logic Studio 8 - Lesson 3 How to Compress Drums

[J4YM5]

the screens pulsing and its freaking me out :)

[snapascrew]

you need better screen recorder.

[DJControllerC]

if you took the outer head off your drum, and added a blanket or pillow weighed down with a brick like many people do then pretty much all u have is attack- why would u want to compress away the body u already got rid off when u dampended the drum for recording? Unless u didnt dampen it for recording?

[gcalvanetten]

VERY useful information. I've always been struggling with drum compression, you gave me some great ideas to try out! Thanks a lot!

[irockyouroll]

great video, i enjoyed watching this, very clear and good audio examples

[MrCbolden]

Compressor-EQ or EQ-Compressor ? Which do you prefer?

[drewpearsonmusic]

@MrCbolden usually EQ-Compressor. This way the frequencies you are pushing are hitting the compressor harder.

[Josh868]

@MrCbolden i agree eq before the compression, otherwise your trying to boost frequncies that you are trying to compress

[rav3nac08]

this is about the 400th vid i watched on compression and im still lost lol been a year now and i still cant stop my fucking drums from clipping and im fucked off now,anything else im kool wit but this fucking compressor killing me

[drewpearsonmusic]

@rav3nac08 clipping isn't usually the result of compression. 2 things could be happening. 1) you are using auto gain makeup and the drums are getting to loud and clipping the master fader. try turning ALL (not just drums) of your tracks down and see if that remidies it. 2) You could have bad edits in your drum tracks. Edits without fades or that happen on a transient can result in clipping. Its hard to diagnose without hearing the tracks but I hope this helps.

[rav3nac08]

@drewpearsonmusic na mate not really,i could never work the normal compressor on reason 4 so i used the comp1 auto make up 1 and its just as bad,i know what all the things mean,i.e ratio,threshold etc but i jus cannot get it to work 4 me

[drewpearsonmusic]

@rav3nac08 not sure what you are saying. comp1 auto makup 1? what are you trying to compress?

[rav3nac08]

@drewpearsonmusic there is a compressor on reason 4 called comp1 auto make up gain thingy and i am trying to compress kick drum,please help me lol

[drewpearsonmusic]

@rav3nac08 sorry brother. I'm not that educated in Reason compression.

[necthael]

how did you switch the colors of your tracks to red?

[mrjimistix]

@necthael Highlight your tracks and i think it alt+c and then you can pick your colours. You can also do it in the mixer window the same way by highlighting the channels and using the same key command. 

[mimaxworld]

there is now how to compress a drum... It depends on your mix. And it depends what kinda drums you have recorded and in which way.

[BeatvilleClips]

Hello Drew Pears, Thanks a lot for the information. I have 1 question .. Why 4db? Is it a standard for drums or something?? Im new in the world of mixing/mastering ;)

[MrVaffel]

@BeatvilleClips Not a standard, but consider it a tip. You should probably try it out yourself. You can copy the settings used here, and work from there till you find something that works in your case

[freakjuice1]

loved it

[tc456]

But you can always buy more sounds or virtual instruments logic has a bunch but some are really corny sounding make sure they are vst though r-tas and tdm are for pro-tools and aren't compatible

[djdiscomikki]

You cant use VST format plugins with Logic. You can only use AU format plugins for Logic!

[tc456]

You should have sprung and got logic studio for 500$ logic express jsut doesn't have as much to offer but you should look into seeing if you can get the update from express to studio i don't know if it exhists but i imagine it would be much cheaper than buying stdio when you have express but once you get logic studio you really don't need much else of course the ideal home studio is nice monitors, and some outboard gear, a mic pre, good mic and use logic as a creator and run it like a recorder

[kharlos84]

yeah wake and bake :D

[nblfyb]

that was cool. gonan watch it a few more times to let it stick :D

{Benson and Tonic}

[tc456]

evp88 sorry didn't mean to seem so misinformed

[tc456]

Off the topic question but with the electric pianos some of them have a pop or clip in the attack but it's not distortion but the ev88 doesn't have an attack setting to slow it down. and compression won't help is there anything you can do? I have heard the same thing in pro recordings like the intro to common's record be

[drewpearsonmusic]

hmm I haven't heard this from the evp88, but have you tried using the "enveloper" plugin (Dynamics > Enveloper). Turn down the gain fader on the left and adjust the left time knob until its just cutting out the transient. Compressors are usually to broad to do something like this, but the enveloper was made for it :)

[tc456]

ah ha no i haven't but i see your logic thanks a lot i'm going to try it right now to see if it works!!

[tc456]

It worked really well it didn't get rid of it completely the only problem i had was it was hitting on my kick making it sound like my kick was distorted. Another question on my kick and snare sometimes the very first note in the song is a few db's lower than all the rest and after the first it doesn't change it stays where i want it only the first note is a few db's lower is it something with the attack or the knee? but on the compressor the reduction is the same it's on the channel meter

[tc456]

Good tips! the best way to learn is to mess with it then by-pass it do that a few times then gradually you will start to hear the difference and slowly get an ear for it!

[andrewt248]

Is that second kick mic you used the Yamaha Subkick or something comparable? That's a pretty interesting sound to mix with the standard kick mic and hat bottom snare compression made a big difference in the mix!

[miraeja]

great vid! compression is a great mystery to many!

[andrewt248]

Yeah, there are a lot of people who think they know how to use compression that have no clue, as well. Those are the worst!

[OutofNothing71]

can someone tell where can i get the compression effect?

[Peckahead6]

Yo Playa, I could be wrong but....if you have logic....its simple. Click on your "inserts" in whichever channel strip you want, hold down mouse, go to "Dynamics," and your second option from the top should say "Compressor." That's the one.

[KingPhaRoh]

nah u right

[DigiRarefaction]

what do you mean? There are many compresion effects. Many ways of compression either for effects or to make things sound punchier. Or you can use the side chain for the duck effect. This is used alot on house music. Also used on the radio to talk over music.

[seventeen17van]

what would be the best way to compress if i am running my drums into my program in a single channel?

[drewpearsonmusic]

start with a 4:1 ratio slower attack and faster release, pull down the threshold until there is about 4 dB of compression then adjust the output gain to +4 db.

[seventeen17van]

thanks, that helped tremendously

[groovemessenger2407]

Man, this guy does some of the best Logic videos on Google. Mac Pro Video should hire you... although then I'd have to pay.

[takafinir]

when u compressed the snare u didn't use PEEK in compressor like kick why?

[takafinir]

hi can u put video how to compress vocal?

[versechorusjvh]

hey, what key shortcuts are you using to send all those tracks to a bus so quickly? maybe you could do a video on your favorite key shortcuts or something? great work!!! very helpful

[takafinir]

in MAC u hold option and u pick the tracks

[sourberrymusic]

I like the fact that you actually move things around on the compressor in this video. It really helped a lot seeing the different parameters in action. A lot of videos about compression end up being pure theoretical, but this one is handson. Love it!

Also, towards the end of the video, you're doing parallel compression, correct?

[samnadel]

Nice! very helpful...any chance you could do more tutorials on compression...like the process you go through when compressing bass/guitar and the whole mix.

thanks very much

sam from London

[nypdrums]

cool vid man, it helped me understand a little better how to compress my kit, btw, we have almost the same exact mixer setup! was that the yamaha subkick?

[iwillmaceyou]

interesting post. thanks for sharing!

[wade123789]

what you didn't say was how much signal you sent from each close mic to the drum buss. do you just send 0dB or as much as will go or what? Is it the same amount for every channel?

To clarify, I'm not talking about the Aux level, I'm talking about each individual channels' buss send level.

[drewpearsonmusic]

I've seen it done different ways, but I send 0 db post fader on every drum so the relative mix of the drums is maintained. I don't use the buss sends to create a separate mix. Although I usually leave out close mic'ed cymbals and hats as they tend to get a bit washy with so much compression.

Good question:)

[shonsteez]

A new video with any tips on how u like to compress your vocals would be sweet too! Good tuts by the way.

[emoboi86]

Great tutorial. I keep having problems getting sustain in my snare, I'll give a try at your compression suggestions to elongate the resonance. Thanks!

[Farout5150]

Good job! It's always nice to see how others use Compression, and what tips you can get from them.

Thanks for the tutorial.

Keep up the good work.