Buss compression

[silvermaples]

Hey guys just wanted to throw out a question and see how you guys might or might not approach this.

Do you use compression on your busses? example: I'm sure most of us compress everything a little, gtrs, vox, ect. but what about after you send it to a buss:

track 1. lead vox (compression)
track 2. backup vox (compression)

then

track 1, 2 > vocal buss (compression?)

then

vocal buss to master buss (compression?)

I hope I'm explaining this clearly enough, pretty much would you compress your original signal, then compress your buss group, and then finish with an overall master buss compression?

I guess I'm just trying to figure out how mixers give everything its own "space" in the mix


Cheers
Cory

 

[bryan_kilco]

I'm still huge newb, but what I've been doing lately is sending my vocal tracks (pre-fader) to a bus with a compressor on it. I'm not sure if it's the "proper" way. I'm still learning difference between post/pre fader/post-fx and all that in Reaper.

 

[RedDog]

^ that sounds like parallel compression. What I do is eq on individual takes if need be, buss compression after. This can be done in reaper with folder tracks.

 

[bryan_kilco]

^ that sounds like parallel compression. What I do is eq on individual takes if need be, buss compression after. This can be done in reaper with folder tracks.

Hmm you may be correct. I thought with PT, you had to change the input to Aux or something on the comp?

 

[RedDog]

I don't know anything about pro tools. I do know that for reaper, you use the folder option on the track screen. Insert an empty track to the left of the channels you want to bus, click the folder button once. then go right to the last track you want in that folder and click the folder button until it says "track is last in folder". Boom, bussed tracks. The first empty track now applies all effects, volume, automation, what-have-you to all the tracks inside thee folder group. Useful for drum group compression or vocal bussing.

 

[OneDaySky]

I sidechain compress the drum shells on a Aux and the cymbals aswell on another aux.

 

[oroinvictus]

That sounds like a lot of compression to me. Whatever I need to compress gets sent to a compression bus to taste, and that's it. Anything that needs 'verb gets sent to a 'verb bus, etc.

 

[Star Ark]

Hey guys just wanted to throw out a question and see how you guys might or might not approach this.

Do you use compression on your busses? example: I'm sure most of us compress everything a little, gtrs, vox, ect. but what about after you send it to a buss:

track 1. lead vox (compression)
track 2. backup vox (compression)

then

track 1, 2 > vocal buss (compression?)

then

vocal buss to master buss (compression?)

I hope I'm explaining this clearly enough, pretty much would you compress your original signal, then compress your buss group, and then finish with an overall master buss compression?

I guess I'm just trying to figure out how mixers give everything its own "space" in the mix


Cheers
Cory

I think that is a very common amount of compression for rock/metal. It all depends on how you set ratios and thresholds of course ,and the compressors. That being said when I first used buss compression on guitars it was what the project needed, so it became a default mixing element. Later on I found certain projects sounded better without the guitar buss compression....so the goal I guess is to be experienced enough to be able to decide on the spot which works best for the mix. I assume it takes a long time to develop that skill, as in years or even decades, it has taken me a decade and I'm still not that good at it.

In a way this will help give mix elements their own space by glueing groups together a bit, but compression also removes space and pulls things to the front of the mix. Fast attack and release times bring stuff extremely close to the front. Space comes from eq, panning and if mics are used how close/far from the source they are when capturing the signal.

 

[ApeScaleConflict]

In long view of mixing a session it is really helpful to not compress the signal before sending it to an aux buss.
It leaves you more room to work if you decide that everything sounds shit in the source.
I don't know if this made any sense to you, but keep the natural sound (snare top) as natural as you think it's nice, apply only the basic EQ shit on it, then send it to an aux buss and do a little magic on it, then if you decide that it's shit, you always have the natural sweetness on the original track covered

 

[jacare]

sending my vocal tracks (pre-fader) to a bus with a compressor on it.

This. I also do it with drums, but pos-fader. It gives much more presence and helps glue the drum kit. Sometimes I also try to do it with guitars, but using saturation instead of compression... if it fits, it stays.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I don't know anything about pro tools. I do know that for reaper, you use the folder option on the track screen. Insert an empty track to the left of the channels you want to bus, click the folder button once. then go right to the last track you want in that folder and click the folder button until it says "track is last in folder". Boom, bussed tracks. The first empty track now applies all effects, volume, automation, what-have-you to all the tracks inside thee folder group. Useful for drum group compression or vocal bussing.

Doh, sorry.....I didnt mean to type "PT" in that previous post, I meant "PC" as in Parallel Compression. Yeah, I knew about the folders in Reaper, but I didnt think that was considered "bussing".....I'd figure each drum piece on its own would need compression, as well as the whole group, right?

 

[Charles J]

Hey guys just wanted to throw out a question and see how you guys might or might not approach this.

Do you use compression on your busses? example: I'm sure most of us compress everything a little, gtrs, vox, ect. but what about after you send it to a buss:

track 1. lead vox (compression)
track 2. backup vox (compression)

then

track 1, 2 > vocal buss (compression?)

then

vocal buss to master buss (compression?)

I hope I'm explaining this clearly enough, pretty much would you compress your original signal, then compress your buss group, and then finish with an overall master buss compression?

I guess I'm just trying to figure out how mixers give everything its own "space" in the mix


Cheers
Cory

that's pretty much exactly how I do it!

it's not really the amount OF compressors you use but the amount of and TYPE of COMPRESSION you use and even more importatntly, att/rel/ratsettings..

 

[onetruth]

that's pretty much exactly how I do it!

it's not really the amount OF compressors you use but the amount of and TYPE of COMPRESSION you use and even more importatntly, att/rel/ratsettings..

what about staging compression? like using 3 or 4 different compressors in a row on the main vocal track, all shaving off 1 or 2db each? then just having a comp on the 2 bus?

 

[Ascendant]

^ Does the source need staging compression? I use it sometimes on bass guitar for the lows, then send that and the grit track to a bus and compress. Done i with vocals as well, depending on the song and performance.

 

[amarshism]

One thing you must be careful about with bussing vox to a comp is if you have overlapping lines with to much gr your next line coming in will be too quiet.

 

[greyskull]

One thing you must be careful about with bussing vox to a comp is if you have overlapping lines with to much gr your next line coming in will be too quiet.

yep!

 

[Ermz]

Yeah, it's important to break up overlapping vocal lines across multiple tracks and treat them seperately to each other (even if it's exactly the same chain, you need to run it twice). Even breaking up harmonies and running their chains separately helps keep more clarity in the mix. If you need more glue and control when all the vocals roll at once then just throw a brickwall limiter on the vocal bus and make sure it only clamps down when all the vocals play at once. It's sort of an automatic automation thing, as it saves you needing to duck the vocals manually quite so much with the fader. Then again I'm lazy and the proper way is to just automate the shit out of everything.

 

[RedDog]

Doh, sorry.....I didnt mean to type "PT" in that previous post, I meant "PC" as in Parallel Compression. Yeah, I knew about the folders in Reaper, but I didnt think that was considered "bussing".....I'd figure each drum piece on its own would need compression, as well as the whole group, right?

The folders in reaper are just like busses, and you can use pre fader sends for use as parallel tracks or in place of multing tracks I.e. bass grit and parallel compression.

And compression on each individual track is subjective. As well as drum group compression.

 

[silvermaples]

Thanks for all the replies guys, very interesting stuff.

Cheers
-Cory