drum compression help...

[Dave Elyzium]

can anyone help out with any tips on compressing drums? what do you lot usually do? compress each drum sound indvidualy, in groups (say kick and hi hat) or do you just compress the whole drum mix? i usually compress the kick drum and hi hats then stick a compressor over the whole drum kit but it either isnt as puncy as i want it or it just crushes the hi hats to death which sounds cool, but loses clarity and muddies the whole sound.
If anyone else has any advice then that would be much appreciated!
by the way, i use Reason for most prgramming work, then mx down different tracks and load them into wavelab or cool edit for effects processing and the final mix down.
thanks in advance if anyone can help with this!

[DJZeMig_L]

Hey...
I guess it depends a lot on what u r looking after.. do u want clean compression just 2 control peaks? Do u want it 2 pump yer sound? etc...

I would go 4
bass + Toms + snare ... A
hihats+ rides+ Crashes...B
clap + rims... C
percs.. D

Then B with a little SC from A ... in order the distort and pump slightly.. on the final use eq. 2 shape the sound the way u want

then maybe the all lot with a little peak comp with hardknee 2 reduce something like 3-6 db max...

U have 2 b carefull cause u can really compress almost seemless if u go the individual route BUT u end up with a mashed sound that has no vibe/ dynamics thus sounding dull and taking 2 much space in yer mix!!

hope this helpz in any way!!


Z

[Dave Elyzium]

Thanks for the advice Ze! I'll give it a try tonight, I'm starting to cross over to using Logic Audio Platinum alongside Reason (mostly as a pattern sequencer) as Logic seems to have alot more options in the realm of effects...

ps

Then B with a little SC from A

- i take it you mean Side Chain??

[go|plastic]

I'm guessing SC is for sidechain mate.



Personally I rarely feel the need to compress every single drum sound... only the kick when it’s too “loose” or “wobbly”. Besides, all the sounds are probably already compressed before sampled on to a sample CD or whatever, right? ...ummm... RIGHT!? :)

Anyway I am definitely trying out what Z said, but some more info on this would be nice...

[DJZeMig_L]

Hey..

What I mention was just 1 of the possible ways... It ain't really a religion...lol Myself I only compress the main or use SC (u r right SC -side chain) for some bass compression thru the Kick!!... I remember 4 a time it was also really posh 2 distort hihats and over compress, then cut all bass and some mid, overdo on the hi eq. then SC with kickdrum!!
over pumping and breathing sound on highs!!

Z

[interferron]

I always try to program the drum sequences in a "compressed style" already, so for example if the focus is on the kick drum they are all the same velocity and then i reduce the velocity of percussive sounds triggered at the same time as a kick... So i work without compression (and effects) as long as i can when composing/arranging and try to get a good feeling to the track by programming.

after recording I of course do compress a little bit when mixing.. but mostly kick drum + bassline and leave everything else untouched.. then finally the whole drum track with all the drums included through a slight compression/limiter.

but that's just me

[Basil Rush]

Yeah, but you can do things to each transient with a compressor changing the character of each hit as well as changing the balance between them (if that makes sense) so you might want to compress the drums even if you are triggering them all at the same velocity.

You can change a sloppy open hat into something that sounds like a tight clicky thing if you want to with a compressor.

Sometimes we put volume changes into a part after the compression to bring back dynamics whilst still letting the sound retain the same character. You need to be careful using velocity for anything when you are running alot of processing as the sound will change character as the velocity changes which may not be what you intend.

[Basil Rush]

Yeah, but you can do things to each transient with a compressor changing the character of each hit as well as changing the balance between them (if that makes sense) so you might want to compress the drums even if you are triggering them all at the same velocity.

You can change a sloppy open hat into something that sounds like a tight clicky thing if you want to with a compressor.

Sometimes we put volume changes into a part after the compression to bring back dynamics whilst still letting the sound retain the same character. You need to be careful using velocity for anything when you are running alot of processing as the sound will change character as the velocity changes which may not be what you intend.

[Basil Rush]

Yeah, but you can do things to each transient with a compressor changing the character of each hit as well as changing the balance between them (if that makes sense) so you might want to compress the drums even if you are triggering them all at the same velocity.

You can change a sloppy open hat into something that sounds like a tight clicky thing if you want to with a compressor.

Sometimes we put volume changes into a part after the compression to bring back dynamics whilst still letting the sound retain the same character. You need to be careful using velocity for anything when you are running alot of processing as the sound will change character as the velocity changes which may not be what you intend.

[Xtraction]

One thing I've encountered w/ mixing drums: It's not what you CAN hear, but what you CAN'T. If you have a Hat loop, try a hi-pass EQ. With a kick, maybe you want to filter out some of these highs, and give a little Lo Boost. As previous responses have said, it's all in your taste to form the sound, but these EQ tips may send you in the right direction. Good Luck.


Also: Snares and claps can be seperated w/ EQ if they sound like they're fighting for space.