start playing with your toys. Some compressor plug-ins have more types, but these three are the most common. Use a low threshold so that it only reacts to the peaks. Use a high ratio so that those peaks will be cut down effectively. But afterward, you might still want to thicken up the track or control the levels even further.
You use that compressor on the overall signal to tighten things up. How to Approach Compression Let me tell you how to approach compression by telling you a little story about gambling at a Vegas Blackjack table. Why did I tell you all this? Use a Compression System Using compression works the same way. Given a good starting point, a great result is just a few tweaks away. The multi-band compressor.
So I just kept on using my other compressors, not realizing the potential I was passing over. I always use to use them in mastering, but that somehow seemed easier and more straightforward. Getting a great mix from the top-down with multi-band compression lets me dial in the right compression in the right frequency ranges.
To tame muddy bass guitars. I sometimes slap a multi-band compressor on a bass and compress a little harder on the low-mids to get the bass to sit better in the mix without adding too much boominess. On the drum bus. A multi-band compressor lets you compress the entire drum-kit at varying levels throughout the entire frequency spectrum.
Smoothing out vocals. Frequently Asked Compression Questions Congratulations on getting this far. Do you compress like a pre compression before you send it for mastering? What instruments do you compress yourself during the mix? So how far can I go with the mix and applying compression to the instruments before hand?
Tame Drums — If the drums are getting in your way, careful attack and release timing can tame some of those pesky transients to make for easier-sounding drums in the background.
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