just discovered parallel compression is the SHIT

[Fragle]

so i'm currently rough-mixing a CD, and for shits and giggles i decided to try some parallel compression - haven't had lots of luck with it in the past.

well, i used it on the drums first, and was blown away by the punch - even after level matching. tried it on the guitars next (slightly though), and it also added a nice character....definitely helps making your tracks sound larger!

i suggest to use a characterful comp though, like the stillwell rocket or the waves sslcomp (the only ones i legally own & therefore use - i'm sure there are several other comps that will do the job just fine!) and really crank the shit out of it....on the sslcomp i used like 1:10 ratio, .1 attack and auto release, with threshold set fo like 12db of reduction.....lots of pumping indeed, and sounds like shit solo'ed.

bottom line is, i'm officially converted....stunning technique, really.

 

[FIXXXER]

when used carefully it's a really cool thing!

cheers
S.

 

[P-E]

FUCK MAN IT IS!!!!!

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

It really is actually, just don't over do it or it'll finish sounding more like hip-hop than metal.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

This seems interesting and I have to try but sslcomp does not support sidechain compression or I missing something?

Edit: bah forget it, it´s parallel not sidechain

 

[Trevoire520]

To be honest I've actually ditched parallel compression on my current project as I was having problems with cymbal spill, and I felt it turned my low end into mud. But drums are being re-tracked soon so I'm gonna try again with the new tracks if the spill is better.

 

[-Loco-]

explain parallel compression?

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Bass Drum, Bass Guitar and Snare almost always get a para-comp treatment in my mixes.

 

[Metaltastic]

All to the same compressor, Chris, or separately? I've heard about comp'ing the kick and bass together to glue things nicely, but having the snare in there seems like it might mess things up (but of course, go with what sounds good!)

explain parallel compression?

Sending a group of instruments (guitars, drums) to an aux track, slamming the ever loving crap out of it with a compressor, and then blending it in with the unaffected instruments for happiness (haven't tried it, will soon!)

 

[Sean in Silence]

Parallel compression was the key to getting the vocals to sit at the perfect spot in the mix for me.
I've been using it ever since I figured out how useful it can be on vocals.
Haven't successfully tried it on drums yet though.
I really should.
haha

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

All to the same compressor, Chris, or separately? I've heard about comp'ing the kick and bass together to glue things nicely, but having the snare in there seems like it might mess things up (but of course, go with what sounds good!)



Sending a group of instruments (guitars, drums) to an aux track, slamming the ever loving crap out of it with a compressor, and then blending it in with the unaffected instruments for happiness (haven't tried it, will soon!)

For Drums, I usually compress seperately, because you're right - I always seem to need different parameters for different parts of the kit, and sometimes for different parts of the song - and, if I ever need to automate (not often, but there have been songs where I've had to shorten the attack on the snare compressor a bit for blasts, etc.) it's much easier that way!

Oh, and Reaper routing is the shit - makes these things sooooo easy!

 

[mick thompson]

its a great tool to use but you want to make sure you dont over do it especially in a metal track - you dont want it to pump extreme like a dance tune. its great to use between a slow moving kick and a pair of synth's or a kick and bass guitar to really bring dynamic leveling into your track

 

[-Loco-]

Sending a group of instruments (guitars, drums) to an aux track, slamming the ever loving crap out of it with a compressor, and then blending it in with the unaffected instruments for happiness (haven't tried it, will soon!)

when you slamming, typically what settings does this imply?

 

[Morgan C]

I rarely do it on whole buses, usually just on single tracks. And I use Voxengo Marquis and then just use the wet/dry usually.

I go 0 (or lowest) attack, and fastish release depending on what you're doing, mostly 30-60ms. Then 5-15db reduction.

 

[Metaltastic]

Fast attack, long release, low threshold, and high ratio! I haven't personally experimented with it so I don't really know how many dB's to take off, but at least 10 I would think...

 

[Fox Mulder]

when you slamming, typically what settings does this imply?

At least 1ms attack, release according to tempo, 6:1 ratio and around 10 - 12db of gain reduction.
Going higher than 6:1 can make things sound a bit too gritty IMO, unless that's what you're aiming for.

Never expect magic from this, though. You have your ears for that.

 

[Fragle]

interestingly i never found this technique usable on single channels, like kick snare etc. but when i finally tried it on full busses it really dawned on me.

of course using parallel comp on e.g. just the kick will have similar benefits, like fatter sound etc...however, it will also sound more sterile and "fake" imho.
when using it on the full drum bus though, you send the whole kit to the comp which really glues it together, and when you blend that back in you're not only getting more punch but also a more coherent sounding kit imho.
settings wise i think i had like slowest attack, auto release, 10:1 ratio and threshold set for like 15db GR on the ssl comp. using a faster attack for some reason turned it into mud real fast, i guess because you loose all the transient clarity by stepping on it hard.

i might post a sample of that mix tomorrow or something...

 

[vespiz]

I use it mostly on drums, kick - snare - toms. Never on the full kit with cymbals, because the pumping and "wash" on cymbals gets really annoying quickly.

 

[Ermz]

interestingly i never found this technique usable on single channels, like kick snare etc. but when i finally tried it on full busses it really dawned on me.

of course using parallel comp on e.g. just the kick will have similar benefits, like fatter sound etc...however, it will also sound more sterile and "fake" imho.
when using it on the full drum bus though, you send the whole kit to the comp which really glues it together, and when you blend that back in you're not only getting more punch but also a more coherent sounding kit imho.
settings wise i think i had like slowest attack, auto release, 10:1 ratio and threshold set for like 15db GR on the ssl comp. using a faster attack for some reason turned it into mud real fast, i guess because you loose all the transient clarity by stepping on it hard.

i might post a sample of that mix tomorrow or something...

The idea behind sending from individual tracks is that you get to choose how much 'squeeze' you get with each drum. You can still send them all to the same compressor and get synchronized pumping effect, it's just that this way you get fine control over how much you send. Cymbals for instance are notorious for being absolutely slaughtered by parallel compression, so you have to back the overheads off.

This is a technique that, if I'm not wrong, sounds like it gets used a lot by Jens Bogren. He always has that pumpy/muddy thing going on, which to me is somewhat of a parallel comp signature. I may be wrong.

Also, the 'correct' way to use parallel compression is with a very fast attack. If you do it with a very slow one and let the whole transient pass then you're defeating the entire point of doing it.

I dig the idea of parallel slamming the kick and bass together. I once bussed both to a group and serial compressed them, barely moving the needle and it did what was needed to glue them. It's just a bit of an annoying routing job, as I like my kick to group with the rest of my drums and not the bass. But hey, whatever works.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

I compress everything separately (as needed) and setup "CRUSH" buses for other things.
I send the kick, snare and bass (sometimes toms) to the CRUSH bus and slam it with lots of compression usually with Smack! (pro tools only plugin).

 

[SentencedToBurn]

does anybody find that when sending drums or guitars to a bus (even a stereo bus) for parallel compression, that it kind of ruins the stereo image?