just discovered parallel compression is the SHIT

[Morgan C]

See, I like the NON Para Drums wayyyyy fucking better. They already sound pretty damn compressed in the first place (but that good, 'you did it right' kind of compression).

...and then I heard the para. comp added in, BLARGHHHH. It's too much, maaaan! At least for me, anyways. I don't like what it did to the transients at ALL and it made it kind of messy and smeary. I don't like smeary drums, personally.

After I listened back the regular drums and ahhhhh, sense of relief.

I guess it's more down to a taste thing, eh?

Parallel compression definately smears the transients, but it can save them when it comes to mastering. I use it almost all the time on snares, sometimes on toms but not often. Never on kicks.

On vocals and bass it is awesome too for bringing out grit (much better than more distortion/saturation).

 

[colonel kurtz]

When you people say "blend" you mean having 2 tracks or do you use some plugin that has a wet/dry option? (or would that be the same as having 2 tracks?)

i send the original track to an aux send/fx track/whatever on a pre-fader send. this way i can do whatever the hell i want to each, completely independent of each other, and ride the faders back and forth for each until i find what sounds best

 

[AudioGeekZine]

I prefer Post fader most of the time.
And I hate cymbals in my crush bus

 

[SoClose]

When you people say "blend" you mean having 2 tracks or do you use some plugin that has a wet/dry option? (or would that be the same as having 2 tracks?)

whatchu mean you people? lol

 

[Sean in Silence]

What I do in Reaper is send them all to one track with the comp and whatever else on it
and then just click the in/out button and use the faders for each fx recieve to set the levels for what's going into the parallel comp.

 

[beechstudio]

How many of you guys are parallel compressing thru a board using outboard comps? While I mix both itb and otb, I find the technique much more pleasing and effective thru my board. One thing I've noticed is that comp plugins introduce latency which can really screw your sound if not careful. Not so with the outboard. Give it a shot!

 

[nwright]

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...

I thought on here people say fast attack AND fast release?

I usually paracomp this way (fast attack and release).

I don't send my OH's to the paracomp buss.

In Daunt's tutorial, I think he used a shelf EQ to kill the high end of the paracomp track since he sent the entire kit to the paracomp track.

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeah, as I said I haven't messed with it so I don't know for certain (I was just going by the general definition of "smashing" something), though I do find that for smashing most things I try to keep the release relatively high, at least compared to the attack (usually between maybe 200-400 ms) just to avoid any unnecessary pumping.

 

[Charles J]

Just ran into this on another forum and it explains exactly what I'm hearing:

"a lot of good compressors (to make the sound more "analog") are using certain phase-alterings within the compressor-stage. when mixing the original signal to the compressor-out _outside_ the plugin via your host, you could get terrible flanging issues"

It is suggested that if you have a compressor plug w/a wet/dry knob built in, that you use that rather than doing it VIA your DAW.

Makes sense to me.

 

[vespiz]

If I do it ITB, I route the tracks through two compressors, one is either in bybass or doing some small compressing and the other does the para comp smash. (hmm.. sounds like some new dance..). Anyhoo, this way you get the same latency and no phase issues.

 

[kev]

I don't send my OH's to the paracomp buss.

^ big tip right there, I agree on this one, otherwise you can quickly end in pumpsville.

 

[Charles J]

If I do it ITB, I route the tracks through two compressors, one is either in bybass or doing some small compressing and the other does the para comp smash. (hmm.. sounds like some new dance..). Anyhoo, this way you get the same latency and no phase issues.

Ah, good fucking idea dude. I used to do this back when I was using PT. Never occurred to me because I suppose I take the ADC in Cubase for granted, even though I'm sure it's not perfect. =D

 

[nwright]

^ big tip right there, I agree on this one, otherwise you can quickly end in pumpsville.

My reason for not including the OH's is simply because I didn't like the way it sounded. Of course there was additional pumping, but overall it gave the cymbals a harsh and gritty tone (well, for me anyway). I know you can knock down the cymbals using shelf EQ (like how Daunt's tutorial explains), but then I find it dulls the liveliness of the drums, and the added high frequencies hitting the comp (prior to cutting them post comp) seemed to me to be self-defeating, as that area isn't the area I want hitting the compressor more than necessary. The instant I took the OH's out, the paracomp magic was there, but with additional control and balance.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

You can also do (parallel compress) the cymbals separately, cutting all the lows out and just bringing it up for a bit more 'shininess'. You may find that preferable to just boosting the highshelf on your drum bus.

 

[nwright]

You can also do (parallel compress) the cymbals separately, cutting all the lows out and just bringing it up for a bit more 'shininess'. You may find that preferable to just boosting the highshelf on your drum bus.

I don't boost a high shelf on my drum bus.

Hmm, maybe I do it different, but I never include the cymbals/OH's with the rest of the kit. I usually send them to their own buss and treat there ( I rarely comp overheads, though).

the shelf EQ deal I was referring to was specific to Daunt's tutorial, where he sent the whole kit (inc. OH's) to one bus, set up an aux send to another group channel (or FX channel or whatever) and applied the compressor there. He followed with an EQ plug set to a shelf on the high end and cutting to minimize the effect of the OH's in the sound. IMO, that seems counter productive. Just not including them from the start works better for me.

 

[The Unavoidable]

Quality thread right here. I'll def try alot of this stuff out at my next session.

 

[Damian B]

Parallel compression is the shit, I just have to keep myself from using too much or the drums end up sounding plasticky and lifeless.

 

[Fragle]

quite late, but anways, here's a snipped from that mix.
para comp on drums and bass here.

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...-premix-thrashy-death-inside.html#post8550132

 

[Djabthrash]

whatchu mean you people? lol

(sorry for old thread resurrection)

 

[John_C]

Short answer: It's unlikely to help.