Compression

[deccard]

if you are really careful the compression will be transparent and you won't notice it switching the compressor on or off.

most likely you could compress every channel in your project by 3db without noticing anything.

if you dont notice the difference then why put it on?

[optX]

i dont use it at all now.
[...]

my motto is get it right from the start - with everything

have you ever done band recordings? it`s hard to get things right from the start. when the drumset is sounding crap or nobody knows how to tune it or the drumheads are too new and so on. Or imagine a singer who can't sing very well but he (she) and his (her) band wants this recording so bad ...
Then you feel lucky when you can track their thin-sounding epiphone guit through an Urei 1176 (e.g.). Especially the original 1176 is something like a wonder-machine, far more than just an ordinary compressor. Bringing a singer`s weak voice to the front and evening out the unwanted gain-jumps is something important and a case made for compressor-use.

Or working on guitars, especially heavy-driven rock or metal guits... you can bring them up so fast and easy with a compressor. I stick at a ratio of 10:1, fast attack and release, adjusting the threshold to taste and et voila, metal music is done. (using softtubes tubetech emu for that most of the time)

Of course there are other ways of reaching a result something near too, but it`s not better or worse than smart usage of compression. anything is able to harm or to charm But of course not every signal needs compression, far less then most of the guys think.

I know a guy who`s absolutely against compression. But he is using a TL Audio Fat Track and likes to drive the valve on the output stage very hard and always tells me how cool this is. Of course it can sound cool (I own the same piece of gear and use it everyday), but it`s just valve saturation + valve COMPRESSION. The harder you drive the valve the more you can see the compression on the waveform. So everything is legit for reaching a goal (in the technical side of music production =) )

[lem]

i dont use it at all now.
[...]

my motto is get it right from the start - with everything

have you ever done band recordings? it`s hard to get things right from the start. when the drumset is sounding crap or nobody knows how to tune it or the drumheads are too new and so on. Or imagine a singer who can't sing very well but he (she) and his (her) band wants this recording so bad ...
Then you feel lucky when you can track their thin-sounding epiphone guit through an Urei 1176 (e.g.). Especially the original 1176 is something like a wonder-machine, far more than just an ordinary compressor. Bringing a singer`s weak voice to the front and evening out the unwanted gain-jumps is something important and a case made for compressor-use.

Or working on guitars, especially heavy-driven rock or metal guits... you can bring them up so fast and easy with a compressor. I stick at a ratio of 10:1, fast attack and release, adjusting the threshold to taste and et voila, metal music is done. (using softtubes tubetech emu for that most of the time)

Of course there are other ways of reaching a result something near too, but it`s not better or worse than smart usage of compression. anything is able to harm or to charm But of course not every signal needs compression, far less then most of the guys think.

I know a guy who`s absolutely against compression. But he is using a TL Audio Fat Track and likes to drive the valve on the output stage very hard and always tells me how cool this is. Of course it can sound cool (I own the same piece of gear and use it everyday), but it`s just valve saturation + valve COMPRESSION. The harder you drive the valve the more you can see the compression on the waveform. So everything is legit for reaching a goal (in the technical side of music production =) )

The topic wasn't really aimed at band recordings. Or recording at all tbh, it was more as a treatment or effect.

[optX]

I know, I just wanted to give some examples. The point is the same, treatment of signals. Tracking through a comp is the same as applying a soft comp on the track in cubase or so.

I am using compression on my techno tracks too, I am even mixing into a compressor at the moment. I use it for thinning kicks or fattening them or to bring up sounds which are to dynamic and don`t come through in the mix, I am using compression on dynamic basslines, I don't use compressing on static basslines, I am using a lot of sidechain compression, especially on basslines but even on rhythmic elements like drums / percs to bring in something like a breath of life.

I don`t manage things like Steevio is doing (making it right from the start) because I am reworking sounds and athmospheres all the time (that`s my fault... ) and tweaking so much during the production process that it`s not possible for me to get things "right". So I have the feeling of using compression and what else to make it sound nice.

better?

[lem]

I know, I just wanted to give some examples. The point is the same, treatment of signals. Tracking through a comp is the same as applying a soft comp on the track in cubase or so.

I am using compression on my techno tracks too, I am even mixing into a compressor at the moment. I use it for thinning kicks or fattening them or to bring up sounds which are to dynamic and don`t come through in the mix, I am using compression on dynamic basslines, I don't use compressing on static basslines, I am using a lot of sidechain compression, especially on basslines but even on rhythmic elements like drums / percs to bring in something like a breath of life.

I don`t manage things like Steevio is doing (making it right from the start) because I am reworking sounds and athmospheres all the time (that`s my fault... ) and tweaking so much during the production process that it`s not possible for me to get things "right". So I have the feeling of using compression and what else to make it sound nice.

better?

Oh I wasn't having a dig mate.

I would track through a comp just to ensure I get the best recording level I can without clipping. It's more about preserving a good performance.

I think if you use compression and it works for you, then great. But I just wondered if it was something that was really getting used that much by others, and if so how it is used.

I don't use it much, if at all, in my productions these days. I have found more musical ways to get similar results. No dout one day I will start using compression again, but at the moment I find it adds a lot to a signal just by not being there. I can't think of many sounds that I don't like some kind of dynamic in. Perc is a big no-no for me, thats what my velocity is for.

I think its also an experience thing, Steevio has been doing this for years and probably has a better understanding to sound design in techno than most of us. So he is able to judge a signal at an early stage to see if it needs more of something.

[steevio]

i dont use it at all now.
[...]

my motto is get it right from the start - with everything

have you ever done band recordings?

yes i was a studio engineer for 5 years, and i also produced all my bands recordings and i used compression all the time.

but minimal techno made on synthesizers is another thing altogether.

the thing you said about tubes being compression, yes but when people on here talk about compression they usually mean the same thing, compression with a dynamics processor..

this argument has come up here before, why confuse the issue ? many of the terms used in production are interchangeable like this, lets keep it simple so beginners can follow what we're talking about...

[optX]

yeah, that`s for sure (Steevios experience).

When I am in doubt I don't use compression, the same feeling like you have (making sounds sounding worse). At the beginning I`ve used so much compression because I thought I have to do - I haven`t even known how compression works. Now I know a lot more about it and don`t use it all the time anymore. Maybe I am on the same way of not using it anymore (in techno) too anywhen who knows.
But on the other hand it`s so much fun applying a nice hardware comp, maybe some opto, and listening how the sounds are coming to life without doing a lot.

and sorry lem for my slightly rude "better?" at the end of my last post...

cheers and a nice weekend!

edit 1 : buying better sounding monitors made me using compression much less
edit 2 : you are right, Steevio. nice having guys around thinking this way in that gearslutty forum times.

[lem]

yeah, that`s for sure (Steevios experience).

When I am in doubt I don't use compression, the same feeling like you have (making sounds sounding worse). At the beginning I`ve used so much compression because I thought I have to do - I haven`t even known how compression works. Now I know a lot more about it and don`t use it all the time anymore. Maybe I am on the same way of not using it anymore (in techno) too anywhen who knows.
But on the other hand it`s so much fun applying a nice hardware comp, maybe some opto, and listening how the sounds are coming to life without doing a lot.

and sorry lem for my slightly rude "better?" at the end of my last post...

cheers and a nice weekend!

No problem. Have a nice weekend too!

I think how I started was much the same as you describe. I was always hearing this and that about compressors, I thought it was some sort of magical effect. Then my tests of compression seemed really unobvious (is that a word??) what was going on. Then I learnt it, now I don't use it. I wasted a lot of time with compressors.