Am I over-compressing???

[buhzie2]

"Am I over-compressing???"

I'd think it would be smart to say that if you have to ask that question, then you probably are.

I feel like with my drum mixes in particular, that I think I'm over-compressing. I mainly mix death metal/hardcore/metalcore stuff, or anything in similar genres. I know that loud, in your face drum sounds are the norm here, but I feel like I'm missing something. I'll normally have compression running on individual close mic channels, parallel compression of drum shells, and some drum buss compression.

Here's how it usually goes down with my mixes: On close mic channels (sometimes 100% sample replaced snares and kicks, not so much toms), I'll usually have some fairly quick attack, quick release, 4:1 - 8:1 compression, with anywhere from 5-10db reduction, then I'll usually send those channels to a parallel compression aux, slamming the compressor there, fastest attack, slow release, with absurd db reduction, and blending that into the drum bus, usually pretty high. And on my final drum bus, i'll have some light compression to even out some some miscellaneous transients and to help to glue everything together.

I notice that my drum sounds sometimes lack life and punch and have a hard time cutting through guitars - even when I bring the guitar bus level down pretty low. Could this be because I'm robbing them of any life and space to breathe? I'll try to post a sample soon.

What do you guys normally do when it comes to compressing drums? Parallel only? Bus only? Combinations?

 

[MIAnn]

compression wise i do pretty much EXACTLY the same as you do.. its difficult without an audio example and i dont want to sound like a **** but maybe its an EQ issue????

 

[professorlamp]

You've got the average compressor chain so I wouldn't worry there. Try fiddling around with the attack and release to let through the initial transients a bit more, that might give you what you're looking for

 

[Morgan C]

You're saying 'fairly quick attack'.. the attack of a drum is usually like 30ms, so if you're compressing with an attack of like 3ms or something (sometimes this is exactly what you need, there's no formulas here), maybe try increasing that a little bit.

 

[RedDog]

Lower your attack time to about 10 ms, gclip is your friend here, and compare. Try it, promise.

 

[BLUElightCory]

Definitely try slowing down the attack. The transients of each drum hit are what give the drums their punch and cut, and slowing down the attack will allow more of the transients to poke through.

 

[buhzie2]

I'll try some of the tips you guys mentioned. Also, I feel like the majority of my drum sound has been coming from the parallel compression channel and it's like the original close mic channels dont really serve any purpose. Thoughts?

 

[Uros]

No wonder you have no punch then. Use the parallel comp only to add sustain, don't draw main sound from it.

 

[if6was9]

I agree with what the guys are saying here. Slow the attack and the drums will get punchier and cut better.

 

[Pre Studio Productions]

You're saying 'fairly quick attack'.. the attack of a drum is usually like 30ms, so if you're compressing with an attack of like 3ms or something (sometimes this is exactly what you need, there's no formulas here), maybe try increasing that a little bit.

this

 

[Clark Kent]

Overcompressing is also a taste issue. Some love pumping and some hate it. There are no rules.

3dB gain reduction on drums is usually the ideal amount of compressing. After that the compressor is affecting the tone in a weird way. But ofcourse that's also a taste issue. I love to kill all dynamics on vocals and I might run them through 3-4 different compressors.

There are no rules really since every drummer is different. Some drummers play evenly and they don't require just about any compression. Ofcourse the snare and kick gets compressed always...

 

[MetalMiller]

3dB gain reduction on drums is usually the ideal amount of compressing.

Hhmm, what about stage compression. Me myself can´t get any decent drum sound using just a single comp. on anything. I´m using a minimum of 2-3 comp´s on snare. Compressing kick´s is a pain in the ass. Try some transient designer and and comp. instead. Never had problems with just one comp. on toms though.

 

[pfhuck]

DBX 160 series (o.g., x, xt, a) are perfect for individual drum elements I think. The LACK of attack and release knobs is NICE. Gain reduction amount, ratio and threshold affect the attack and release values afaik, but it's usually really easy to dial in a workable sound...

DON'T PINCH THE TRANSIENTS TOO MUCH!!

Please and THANK YOU!
-pfhuck