Mix Bus Compression Guide

[riley_gein]

Many thanks for this, feel like using this has finally helped me mixing better using compression, so many thanks for that (and much more learning to do for me obviously).
Speaking on compressors, there is a decent sea available from McDSP on the 6030 ultimate compressor which gives you 8 compressors for something around 25 euro. I have been trying them and like them so far (Stark improvement over Reason stock devices).
Cheers,
Erik

Couldnt find that mcdsp.anywhere.
Link would be handy though.

Sure thing, here you go: https://www.mcdsp.com/plug-ins/6030-ult ... ompressor/

And for free I throw in this amazing promotional video which is definitely worth the watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9KPCooShTQ

Heads up, MCDSP is having another sale on a bunch of their stuff, including the compressor. I’m gonna snatch it up before the sale ends (June 6 2020)

Edit: iLok required so I think I’ll be sticking with MJUC

[encoderaudio]

When it comes to compression, I always feel like the guy you know, who nid-nods, but actually, doesn't know what the others are talkin' about.
I totally gave up using compressors around 5-6 years ago.

The reason is simple, I do not know how to used them properly. They were (at least for me) always those "voodoo" things that just really pros cold set correctly.

The only "compressor" what I use, is the LA2A from UA (plug-in, of course), in limiter mode.
Not because the bus / group needs any limiting or compression at all, but for a gentle "tube-touch".
That, with a Pultec (to control the lows and highs) with a Studer at the end do the math for me.

[borg]

a Pultec (to control the lows and highs) with a Studer at the end do the math for me.

plugins or real deal? Not that it matters, just interested... it's what comes out of your speakers, right?

kind of feel the same with compression. I guess the uninitiated compressor abuser expects too much of such a device. Of course you can get very audible fx out of it when overdoing it, but it's primary function is much less obvious to the untrained ear, too subtle and usually not as impressive as expected, especially if you don't know what you're actually trying to achieve. I keep on trying though...

[encoderaudio]

a Pultec (to control the lows and highs) with a Studer at the end do the math for me.

plugins or real deal? Not that it matters, just interested... it's what comes out of your speakers, right?

kind of feel the same with compression. I guess the uninitiated compressor abuser expects too much of such a device. Of course you can get very audible fx out of it when overdoing it, but it's primary function is much less obvious to the untrained ear, too subtle and usually not as impressive as expected, especially if you don't know what you're actually trying to achieve. I keep on trying though...

Believe it or not, I own a real Pultec, it sits at the bottom of my third rack, hardy used these days. Old, mono, have to patch stuff into it, bah.
I use UADs besides the built-in Ableton stuff.

Fors ure, you're right.
Not a fan of the sound of "overcompression" at all.
Actually, since the Benny Benassi track (can't even remeber the title of it) the art of compression has changed.
These days, for me, it seems that it is the answer for every single production related problems.
Stuck in a middle of a track? Put a compressor on it.
Don't have any ideas? Put a compressor on it.
Isn't it loud enough? Put a compressor on it.

And the list could go on.

In my experience, if you do not deal with recording real-life instruments (guitar, piano, vocal...), the best feature of a compressor is the bypass button

[dubdub]

Yeah sure I use different compressors depending on what I am trying to do or achieve.

btw have you tried that Unisum Mastering Compressor that people are raving about in the usual places? If you have, what's your take, is it as good a everyone is saying?

[2latuile]

I totally gave up using compressors around 5-6 years ago.

The reason is simple, I do not know how to used them properly. They were (at least for me) always those "voodoo" things that just really pros cold set correctly.

Compression is indeed not the easiest tool to learn and properly use. You really need a bit of technical knowledge in audio and signal processing to understand what it does and how the different settings interact with each other and with your audio signals (both the processed one and the sidechain, whether there are the same or not) and quite some practice time (I mean really dedicated "practice" time - like you would spent time doing specific exercises on an instrument) with some decent tutorial to start and develop know-how and feel and understand why, where and how to apply it (Steve's tutorials like this one are certainly amongst the most useful you can find FWIW). As Borg states, proper compression (except of course for deliberately obvious overcompression effects) is supposed to be quite subtle, typically a case of "you don't hear it's there until you bypass it", so quite the opposite of the "put a compressor on it" syndrom you mention

In my experience, if you do not deal with recording real-life instruments (guitar, piano, vocal...), the best feature of a compressor is the bypass button

You certainly have much less need for compression when it comes to electronic sounds with a more limited and much more predictable dynamic indeed. But it still has some use case - tightening up some fat but loose bass patch, taming wild transiants or filter resonances, and fixing a few envelop mismatches (ie getting either a bit more attack or a bit more sustain etc) -, plus of course some bus compression work to help gel things togethers. And of course it has it's use as a sound design tool too, specially on percussive sounds, but that's another topic.

Now this being said, I have to agree on the bypass button not seeing enough use on current music production - but you could say the same for most types of processing (eq, pitch corrrection, quantization, delay lines etc), and I have to plead guilty of processing abuse myself. There was definitly something much more exciting going on with the raw and dirty sound of the 50s rythm'n'blues, 60s to early 70s rock and early 90s techno / acid / whatever productions.

My 2 cents...

[Lost to the Void]

Yeah sure I use different compressors depending on what I am trying to do or achieve.

btw have you tried that Unisum Mastering Compressor that people are raving about in the usual places? If you have, what's your take, is it as good a everyone is saying?

In short no, I`ve been way too busy to chase new gear when I have more than enough to do what I need to high fidelity.
It seems to be getting rave reviews but meh.
I recently just came on board as a beta testa for Softube and I`ve already got a bit of a slog in front of me making time to dig in to all of that stuff.

[Lost to the Void]

I totally gave up using compressors around 5-6 years ago.

The reason is simple, I do not know how to used them properly. They were (at least for me) always those "voodoo" things that just really pros cold set correctly.

There was definitly something much more exciting going on with the raw and dirty sound of the 50s rythm'n'blues, 60s to early 70s rock and early 90s techno / acid / whatever productions.

My 2 cents...

But you also have to look at the fact that mastering engineers were doing gods work in a lot of these cases to get this shit to sound right at the end of process. So the only real change is the weight of the processing is more evenly distributed amongst producer, engineer, mastering engineer these days.

I just had to master some very well known producer duo`s music who have been at it since the 90`s, and whilst the music is great, their production is still very much in the 90`s frame of fidelity. It was when doing this project I realised just how much work their mastering engineers have done to make their records sound great. I really had to pull out my whole bag of tricks to get this right for a vinyl cut, whereas a lot of more up to date producers (in skill terms) raw or not, the music requires less work, standards have raised etc.

[collide]

Would the Pulsar Audio Mu be a good choice for mixbus compression like you've explained, Steve?

https://pulsar.audio/mu/

[Lost to the Void]

Would the Pulsar Audio Mu be a good choice for mixbus compression like you've explained, Steve?

https://pulsar.audio/mu/

It`s a Varimu emulation, I like varimu compression, and varimu compression can sound good on the mix bus.
I have no idea if this is a good emulation or a good bit of software.

[collide]

Would the Pulsar Audio Mu be a good choice for mixbus compression like you've explained, Steve?

https://pulsar.audio/mu/

It`s a Varimu emulation, I like varimu compression, and varimu compression can sound good on the mix bus.
I have no idea if this is a good emulation or a good bit of software.

Thank you!
It at least got very good reviews.