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I have found compression to be one of the most intricate and difficult aspects of production. It creates a thin line between really filling your sound out and beefing it up to turning it into a soup of muddy ickiness.
So who has suggestions, comments, questions, et cetera?
What do we think the most effective soft-compressor is?
So who has suggestions, comments, questions, et cetera?
What do we think the most effective soft-compressor is?
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Re: Lets talk about compression!
Mon, December 1, 2008 - 12:00 PMAh, compression! You've hit the nail on the head regarding its benefits and its drawbacks. I've been using Logic Pro 8 for about a year now and the compressors bundled with it are fairly basic. One of my favorites from an independent source, is from Audio Damage ( audiodamage.com ) called Rough Rider. I don't own it but my partner in crime does - and he does most of the mixing and production work on his workstation. For a soft compressor it has an almost "warm" feel to it, though it isn't an all purpose plug in, that's for sure. We've used it primarily with rhythm tracks and on my bass lines.
Anyone else have info on other soft compressors? -
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Re: Lets talk about compression!
Thu, December 18, 2008 - 8:36 AMThere are clean soft comps and colorful ones.
I use different soft comps for different reasons.
Logic's compressor is nice for general purpose stuff and sidechaining.
I like the Sonalksis 315 compressor for the drum buss.
I use PSP Vintage Warmer for color.
I also use waves RComp for general purpose stuff.
If I want to use a compressor for glue on the 2-buss I use hardware.
I wouldn't ever use a software compressor across the whole mix.
They all have a sound (or a transparency). Once you get to know the tones and sweet spots of different compressors, they can give a different feel to different parts of your tracks. Sometimes I run signals hot through hardware compressors without any compression (1:1) just for the subtle sound of the box.
My advice is experimentation with different compressors. Set up a drum buss (or whatever you want to compress) and dial in a few different compressors and make sure the levels match the uncompressed signal. Then just bypass all but one compressor and listen to the differences in sound. Try extreme compression (limiting) or subtle compression. They all have strengths and weaknessness.
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Re: Lets talk about compression!
Sat, December 27, 2008 - 4:45 PMI personally find apple's dynamic's processor AU and multiband to be quite useful, but they are by no means subtle. I am also a fan or MDA from Smartelectronix, and i agree with brian that the sonalksis pluings are AMAZING (esp for the price!!!! their gate is one of my favorites...)
these guys make some sweet free plugins, though their de esser is REALLY funky, the compressor is good for a warmer squash.
waves plugins are great if you have the cash, as are Unviersal audio's UAD plugins. for the money again, these seem to be the best deal short of waves..... i'm not familiar with logic's compressors (i use Ableton and some homemade software) but i think the key is careful tweaking and understanding what you're doing to the sound. also using a frequency analyser andd RMS meter together with your compressors can let you know when the RMS to peak ratio has gone too far to be usefull.
www.digitalfishphones.com/
www.smartelectronix.com/ -
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Re: Lets talk about compression!
Wed, December 31, 2008 - 4:45 PMThe December issue of MUSIC TECH Magazine
has an excellent and comprehensive article on how to
use compression in all phases of the recording process
from recording to mixing to producing to mastering.
Just a great article. You can buy it from
Bookshop Santa Cruz or any independent bookseller.
Because the big box booksellers are starting to censor what
books are published based on sales alone,
PLEASE PATRONIZE YOUR LOCAL BOOKSELLERS
and eschew buying from AMAZON.COM and BORDERS
<please forgive my soapbox, but these companies are having
a pernicious effect on the open ended creativity of young emerging authors>
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