Is compressing is out the door?

Posted on

Typo Szar
Member Since: Jul 04, 2002

This is just a lil brain fart i had and wanted to throw out at u guys

Many ppl here (including me) advocate as little as much compression going into the digital realm as plugins and such nowadays negate the need to lose any of ur tracks nuances irrevocably... at the same time through my own discovery im finding with the way music sounds nowadays and the pummeling trax get at the mastering stage, heavy compression is all but overkill at the mixing stage.

this week i experimented doing mixes without any compression on drums and even bass, and i found that with just the eqing and compression/limiting the trax get at the end of my home mastering process, it all still sounds good and strong.

my question is thus "is compressing (or atleast medium to heavy compression) out the door?" in this day and age of super compressed masters and mp3, is it better for mixers to leave in an excess of movement in their songs?

i actually read in an article about pro level mixers and master engineers "leaving space" for the conversion to mp3 and web-streaming... do u think with that logic we mind as well jsut mix at full dynamic range and just let the nature of modern music take its course on our songs?

just some questions, i might be in the wrong section as well

[ Back to Top ]


Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Oct 06, 2009 11:54 am

alot of it is situational to the style of music and the individual players....

generally i compress bass guitar and vocals durrin' mixing so nothin' POPS out too bad...

but for genres like classical, folk, bluegrass, jazz etc. i'd say it's pretty easy to get away without usin' any compression at all.

http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Oct 06, 2009 12:02 pm

ive often though about this too.
I awlays thought that the flatter you can get your tracks with comp before hand the flatter you could get them in mastering stage. kinda like pre uniforming. if that makes any sense.
and thats if your trying to get me crazy loud.

having said that though, if your only gonna comp and limit again in the end then i dunno. coz then i guess your doing it twice for the same effect.

am i talking about the same thing here, or have i been up too long?


I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Oct 06, 2009 01:32 pm

Heavy compression is basically a special effect anyways.

Compression, by nature, is supposed to be one of those invisible effects that you don't really hear, but you'd miss it if it were suddenly removed from a track that you're familiar with. A track is easier to work with if it's dynamic range is reduced. But on the flip side, a track's dynamic range is what gives it punch and liveliness.

Kick and snare are probably the most often compressed instruments in a rock band setting. Their dynamic ranges are pretty huge. You can just barely tap a snare drum for ghost notes between beats, and you can slam the crap out of it with both sticks for a real KABOOM. That's tough to work into a mix, especially for us amateurs. So compressing the crap out of it is what we naturally want to do so that our tracks don't clip or distort.

I don't think that the need for compression will ever go away, but us amateurs tend to overuse it since it can be an easy way to control the peaks on our mixes.

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Oct 06, 2009 02:51 pm

good point tad!

which leads to the individual playing the instrument....a well practiced instrumentalist will control the dynamics of their playing ALOT better than someone who doesn't think to do so......again, drums and bass are most obvious...and surprisingly for most vocalists, this comes quite naturally.

nothing beats a real good drummer..that uses dynamics well.

MASSIVE Mastering, LLC
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2008


Oct 06, 2009 04:38 pm

[quote]ive often though about this too.
I awlays thought that the flatter you can get your tracks with comp before hand the flatter you could get them in mastering stage. kinda like pre uniforming. if that makes any sense.
and thats if your trying to get me crazy loud.

having said that though, if your only gonna comp and limit again in the end then i dunno. coz then i guess your doing it twice for the same effect.

am i talking about the same thing here, or have i been up too long?[/quote]

Generally, it's the mixes with the MOST dynamics intact and the MOST headroom that wind up easily being the loudest later on.

Compression can be looked at in two ways -- 1) As an "effect" of sorts that levels something out (think Chris Cornell's vocals) or the much more useful and popular 2) as a tool to reel in the dynamic range of something that's too dynamic for the mix.

Something that's too dynamic for the mix.

It's not really different than anything else. You can EQ something to "sound a certain way" or you can EQ something to make it fit better into the mix.

Some of the best (and loudest for that matter) recordings I've ever made had no compression at all (and very little EQ) during tracking and mixing.

Typo Szar
Member
Since: Jul 04, 2002


Oct 06, 2009 11:55 pm

Yeah i guess i should focused the question more towards like modern rock or just the stuff thats on the radio. and again my question isnt so much is compression obsolete, but has modern music listening practices (mp3, ipods, web streaming) changed the role of compression at the earlier stages of the production process?

maybe im just splitting hairs haha

http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Oct 07, 2009 12:06 am

i dunno if im the only one that does this atm, and i do because im still a novice,

but i just cant help myself when tracking to put a bit of stuff on it here and there to make it sound better, like comp, eq and and whatnot, but im gonna start leaving that alone from now on and just track the best i can and see how the mix turns out before i even touch it.

object is i guess, to get it so good that there's not a huge need to smash it with effects and compression etc.
afterwards, or at least hear it first completey before touching it up.



I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Oct 07, 2009 11:11 am

I think that you're on the right track Deon. Get the source of the sound as near perfection as possible, find a proper position and technique for the microphone, and hit the record button to capture it.

I'm a chronic over-compressor. Pretty much every single track I've included in a project has a compressor on it. My recording rig is all dismantled due to malfunction and the ensuing troubleshooting, so I'm looking forward to putting into action some of the headroom ideas I've learned in the past few months.

http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Oct 07, 2009 11:35 am

ha ha ha yeah well its funny hey,
you learn all this stuff, but its so hard to tear yourself away from doing it the old way, because you have this idea for a song i yer head, and you just have to get it down NOW.

before you know it youve forgotten everything you said you were gonna do different tracking wise this time round.

ive started making postit notes each time i think of something and stickin them in spots where i cant do anything unless i peel it off, therefor reading it and doing it (in theory)

i guess there comes a time, depending on how serious you are about your ****, where you have to start being more professional bout things.

Im still all about the music, but i know i gotta be all about the engineering too or the music means nothing.

Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


Oct 12, 2009 12:52 pm

I try to avoid compression as a repair device for tracks myself. Sometimes I'll use it to add a bit of character or punch, or overuse it to get that pushing sound. Granted I don't do much in the way of recording yet, but sometimes I'll be using a VST that ends up being a lot more dynamic than other instruments in which case I try to use a little compression to "tame" it a bit.

I kinda view compression (and any effect really) like spices or hot sauce. You use them to add some flavor, or to correct something that's a -little- weak in the base sauce. But if you use too much, then you've got a problem with the balance of that flavor turning horribly horribly wrong, or something else coming out way too strongly.

Yes, I view mixing kinda like I do cooking. Not that I cook much, just saying.

Related Forum Topics:



If you would like to participate in the forum discussions, feel free to register for your free membership.