DMusic.com | for indie musicians and fans | Free MP3 music downloads - Forums: Music: When to compress or not to Compress

Forums > Music

When to compress or not to Compress

BenRebel	Date: February 25, 2004 @ 12:48 PM From the start let me say I think songs today are far to overly compressed... I also want to say that there is a need to compress ie kicks, Snares,Bass at some piont Vocals etc. and unless your doing your mastering at home I do not see the need to compress the 2 track master at mix down or maybe I'm wrong? do any one else feel the same way?
Veracohr	Date: February 25, 2004 @ 5:36 PM I don't think it's necessary to compress anything as a general rule, rather the tracks should be considered individually to determine whether they really need compression. Vocals and bass usually need compression, but that doesn't mean you should stick some on there without determining if it really needs it. Whether kick and snare need compression I think varies depending on the style of music and sound of the drum. As far as compressing a mix, I don't have any opinions myself, but I can repeat others' opinions. I think some mastering engineers prefer to receive an uncompressed mix, so that they can have the greatest freedom to tailor the sound. And on the other hand, I think some mixing engineers prefer to compress before mastering, because compression during mastering can change apparent levels of instruments, so the mixer would rather compress before hand to ensure the integrity of their mixes.
robbydadrummer	Date: February 25, 2004 @ 6:14 PM I never compress the 2-track mix. Normalize, yes... but that only prevents extreme peaks from clipping and distorting. I do run a compressor/limiter on the kick and bass guitar when recording. I use the limiter feature more than compression on the snare because of the dynamics I play with... the brushes and rods need the extra space since we are still recording live to 2-track at this point.
EvilInfluence	Date: February 25, 2004 @ 6:19 PM especially hi hats
BenRebel	Date: February 26, 2004 @ 9:26 AM Right Veracohr I agree totally.. Compression is a tool to be used when needed I try to give the master engineer enough room to play in its like giving them candy lol I just think that eveyone wants there stuff LOUD so they feel they must squeeze the life out of all the part of the songs and then they ask the engineer to make it louder to me all the feeling and warmness is gone and Robby I have'nt mixed a live to 2 track in years but I know it takes alot of skill
figfarmer	Date: February 26, 2004 @ 10:49 AM Compression takes away quality. It shouldn't be done.
BenRebel	Date: February 26, 2004 @ 11:48 AM abused Compression takes away Quality but there is a need for it..
robbydadrummer	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 4:54 AM Yeah, like Ben says... abused compression (which is so commonplace now) takes away from the quality. That's why I only use th elittle I use for very specific things. And yeah, recording live to 2-track is a totally different ballgame from multi-tracking. We should have the studio built and properly equipped by the end of this year. I CAN'T WAIT!!
nvoise	Date: March 1, 2004 @ 7:32 PM i like to abuse compression like it was a foster child. especially on drums... and sometimes i put compression over entire tracks when they're done. take that, bitches!
BenRebel	Date: March 2, 2004 @ 12:49 PM in my sigmond voice... Thiss use of compressed Abuse ii think stemss from a very abusive child hood I belive you were compressed and stuck in a basement abused repeatedly with long obbbbjects and being forced to say "take that biiittchhhes" this is text book and requires months of therapy
Vickxxx	Date: March 3, 2004 @ 4:55 AM unless i'm using compression for some twisted effect or having sibillance(?)problems everything gets recorded dry. I like tweaking a clean signal if needed. I do compress gently on mixdown to 2 trk and if i need to boost the signal at that end limiting or normalizing takes care of that... and when it comes sequenced mixes, I'm with nvoise....all my effects are foster kids............
nvoise	Date: March 3, 2004 @ 2:11 PM "take that biiittchhhes"
Gmonk	Date: March 3, 2004 @ 3:54 PM Compression is a strange thing. Generally speaking if your tracks are gonna be mastered by a pro then don't do any processing of the stereo file.. No comp, eq, limiting.. nothing. The more you fuck with the stereo mix the harder for the mastering engineer to do their stuff. As for individual tracks within a mix, compress away to your hearts content, or atleast till it sounds good. But I always prefer to comp kicks, basses etc etc using analog outboard comps, just seems to sound a whole lot better than software and also many DAWS except for the very latest do not feature plugin delay compensation so you may well end up throwing the mix out. G
BenRebel	Date: March 4, 2004 @ 10:08 AM Gmonk your right on piont .. Chris Athens at Sterling Sound just mastered my newest LP project My Artist JACE and I like to talk to them about the project things like what could have been done diffrently or better in finishing a project and giving it to a pro master engineer we talked alot about Compression yesturday evening and over all levels of the finished mix to be sent in one problem I came across that I want to tell you guys now one of the songs on the LP was produced and recorded and mixed at another camp other than my own I knew that the finised mix was hot and had high compression on it so I noted the song and the issue in my notes to the engineer .. now here is something to think about because this song was so hot and overly compressed it effects the way the other songs are handled! and after our talk I realize that a mix can be at a piont that it can not be used if in its form it will have to much of an effect on the overall project ... hmmm thank god that was not the case because we wanted that song on the LP .. anyway just another though to stick out there

Post A Reply
From:	guest	(Icons - Linking)
Post: