Mixing with Stereo Bus Compression : Making Better Mixes

[A Toolish Circle]

After months of trying to find the glue that makes up most of the awesome mixes that we hear i think stereo bus compression has been the one that's been eluding me.

I finally started using it for a simpler metal song ( less track intensive) out of the 5 songs i'm doing for this bands ep and needless to say i was amazed by the improvement in the quality of the mix.

I'm not talking about mixing the song and then put on on a stereo compressor at the end. I'm talking about mixing it with a compressor right from the start. use light ratios , 2 or 3 : 1, attack and release times pending on song tempo.

Here is the list of pros/improvements i've noticed:

1) Song gets mixed faster , the main elements of the song come together faster due to the compression which reduces the dynamic range .i usually take 2 days to mix a song real good but i did this one in 5 hours !!

2) vocal rides over the music and every word is clearer : I attribute this to the compression i use on the vocal working in tandem with the stereo buss compressor

3) kick drum and bass sound massive and very powerful right from the start

4)Less individual compression is needed on each track , i barely compress the overheads and toms and alot of miscellaneous stuff , they just sit in the mix faster once i bring up the faders

5) the mix has a good "pumping" quality which feels like the band is playing with a lot of energy and power and the killer bits/ Choruses in the song tend to sound even more crushing and powerful

6) like i said above, the mix has a unifying thick quality to it , it sounds like the bands is one big fat unit and playing everything in tandem , all the instruments feel like they're glued up nicely and contribute to the hugeness in sound

7) must less automation is required !! i find i barely have to do anything i just pull up the faders and it sounds awesome

Hope u guys try this out and those that are using it , post ur experiences with it.

I must say it's taken me quite a while to warm up to the idea of using stereo buss compression and i never quite liked in in the past but with the other aspects of my mixing ( like eq/reverb/ balance etc ) improving a lot i'm begining to notice a lot of difference that stereo buss compression makes to my mixes and i see it as one of the final pieces of the puzzle to making awesome crushing mixes , instead of just a good clear and balanced mix.


Regards

Roland Lim

 

[CJWall]

For sure dude, but I try to be extremely aware of what my 2-buss compressor is actually doing and how I've got it set.

Too much can make your mix sound fucking small and fatigiung and for me personally, too much is is anything over 5db of GR or so, for Metal.

I switch between the Waves SSL Comp and the Sonalksis SV comp, but with either I rarely like to go above 3db GR. I set my threshold so the needle is jussst moving and leave it at that. This is especially important with the SSL Comp, as it eats the high-end like crazy...

The Sonalksis, if set correctly, can get away with a bit more GR and still sound huge and punchy however.

Either way, I love me some 2-buss compression

 

[sparkyness]

+1.....with every major tweakage I tend to check the mix with/without the Master bus compressor. A very good "glue" tool, especially for busy mixes. I tend to throw on the compressor after I have decent levels for only the kick, snare, bass and main vocal tracks, as they're usually my only dead-centre elements. I then find a nice subtle setting on the main bus compressor which seems to pull those components together and then go from there.

 

[greyskull]

according to andy wallace you wanna have it kicking around 4 db reduction

but yeah i'm love all the waves ssl stuff at the moment, its like plug in crack

 

[Eduardo Apolonia]

according to andy wallace you wanna have it kicking around 4 db reduction

That's how I use it from the begining of the session.

If you use it from the begining and then take it off the difference is more drastic than if you put it only on the end after you've finished the mix.

 

[Ermz]

I've never known what sort of attack and release times to fool with on a stereo bus comp. I've always thought that I've either been eating up the transients too much or vice versa.

 

[Eduardo Apolonia]

For me it works better slow attacks and fast or auto releases

 

[joeymusicguy]

sometimes i find that quad comp and skipping stereo bus comp altogether, is much much better

you've just gotta know where your problem area's are in the frequency range

proved to be true last night, when a mix sounded awesome on the monitors, but muddy and too bassy in the car

took out my ssl gcomp, and put a c4 in

strapped down on the 20hz - 500hz in two sections (20hz - 100hz, 100hz - 300hz)

fixed the problem, clearly

 

[CJWall]

I've never known what sort of attack and release times to fool with on a stereo bus comp. I've always thought that I've either been eating up the transients too much or vice versa.

Yeah, generally slow attacks and auto release (for the SSL Comp). I like 30ms attack at 4:1.

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

So far Ive been compressing after mixdown but have been thinking about this a lot recently. Has anyone tried the new Neve compresor for the UAD cards?

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Yeah I bought it... Too many buttons, lol

 

[elmuchoescadawg]

Yeah I bought it... Too many buttons, lol

What do you think of it?

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I regret having spent 250$ on it to be honest... Not that it's baaaaad, but, well, it's a real DSP hug (one takes 67% of the card in full mode) and it's very easy to get pumping with it...

 

[C_F_H_13]

Yeah, generally slow attacks and auto release (for the SSL Comp). I like 30ms attack at 4:1.

yeah same here...

4:1 , 30ms attack, 300ms to auto release, and no makeup gain...but that's just a personal preference.

 

[broken81]

Yeah, generally slow attacks and auto release (for the SSL Comp). I like 30ms attack at 4:1.

just wondering is 30ms attack considered slow??

or you just perfer a fast attack over slow cj :Smug:

 

[Eduardo Apolonia]

just wondering is 30ms attack considered slow??

or you just perfer a fast attack over slow cj :Smug:

that's the slowest on a C2
For a bus compressor that's slow

 

[Gnash]

but yeah i'm love all the waves ssl stuff at the moment, its like plug in crack

Yeah it's my crack too. Has anyone heard the new BLS "Shot To Hell?" This album is an example of TOO MUCH squash, to my ears. Really sounds like a 70s mix gone bad. I liked the sound Zakk already had. I think Michael Beinhorn mixed the new one.

 

[Matt Smith]

Yeah it's my crack too. Has anyone heard the new BLS "Shot To Hell?" This album is an example of TOO MUCH squash, to my ears. Really sounds like a 70s mix gone bad. I liked the sound Zakk already had. I think Michael Beinhorn mixed the new one.

I'm pretty sure it was Staub.

 

[metalkingdom]

There's a nickname for overuse of buss compression - Automix. That term was coined by Tom Lord-Alge. Relying on compression for your mix is generally frowned upon in the professional world. Years ago, there was an interview with Bob Rock where he spoke on this very subject. He said that one day he just decided to pop off the SSL comp and noticed that his levels were all over the place. From that point on, he said that he backed off that thing bigtime and paid more attention to his actual mix.

 

[stringy_]

There's a nickname for overuse of buss compression - Automix. That term was coined by Tom Lord-Alge. Relying on compression for your mix is generally frowned upon in the professional world. Years ago, there was an interview with Bob Rock where he spoke on this very subject. He said that one day he just decided to pop off the SSL comp and noticed that his levels were all over the place. From that point on, he said that he backed off that thing bigtime and paid more attention to his actual mix.

I have noticed this EXACT same thing. I tried doing a rough mix with the PSP Vintagewarmer across the stereo buss...I had it sounding pretty good, but then I turned off the compressor and everything just fell apart horribly.