Hey all,
I need suggestions or solutions to some problems I have, all help greatly appreciated.
Firstly, I have a multi band compressor which seems to increase the quality and dynamics. I always apply it to the whole mix, with all three bands up to max, but lately I think it's a bad idea.
It may increase the quality, but I'm having trouble getting the tracks the right volume - the sliders feel much more sensitive and exponential in terms of volume.
Should I apply this before or after the tracks are set appropriately?
And generally, I find that the track mixing volumes are slightly out when I play my songs on iPod for example - yet they could sound fine on the computer (I think my soundcard actually has a compressor).
Suggestions?
Oh and one more thing - why do people compress each and every individual sample/sound?
Mixing Help
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GeneralBigbag
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I personally only use multi-band compression when I'm 'mastering'. The only exception is if I have all of my drums in one mono/stereo track and I want to sweeten them up a bit.
As for the relative levels thing, I had that problem if I mixed on my cheap headphones alone. I don't have monitors, when I'm mixing I use headphones and a small stereo, aiming to get it sounding right on the stereo, then tweaking it if it doesn't sound right on the 'phones. Same with mastering, when I'm using the multiband compressor and a little bit of eq.
As for the compressing everything... I personally don't compress, unless a track has an undesirably large dynamic range. I guess it might be a 'loud = good' thing if one were to do it on every track?
As for the relative levels thing, I had that problem if I mixed on my cheap headphones alone. I don't have monitors, when I'm mixing I use headphones and a small stereo, aiming to get it sounding right on the stereo, then tweaking it if it doesn't sound right on the 'phones. Same with mastering, when I'm using the multiband compressor and a little bit of eq.
As for the compressing everything... I personally don't compress, unless a track has an undesirably large dynamic range. I guess it might be a 'loud = good' thing if one were to do it on every track?
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translucencecs
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I think you may have the wrong impression of how you should be using a compressor, here (although I apologise if I misunderstood).
The basic purpose of a compressor is to narrow the difference between loud and quiet sounds in any given input - i.e. to "level out" the volume of a sound. This is not really used to its best effect if it's only being used on the final mix.
In fact, the final mix output is really the least useful position in a signal chain to place a compressor (although it can be handy and IS used this way).
The trick to using compression is to individually compress each channel/track that needs it before setting mix volume levels. This allows for a mix where the individual parts don't "appear" and "disappear" throughout, due to volume levels changing wildly, but allows for each individual component of a mix to be audible, all the time.
Ideally, you should be using one compressor (channel) for drums, another for basses, another for vocals and another for lead sounds, plus others for each additional sound that you use that varies widely in volume. Compression isn't generally required on pad sounds or stuff that doesn't vary in volume much.
Light compression on a final mix is often used, but the emphasis should be on the word "light" - for a final mixdown, you will want some variation in volume as tracks cut in and out, or fade and swell, and using heavy compression here will kill the dynamic of your final mix.
I suggest that you read articles here: http://www.tweakheadz.com/compressors.htm, here: http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_record_vocals.htm and here: http://www.xowave.com/doc/recording/compression.shtml
More tricks can be squeezed out of multiband compressors (like yours) than the plain (non-multiband) variety, but I'd suggest that you get your head around the basics of compression techniques (as discussed in the above articles) before getting more advanced.
Hopefully this will help, unless I misunderstood you in the first place!
The reason why people often compress each and every sample/sound will become more self-apparent as you delve into the guides to mixing and compression techniques above, but it's just more of what I said earlier - keeping sounds levelled out and maintaining clarity.
You'll probably want to look into the correct use of equalisation, too, once you've nailed compression!
Admittedly, there's a lot more to compression and dynamics than I covered here, but this should be a manageable start...
The basic purpose of a compressor is to narrow the difference between loud and quiet sounds in any given input - i.e. to "level out" the volume of a sound. This is not really used to its best effect if it's only being used on the final mix.
In fact, the final mix output is really the least useful position in a signal chain to place a compressor (although it can be handy and IS used this way).
The trick to using compression is to individually compress each channel/track that needs it before setting mix volume levels. This allows for a mix where the individual parts don't "appear" and "disappear" throughout, due to volume levels changing wildly, but allows for each individual component of a mix to be audible, all the time.
Ideally, you should be using one compressor (channel) for drums, another for basses, another for vocals and another for lead sounds, plus others for each additional sound that you use that varies widely in volume. Compression isn't generally required on pad sounds or stuff that doesn't vary in volume much.
Light compression on a final mix is often used, but the emphasis should be on the word "light" - for a final mixdown, you will want some variation in volume as tracks cut in and out, or fade and swell, and using heavy compression here will kill the dynamic of your final mix.
I suggest that you read articles here: http://www.tweakheadz.com/compressors.htm, here: http://www.tweakheadz.com/how_to_record_vocals.htm and here: http://www.xowave.com/doc/recording/compression.shtml
More tricks can be squeezed out of multiband compressors (like yours) than the plain (non-multiband) variety, but I'd suggest that you get your head around the basics of compression techniques (as discussed in the above articles) before getting more advanced.
Hopefully this will help, unless I misunderstood you in the first place!
The reason why people often compress each and every sample/sound will become more self-apparent as you delve into the guides to mixing and compression techniques above, but it's just more of what I said earlier - keeping sounds levelled out and maintaining clarity.
You'll probably want to look into the correct use of equalisation, too, once you've nailed compression!
Admittedly, there's a lot more to compression and dynamics than I covered here, but this should be a manageable start...
I've known many people to EQ and Compress their entire mix FIRST. Sounds kinda crazy, but if you give it some thought it makes a bit of sense.
For people who really know what sound they're going for, it's very easy to EQ and compress the whole mess and then sort of "mix into" the end result. It's not really a "fix all" as you should never approach two mixes the same way, as every piece should be treated as unique with different needs, but to try and retain some sense of uniformity, it's a nice trick that's worth a try if you know what you're doing.
Compressors are really funky because they change the entire dynamic characteristics of a sound. They increase sustain immensely which may not always be desirable. A good rule of thumb is to always do the least possible compression necessary. As my professor said, "Compressors make the loud parts quieter" and that's really a good way to sum it up, because there are so many misunderstandings and myths about compressors and when and why one would use them.
As with pretty much every aspect of the mixing process, proficiency comes with practice. Just keep mixing and see what sounds good where and what doesn't. Eventually you'll get the hang of it.
Another cool tip for compressing on the main outs is to use two different compressors in series. Each compressor should be VERY (and I can't stress this enough) VERY minimal. Like, <= 2:1 ratio and a very high threshold (as in, compression occurs more disparately rather than almost constantly). The key to this technique is taking small chunks off at a time which sort of allows for more dynamics to occur without it sounding too hectic. However, this technique I can't recommend for someone who is new to compression as it's very hard to master and also not something that should be done too often.
For people who really know what sound they're going for, it's very easy to EQ and compress the whole mess and then sort of "mix into" the end result. It's not really a "fix all" as you should never approach two mixes the same way, as every piece should be treated as unique with different needs, but to try and retain some sense of uniformity, it's a nice trick that's worth a try if you know what you're doing.
Compressors are really funky because they change the entire dynamic characteristics of a sound. They increase sustain immensely which may not always be desirable. A good rule of thumb is to always do the least possible compression necessary. As my professor said, "Compressors make the loud parts quieter" and that's really a good way to sum it up, because there are so many misunderstandings and myths about compressors and when and why one would use them.
As with pretty much every aspect of the mixing process, proficiency comes with practice. Just keep mixing and see what sounds good where and what doesn't. Eventually you'll get the hang of it.
Another cool tip for compressing on the main outs is to use two different compressors in series. Each compressor should be VERY (and I can't stress this enough) VERY minimal. Like, <= 2:1 ratio and a very high threshold (as in, compression occurs more disparately rather than almost constantly). The key to this technique is taking small chunks off at a time which sort of allows for more dynamics to occur without it sounding too hectic. However, this technique I can't recommend for someone who is new to compression as it's very hard to master and also not something that should be done too often.
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Thanks everyone.
I suppose while I'm here, I should ask: Does anyone completely filter (deep cut EQ) out bass from all other audio tracks, apart from the bass track? This might sound funny, but I was just thinking, like if you had two or three tracks with all their bass still left behind, in addition to a bass tracks, and then you played the whole mix together with a subwoofer - wouldn't it sound more rumbly and thundering, because there is more than one ''bass-line'' (so to speak)?
I suppose while I'm here, I should ask: Does anyone completely filter (deep cut EQ) out bass from all other audio tracks, apart from the bass track? This might sound funny, but I was just thinking, like if you had two or three tracks with all their bass still left behind, in addition to a bass tracks, and then you played the whole mix together with a subwoofer - wouldn't it sound more rumbly and thundering, because there is more than one ''bass-line'' (so to speak)?
Really you have to consider this case by case, sometimes can work sometimes not. I don't think it's always good to EQ with an axe, some frequencies have to overlap somewhere, and sometimes this can add in richness, some other times in muddiness. I suggest you to always try different solutions, don't search for an hard and fast rule.sustain wrote:Thanks everyone.
I suppose while I'm here, I should ask: Does anyone completely filter (deep cut EQ) out bass from all other audio tracks, apart from the bass track? This might sound funny, but I was just thinking, like if you had two or three tracks with all their bass still left behind, in addition to a bass tracks, and then you played the whole mix together with a subwoofer - wouldn't it sound more rumbly and thundering, because there is more than one ''bass-line'' (so to speak)?
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Thanks, that's very true.luciano wrote: Really you have to consider this case by case, sometimes can work sometimes not. I don't think it's always good to EQ with an axe, some frequencies have to overlap somewhere, and sometimes this can add in richness, some other times in muddiness. I suggest you to always try different solutions, don't search for an hard and fast rule.