What if I don't like "dynamics"? Walking that tightrope.

[Bob Zaod]

My Studio Pro friend back east today, gave me some really good advice about using compression live and it has really made a HUGE difference for me going direct so far. I really need to do it with the band to know for sure though. Sacrificing some dynamics for sustain and fatness is such a tightrope. He is also a Helix expert and gave me a template patch to work from with 2 compressors in it and I am all smiles today playing through my Turbosound array system at gig volume.

Seems to work best when using high gain amps like the ANGL and the Revv Gen Red. Really fattens it up and takes away the buzzy fizziness parts of using high gain. Definitely need to use snapshots as keeping the same comp settings for clean is too much. I don't get folks that say it's cheating. I find it forces me to execute notes and chords in a cleaner way, else it enhances misses and noise.

Such an underrated effect compression is I think. At least for me. I didn't really take any time to understand it I just kind always left default settings in helix which was a HUGE mistake.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

2 comps, one up front and one post-amp somewhere? Spill beans, Bob!

I like some up front comp on cleans most of the time but never usually on anything crunchier unless I'm using it to boost the input of an amp or sustain notes

 

[Bob Zaod]

2 comps, one up front and one post-amp somewhere? Spill beans, Bob!

I like some up front comp on cleans most of the time but never usually on anything crunchier unless I'm using it to boost the input of an amp or sustain notes

Yes it's similar to the thing I learned from Jason Sadites with some differences.

up front first in chain

Post amp before the IR/Cab Sim

 

[Desertdweller]

So here's the thing with compression and limiting - it really tightens everything up. More compression - more initial punch and more sustain but also more compression means you lose a bit of feel. I mix and master all of my music, and I use compression on every instrument, but it's in varied and small doses. Experiment! Find out what's right for you, and don't ever, ever be afraid to turn knobs in unconventional ways and do things 'wrong.' Music is so much more an art than a science and I'd rather hear a song with an inspired musician than a perfect mix.

 

[metropolis_4]

I love compressors!

It can be a tricky one, it’s sort of like “saturation” when you’re editing your photos: A little can go a long way, and it takes some practice to learn to use it right. When to push it more and when to pull back. And it’s easy to over-do it

Different types of compressors offer very different sounds and effects too, so it’s worth experimenting to find what you like best

 

[Desertdweller]

I love compressors!

It can be a tricky one, it’s sort of like “saturation” when you’re editing your photos: A little can go a long way, and it takes some practice to learn to use it right. When to push it more and when to pull back. And it’s easy to over-do it

Yep, and it all sounds so amazing, until you come back to it a few days later and it sounds horrible. Ear fatigue is a thing and compression can mask it even worse.

 

[la szum]

"Don't like dynamics" = ALL Modern Music Production--Live and Recorded. More or less.

You know you have achieved the modern pinnacle of music production when the Meters
just stay pegged and never move.

 

[la szum]

Yep, and it all sounds so amazing, until you come back to it a few days later and it sounds horrible. Ear fatigue is a thing and compression can mask it even worse.

I think that is why I can still listen to entire albums made in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and parts
of the 90s. By the 2000s it seemed that "music" jumped the shark and heavy handed
compression, together with super-hot (hot as you can get it, which was often too hot!) mastering,
makes it really hard for me to listen to entire albums. There are a few exceptions. Some producers
are totally hip to this and their production aesthetic is not modern. They go against the grain and
don't compress/squash the fuck out of the instruments/mix, all in the name of making it louder.

 

[jellodog]

I have long believed that one needs to think about subtle "compression staging" to get sweet results... much like one can be rewarded from carefully considering "gain staging".

It's what I do anyway. But then again, I am an amateur know-nothing

 

[Desertdweller]

I think that is why I can still listen to entire albums made in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and parts
of the 90s. By the 2000s it seemed that "music" jumped the shark and heavy handed
compression, together with super-hot (hot as you can get it, which was often too hot!) mastering,
makes it really hard for me to listen to entire albums. There are a few exceptions. Some producers
are totally hip to this and their production aesthetic is not modern. They go against the grain and
don't compress/squash the f**k out of the instruments/mix, all in the name of making it louder.

Now we're really getting into limiting. I'm actually really happy that Spotify, youtube, and the like have made a limit of -14 LUFS, basically ending the loudness wars. If you had an album out in 2004, you were probably mastering to -6 or -7 LUFS, and that just looks like a laser beam of a wave form. This gives the listener ear fatige faster too. Turned down to -14 LUFS, that same track will not compete with a track designed for -14, it will actually sound quieter and shittier.

I have been fighting some of this myself as I love the punch and aggressiveness of more limiting, but I've found a happy place for myself right around -12 LUFS in my mixing/mastering where I feel I'm getting the punch I want in my mixes and still keeping a good dynamic range that works in modern streaming apps.