5 Minutes To A Better Mix: Mix Bus Compression - TheRecordingRevolution.com

[jackbaz1]

Is me or do all these songs sound christian - almost every one is about god...

[MomoTheBellyDancer]

@jackbaz1

"Is me or do all these songs sound christian? - almost every one is about god..."

Hey, you can make a lot of money with those.

[ServingMyJesus]

@jackbaz1 So the song have a Christian content. What if they had all been about cheating on your spouse, would you have made any comments?

[dkyx]

@jrhager84 Yeah watch the needle, so you can see THE DIFFERENCE in the response between high energy and low energy material and how the compressor RESPONDS with an EQ filter sidechained.

I had no choice but to boil it down to "simple" and perhaps SEEING the VU/needle response would make you understand. Subtle settings or CRAZY settings isn't what matters, the point is the response.

That's why you wanna slope off the lows so the ONE COMPRESSOR doesn't react drastically to the bass frequency.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

You mix with your ears buddy. I don't give a SHIT what a needle is doing, I *LISTEN* with my EARS to find what SOUNDS better. That's what makes your argument so silly...

[GuernB2]

The SSL Stereo Bus Compressor is the way to go

[jrhager84]

@GuernB2

It's an amazing plug...

[dkyx]

@recordingrevolution

You should always sidechain your mix with an EQ'd copy of itself (low freq range pulled down plus maybe a dip at 2k ish). This way the comp will not react to quiet passages or muted (kick)drums etc. as much.

The single compressor will work much more uniformly throughout.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

That's called "Parallel compression" bro, which is *not* 'bus compression'. ;-)

[dkyx]

@jrhager84 Wrong, bro ;)

Parallel compression is having two signals, one compressed/processed, one dry, and blending the two together.

My method, sidechaining the mix with an EQ'd "copy" of itself doesn't allow you to blend both signals. The EQ acts purely as a frequency based gate, affecting the compression on those selected regions.

Cutting the low frequency region in the EQ will make the buscompressor react only to signals above that region, keeping bassy sounds transparent.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

If you have one being compressed from a keyed EQ, it's *still* parallel compression. It's being compressed *alongside* the original signal. If it's not letting any of the original signal in, it's pointless to have a 'copy'.... Sorry 'bro' ;-)

Ever heard of a multi-band?

[dkyx]

@jrhager84 Are you for real?

It's NOT parallel compression, there is no 2nd signal to blend alongside the original, the comp outputs the signal according to the EQ envelope that's been set.

A multiband compresses each band seperately, I'm talking about ONE SINGLE COMPRESSOR, ONE BAND.

You're so wrong on so many levels, it's not even worth my time to explain it to you even more. So maybe visualizing it makes more sense, WATCH THE NEEDLE.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

A couple of points for you to chew on:

1. If you were worried about the bass getting squashed, you could multiband it.. Instead of doing some ridiculous pseudo sidechain where the key is the actual channel. Just seems weird.

2. Parallel doesn't mean 2 to 'blend' in the technical sense. It's the mix (however static) of two signals. If you have a bass signal that's untouched by the comp, and a comp'd signal, it's a PARALLEL SIGNAL!

3. You mix with your ears, not your eyes... ;-)

[dkyx]

@jrhager84 1: There's nothing Pseudo about it, you clearly don't understand the concept. "just seems weird", really?

2. It does, there's always two signals. In this case, not.

3. Read

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

Parallel means "Side by side"... If you have 2 channels playing the "same" content, it's a parallel signal.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

This technique is more commonly used when people use bus compression, and bounce to stems. You bounce a 2 track, you key input on the compressor to the output of the 2 track. Then you mute the actual stereo track, so you get the *feel* from each of the tracks separately, while retaining the 'vibe' of the bus compressor when asembled. Especially if it's on outboard gear that you don't have with you when stem mixing...

Watch the needle... ;-)

[dkyx]

@jrhager84 Nice story. Completely irrelevant.

And watching meters isn't simple enough for you?

"just seems weird" ;)

I mix/master and produce music for a living. No time for Xbox here.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

You don't know anything about me, so please don't act like you do. You're mistaking my point: I'm saying I don't care *what* a meter says (as long as it's not peaking), as long as the track sounds good, that is what's important. People who feel threatened, often times try to make character judgements about other people. ;-)

[dkyx]

@recordingrevolution

I agree with putting a master compressor and "working into it". The problem I have with your method recordingrevolution is that you're using just a raw compressor. On quiet passages/without high-energy signals the compressor will instantly make your mix sound different, no matter how subtle the settings.

Read next post.

[HelgeTaksdal]

Even though mixing is quite to each his own method, there's a lot of disinformation in your video here. Making a compressor push several dB on the master fader before sending to mastering could result in your mix getting thrown back from the mastering studio. Also, the heavy compression on the master fader would make you unaware of how your gain structure affects the mix. Increasing the vocal volume would e.g. reduce the overall backing volume and etc.

[recordingrevolution]

@HelgeTaksdal Not disinformation at all. Granted mix bus compression is subjective and genre dependent, but this is very much accepted (and smart) in the audio world. The key isn't to do heavy compression. I make this clear in the video when I even dial it back at the end. It's only catching some of the peaks and compressing just a hair. Nothing earth shattering here.

[jrhager84]

@recordingrevolution

Couldn't agree more. I love throwing the SSL Strip on the mix bus with *light* compression to get it to 'gel' like tape does IMO.

[dkyx]

@jrhager84 You're not gelling things together like tape that way. Unless you have the same energy throughout your entire track.

If you have parts without drums or bass/synths (I assume you do or it would be a very boring track) the compressor will react differently on these parts.

Watch the needle.

Now try my method and watch the needle again.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

Did you really just tell me what makes a mix sound better, then ask me to *watch* a needle? So many kids these days mixing with their eyes.... /facepalm

You're also assuming that one has CRAZY values on the compressor. Sometimes it's almost nothing but it just barely touches the track in an analog way... We're not as stupid as you think we are sir... I promise you.

Do you think you're the first to use EQ-based compression? I mean, really??? 

[dkyx]

@jrhager84 Better stick to playing your X-Box games buddy and jam out on your copy of Fruity Loops, instead of pretending you know anything about mixing/mastering.

[jrhager84]

@dkyx

Is that what you think? Pretty baseless character judgement there. I happen to use pro DAWs with PRO gear. Guess you just can't handle somebody having a differing opinion. It's ok, I get it. You're sensitive. I'll leave you alone now. I'd also *love* to hear some of your work. ;-)

[cazcotty]

@recordingrevolution I agree!



[FalconDesign]

I NEED THES SONG PLS ^_^

[OldManRiver1776]

i love the puigchild on my master

[jrhager84]

@OldManRiver1776

The Fairchild 670 is the best damn piece of equipment on this planet, especially for drums! I have it on my UAD.... OMG

[mekanikerdy8]

let the dynamics live :-)

[mekanikerdy8]

very beautiful snare sound but... I am personally against using compressors on mix bus, especially if you send the record to mastering. I think compressors make more sense when using on sub buses, like for drums on a bus and for guitars on another bus, etc.

[bobhowyousay]

But , didn't you put it on the aux bus (Submix)? Putting it on the Master Fader defeats it as the compressor is "post".

[Lethargy01]

Just curious, is there any reasoning to sending your entire mix to a bus, and then sending that bus to the master fader bus? It seems like an unnecessary step considering the master fader is already your default 1 and 2 out... unless I'm missing something here? Just curious.

[recordingrevolution]

@Lethargy01 There's a very specific reason why I do this. Check out my video on master faders in Pro Tools.

[Lethargy01]

@recordingrevolution Cool, thanks! I've used PT as a recorder/mixer for over a decade now, but always on setups where everything was routed out and mixed externally, so never really paid too much attention to the PT mixer itself until more recently. Learn something new everyday! :)

[AngryMan410]

Learned it thanks so much!!!

[byouno93]

I do the same thing on my mixes. I do at most 1.5 dB of GR but it really gels with the compressor on.

[eeehhheyad]

do you take the compression out when you send the final mix to the mastering stage ??

[AmpsforBuddha]

What are your Attack and Release settings? I'm working with Logic, what would be your suggestions?

[recordingrevolution]

@AmpsforBuddha Don't remember what settings I used, but in general start with a mild attack and release (i.e. in the middle). You don't want to slam the transients with a fast attack, just squeeze things a bit.

[DaNZlandT]

@AmpsforBuddha While watching I noticed Attack was 2.8 ms, and Release was 184.2 ms

[cauezaum]

Song name?

[TheRealBlackRefleX]

pls ... can someone tell how to hear these subtle differents ... I dont know if Im using it properly, however I dont really feel like my mix sounds glued or something ... pls help me = )

[youngcstylz]

neva tried that before after watchn these tips tried it out and made quality sound a lot better!

[soundslykmusic]

so the compressor is on the master bus for mixing, but you would take it off before sending to mastering, correct?

[recordingrevolution]

@soundslykmusic Nope. You want to keep the compressor on. This is part of the mix's sound. It's not compressing very much though, not like a limiter.

[5TheKingOfPop5]

@recordingrevolution What's the song called ?

[cocunut200]

Graham Cochrane for President. That is all.

[recordingrevolution]

@cocunut200 Ha! Now THAT would be a tough job.

[foreverGraceby]

Is this stepping into mastering a bit

[recordingrevolution]

@foreverGraceby Not at all. Compression is used all the time in the mixing phase, especially on the master fader.

[foreverGraceby]

@recordingrevolution is Compression a bad thing since it just write a level automation for what

your compressing isnt it just better for you to do it yourself unless your in rush or something

or am I wrong and there other reason for it

[foreverGraceby]

@foreverGraceby plus it shorten dynamic range making thing less exciting right?

[ektor880]

Where can I hear this song completely? I love it

[LeviCoultify]

your vocals are clipping... and they really need to be de-essed... you probably know all of this.. just in case you don't lol

[glassprison01]

hmm I figured this would be more of a mastering thing. 

[rolandkeys88]

Love the song and this tip!

[islowmusic]

this is amazing, thanks for putting this stuff up :D i'll def try these out.

[gclef101]

Thanks that was very informative. I will try this technique.

[hotboy2093]

nice tip man. some people say you should make every track sound good without setting any plug in in the master fader, so i´m getting kind of confused. Is using a compressor in the master fader a must? thank you and doing this 31 tutorial videos is a great idea!! thank you!!

[0tto777]

@hotboy2093 As long as you know what you're doing and aren't driving volumes and stuff too much because of the compressor it's helpful but if your still at the amateur stage you may not want to do this until you feel comfortable

[Hamachingo]

@hotboy2093 It's a great way to start before even doing any mixing. Typically, I would dial the main bus compression down as the mix progresses and put bus compressors on things like the downbeat bus (I like to put the kick, snare and bass there), rhythm section and melody section. At the very end of mixing I'd bypass the main bus compressor, it should sound even better because you've put the glue where it needs to be and not on everything. Let the mastering guys figure out the master compressor

[TheKroMusic]

Thank you!!

[Ifitwasntforhate]

Thanks for that Graham, will be using this on my current project to see if there's much of a difference!