Quote:Let the slaughter begin...haha...
dionysus Wrote:L2 and it does nothing but sit there.
Sort of like a brick wall i guess.
Fair enough
But - assuming you aren't going mental with it - is it any more/better a brick wall than 0dB?
Even better, why not mix at levels where you aren't going to worry about ever crossing 'that' line? Why walk the tightrope?
Quote:It gives me the ability to increase the volume of the bass, snare, etc.. to a loudness that i'm happy with.
Yes, but at a cost. The problem here is, for example, that when limiting occurs your bass will cause your snare to be attenuated. One is affecting the other - nay, your whole mix, everything else in it.
[I'm sure peeps have seen my rants about distortion from limiters like this - NOTHING pisses me off more than a nicely-mixed tune that distorts every time the drums or bass hit cos it has been bludgeoned with a limiter ]
Why not give each and every part the specialised treatment it requires? More control, less undesirable interaction between elements, less distortion on everything when say, the bass hits etc etc etc...
Interaction between mix elements isn't A Bad Thing. However, with a limiter a la L2, it only happens when limiting occurs - the interaction only happens at peak times. By using a (nice) compressor, preferably with a soft knee, in the right way, you get interaction at a much wider range of levels. This can help things to gel together in a much nicer, more organic and more musical way. This can bring extra life to a mix, while also allowing an increase in perceived level.
However, compression will - to some extent - change your mix. It takes very careful use of compression for this not to be the case, OR, it requires the compressor to be a part of the mix chain. You mix into the compressor, it is a part of the mix, and influences all mix decisions from the word go. It still requires care and attention of course, but it means your mix won't change when you apply some compression as it is already done. That's a simplistic way of putting it, but the point stands.
Which brings us to mastering. Don't underestimate the ability of a good ME to bring life back into a mix that appears fukt. It's a
gross misjudgement, almost an insult, to assume that all ME's do - or that all they are able to do - is slap some compression and eq on a mix and there you go. It's true that in the vast majority of cases, eq and compression will be applied to bring the best out of a mix, get the level to somewhere reasonable for the music being dealt with etc etc. But that is only a part of the story. A good ME that gets given a mix that has been limited clipped and smashed beyond belief to destruction won't go slapping on compression 'cos that's what ME's do' - they will
do what is necessary to bring the best out of a track. I wanted to clear that up straight away.
As for the multiplicative ratios, I'm quite serious when I say 'so what?'. As always again, to the point of being boring, what about ears?
I regularly (as in, all the fucking time
) stage compression. There's more to a compressor than just ratio. Set your compressor to 6:1. Set the threshold at maximum, listen. Set the threshold to minimum, listen. They sound pretty different, right? How the compressor is applying a given gain reduction is far far more than simply a function of ratio. How the ratios stack up, how they act and where they act on the signal results in a far more complex picture than simply 3:1 and 2:1 and 6:1 = 12:1. That isn't incorrect mathematically speaking, but it's a squillion times more complex than that.
That picture assumes unity gain at all stages, same attack/release settings, same compressor, all set with the same knee, the same threshold, blah blah - ie not particularly realistic. If you are setting your compressors all the same then you need to turn them all off, now
When staging compressors correctly, the ratios do stack up, but in such a way that the overall result is of benefit to the signal, of benefit to the sound, to the level, etc etc etc. It results in a gentle smoothing of the 'overall compression curve' (if such a thing makes sense), not unlike the saturation/soft knee curve we all know and love.
To do this in a big arse mix without it all turning to mush and being very lifeles, is something that can only be done with time, practice, good ears, good equipment etc etc. But it can be done. Multiplying ratios can be a wonderful thing if you use it right and understand the way dynamics work on signals. And a good ME will know how to take that fat, punchy, powerful mix and give it even more juice, whether they use compression or whether they don't.