comps/limiters and evening out dynamics

[bryan_kilco]

I was working on something last night that had say, a hi hat, that was louder in one part than in the rest of the part. I thought, "Oh, compressor will even that out". Slap one on, tweak a bit, find the part is still louder in the one spot.

2 comps, 2 limiters, and I think a comp after the limiter finally solved it. It just didn't seem right to me, but it worked.

QUESTION: A lot of guys say "don't use a compressor because you're supposed to; use it because you know you need it".

How do you know exactly when it is needed? If you have a snare track that maybe has a few higher peaks here and there?

There are certain times where I think just adding simple compression to things will help, and it doesnt. (Drummers left foot hitting lighter than his right....causes me fits!!!)

 

[Studdy]

The inconsistancies in snare hits etc. is what will make the recording sound "real" major inconsistanies such as weak hits can simply be replaced with a more suitable hit. Automation is always and option, although i usually automate after a compressor. This is why i myself love the new Clip Gain feature in protools it is so handy, it's great for adjusting a db here or there with little work involved. I myself and i'm sure others around here are not 100% comfortable with compression, so i generally use it to maintain a level range/control dynamics or if i want the "sound" of the compressor.

Cheers.

 

[Kohugaly]

When to use compressor and when not? well... look at the typical attack and release settings... they usually move around 10ms attack time and 300ms release time. So compressor basically handles envelope changes within 0,5second range (at most). So I better think of compressor as envelope shaping tool that let me control the balance(and shape) between attack and sustain on percussive signals and to handle occasional loud bursts on nonpercusive signals.

To handle inconsistence between certain hits in drums I prefer automation (actually I select and boost/cut volume on parts destructively directly in the audio file). And differences between parts of the song? automation!

So for your kick example... Compressor ducks very fast and releases very fast, cos' kicks have big dissonance between attack and sustain. Maybe limiter with AHR (attack-hold-release) set on fast Att, fast Rel and Hold set to distance between hits (speaking in time domain) might do the job you're after... Unfortunately I don't think such an device even exists. But I know how to make one in Synthmaker so if you're really interested I can make a prototype...

 

[RedDog]

You're in reaper, right?

Look up parameter modulation. you will thank me.

 

[Mikaël-ange]

I was working on something last night that had say, a hi hat, that was louder in one part than in the rest of the part. I thought, "Oh, compressor will even that out". Slap one on, tweak a bit, find the part is still louder in the one spot.

2 comps, 2 limiters, and I think a comp after the limiter finally solved it. It just didn't seem right to me, but it worked.

QUESTION: A lot of guys say "don't use a compressor because you're supposed to; use it because you know you need it".

How do you know exactly when it is needed? If you have a snare track that maybe has a few higher peaks here and there?

There are certain times where I think just adding simple compression to things will help, and it doesnt. (Drummers left foot hitting lighter than his right....causes me fits!!!)

It depend mostly about what you want to achieve.
Compression (plugin or hardware) is like adding color, like equalizing in some case.

So with that in mind, if you want only control the dynamic and not changing your sound: volume ride.

If what you want is controlling the dynamic of one track but also change the sound of that track: compression

In your HH example, volume ride was the way to go imho.

 

[Chris Lucas]

Compressors can be used to shape transients in drums as well. For instance, a lot of people including myself use compression on sampled drums, even when every hit is exactly as loud as the others and the samples are already processed. Typically I feel like this is just to shape the transient to fit the other material in the song, not to make the sustain of the drum louder or anything like that.

 

[DavePiatek]

If it's a problem with only a few hits on the hats, I'd advise you to use fader automation to bring those sections down rather than lay into your tracks the whole time with a compressor. For me, compressing the cymbals usually leads to audible "tearing" of the high frequencies when any audible amount of gain reduction is occurring.