…I mean, unless I’m smashing drums or something. Then I’m good. But whenever someone talks about “tightening up a mix” or “adding glue” I’m hopeless.
I was watching reviews of bus comps. Every one of them they’d play some A/B tests, and then cut back to the reviewer who’d be on the ground and shaking in fits because of how expanded the sound stage was or how it really thickened up the low end or some such.
I’ve got good ears. I’ve got really nice headphones. I couldn’t tell you the difference if my life depended on it. I guess I need to learn what to listen for? Like it’s an ear training thing? But then also, if it sounds good, it is good… and if you have to really work to hear it, maybe it’s not that great?
So please help me, fellow Elektronauts. Anyone have lessons or examples they used to get good at hearing and recognizing compression? Is it even worth it? Or is it all an elaborate scam to sell $4k mastering hardware?
I am not an expert and I am right there with you. When I want subtle compression I make it extreme and back it off until I can just barely hear it, then maybe turn it down one more notch. If that makes sense.
I dont think electronic music needs a ton of compression on individual instruments and prefer saturation on busses.
Compression is just making the quieter sounds louder…
lowering the threshold squish’s the sound more…
It can make a sound more powerful because the quieter bits are louder…
It’s good on drums to make them chunky or beef up a sound if it’s getting lost in the mix
Just lower the threshold right down and turn up the ratio and you should hear it,
It flattens out the dynamics by making the loudest and quietest sounds closer together.
This is great. It really sums up how I’ve always used compression on, say, a single track or instrument. But I see people putting compression on the master of an already completely squashed mix getting maybe 0.5db GR and saying “Hear what a big difference that makes?” and I would swear they’re making it up.
Like, if I stick with it and really work at training my ears, will I be able to hear what this guy is going on about? https://youtu.be/cC9nJ03CmhE Do any of you all with better ears than me think mix after compression notably different? Improved? Is something this subtle mostly placebo? Or is is actually not very subtle and it’s just a lack of practice that makes me think so?
This is maybe a better starting description for a limiter. So much of the art of using compression goes into the attack/release times and the ratio/threshold. The difference between 1.5:1 compressor doing 6dB of gain reduction with 10 msec attack and 150 msec release and a 20:1 compressor doing 6dB at 50 microseconds attack, 10 msec release on the same material is massive.
Don’t sweat the 0.5dB stuff at first, learn to hear the obvious things and go from there. Here’s another vid of Greg, if you skip to 6 min in he demonstrates completely changing the groove and emphasis on a drum track with two different settings on the same compressor
Pretty much what I said can be applied to sub mixes to flatten out the dynamics, which can result in a louder mix when applied to all sub groups…
don’t get hung up on compression and limiters, they get overused these days.
If you have ever heard of the “loudness wars” over compressed and over limited tunes sound awful to my ears, Making a good tune is more important than just making it loud.
Compression is also a bit of an overhyped tool, honestly a lot of the times you’d think you need master compression you should just gain stage or volume automate your tracks. It’s like using an axe when you need a scalpel.
It’s very often overused, especially by people without experience who mistakenly think that large amounts of compression are a “magic fix” for bad mixes.
Personal preferences:
I default to the UA LA-2A for vocals. Perfect combo of warmth and presence while preserving dynamics.
I also like the subtle use of an SSL bus compressor for that “glue” on a mix. This, to me, can add a layer of cohesion, and make it sound like the instruments are in the same room together, if that makes sense.
For sidechaining, my choice varies, but I rarely go HAM. I sometimes apply just enough to give a little subtle pump and more headroom to up the overall volume a bit.
There are exceptions to subtlety, when the style calls for that over-the-top compressed pumping wall of sound like big room EDM.
I figure the more obvious and extreme the compression is, the more I’m “doing it wrong”. I like compression as a surgical tool on music that already has a good sound, not compression as a chainsaw.
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