master comp

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how to use master compression

and should i use it at all?

some examples would be nice
i reckon people will tell you to not bother doing your own mastering if you arent completley comfortable with the art of mastering Smile oslt
djfada Wrote:i reckon people will tell you to not bother doing your own mastering if you arent completley comfortable with the art of mastering Smile oslt
Icon_eek
djfada Wrote:i reckon people will tell you to not bother doing your own mastering if you arent completley comfortable with the art of mastering Smile oslt

maybe, maybe not, we'll see Wink
whys it shocking to suggest that you shouldnt do your own mastering unless you know exactly what your doing and have trained ears all that malarky ( firefox says malarky isnt a real word Roll )
its malarkey not malarky

nothing wrong with doing your own mastering, even if you dont yet know what you are at, you can but learn from your mistakes.

As for using compression on an overall mixdown, it has it uses in that it can "even out" some bumps and creases in a track...or indeed manage overall volume levels.

one of the more expert mastering individuals will probably answer this better.
djfada Wrote:whys it shocking to suggest that you shouldnt do your own mastering unless you know exactly what your doing and have trained ears all that malarky ( firefox says malarky isnt a real word Roll )
dont u think ill hear the difference, but i need the tech how to do that?

i have quite good hearing to hear everything, the question is to understand what is good and what is wrong......
phoonkah Wrote:i have quite good hearing to hear everything, ......

hearing is in a linear relationship with experience.
any1 who will answer the question ? lol
Wotcher phoonkah - I thought you were leaving? :P Wink

This sounds like another thing you read on the internet Hahaha It's very fashionable to talk about buss cmpresison at the moment it seems...

phoonkah Wrote:dont u think ill hear the difference, but i need the tech how to do that?

Mastering through the same equipment that the song was mixed on - without a great deal of experience - only makes things worse. As we've said to you a lot over the last few days, don't underestimate objective, experienced ears.

But anyway, we aren't talking about mastering here - we're talking about master mix bus compression, which isn't quite the same thing.

Quote:i have quite good hearing to hear everything

How do you know that? Smile You just said that you don't really have the equipment.

Quote:The question is to understand what is good and what is wrong......

What is good: What sounds good.

What is wrong: What sounds wrong.

:P


To answer your question:

Compression changes your mix. Therefore if you wish to have compression as a part of the sound of your mix, it is usually better to have the compressor set in the output BEFORE you start mixing. Otherwise putting compression on after may well destroy the mix balances you spent so long setting up. So you mix through the compressor from the start. The compression IS a part of your mix, rather than something applied after.

However, it is VERY easily overdone, and can very easily lead to a flat, uninteresting tune. Often things sound much more 'open' without master compression.

Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don't - mostly I don't.

I suggest you work on your mixing before worrying about things like this. It's just another thing that you might get wrong, and at your stage you have more important things to worry about (see dB thread).

Smile
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Don Cherry Wrote:Every human is blessed in her or his life with one love (passion), no matter how long it may last. This Absolute love will last in one's heart and soul forever.
How do you know that? Smile You just said that you don't really have the equipment.


i didnt say so

i have maudio-bx8a

i think it is good hardware, enough for me at least



m8 dont make fun of me
phoonkah Wrote:How do you know that? Smile You just said that you don't really have the equipment.


i didnt say so

i have maudio-bx8a

i think it is good hardware, enough for me at least
AIUI, the point is not that your hardware is rubbish, it's that if your hardware (and, importantly, your room) are distorting the sound (not like a fuzz pedal distorts, just not representing it properly) then doing the mastering on the same hardware in the same room isn't going to show that up and correct it. So if your speakers and the reflective properties of your walls give boost to the top end and you correct for that in your sound design, then when you play your tune on another soundsystem it might sound really dull in the top end even though it sounds ripping on your setup. Whereas if you send it off to someone who either has a very transparent setup or knows the biases of their setup well enough that they can correct for it, they'll be able to see that coming and nudge your high end back up for you.

Also, you get the benefit of someone who's got no particular emotional attachment to the tune and can really listen to it objectively and think clearly about what needs to be done - ie fresh ears.

I guess if I wanted to learn to master stuff, I'd send things off to someone like Macc to hear how good they could sound, so I know what I'm comparing it against. (I'd also want to get the absolute best monitors I could afford in the best acoustically treated room I could practically set up,
and then have a couple of different hifi systems in different rooms to check things on.) But frankly a) I haven't got the patience and b) I'd do better to learn to actually finish tunes. Teef

Quote:m8 dont make fun of me
Noone's making fun of you. Macc just doesn't mince his words when he's telling people they're wrong. Smile
Quote:i have maudio-bx8a

i think it is good hardware, enough for me at least

m8 dont make fun of me

I'm not making fun of you. I just posted in your dB thread, but I'll put it more simply here;

You arrived here with some nice tunes. You then essentially told scope and I that we don't know what we're talking about. We pointed out that we did, and you said 'I leave this community' because you were upset. Now over the weekend you come and ask questions, and still insist you are God's gift to production.

There is nothing worse than someone who talks as if they know everything when they know nothing. Please, just drop the front. We are happy to help, and this very forum shows that. Just read it - I always try to help out as much as I can.

There is no shame in asking questions, there is no shame in not knowing things. It's not a macho pissing contest in here.



You say you want to learn, but behave as though you know everything.

Which is it?
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Don Cherry Wrote:Every human is blessed in her or his life with one love (passion), no matter how long it may last. This Absolute love will last in one's heart and soul forever.
and back to the point, slothrop's post is 100% spot on Xyxthumbs
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Don Cherry Wrote:Every human is blessed in her or his life with one love (passion), no matter how long it may last. This Absolute love will last in one's heart and soul forever.
phoonkah Wrote:how to use master compression

and should i use it at all?

some examples would be nice

If you mean compression on the master output of a mix, my 1st advice is "less is more".



People always have so many questions about compression and how much should they apply what is good and what is bad.

Well there is no correct answer.

Just from someone asking such a question my response to them would be to ask them:

"What it is they are trying to achive by using compression?"

Cool
I usually put this compressor on my master channel to control peaks:

[Image: new-compressor.jpg]
Shiva Wrote:Just from someone asking such a question my response to them would be to ask them:

"What it is they are trying to achive by using compression?"

This is a very good point - often people eq and/or compress 'because that's what you do, right? Eq and compress things'.

Well, yes... but not if it doesn't need it.
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Don Cherry Wrote:Every human is blessed in her or his life with one love (passion), no matter how long it may last. This Absolute love will last in one's heart and soul forever.
I've been finding that I've been using less and less EQ on things. Just chucking the samples in and making them work in that tune. Bar bass of course and working the breaks around the bass. But overall much less.

I know fuck all about compression and freely admit so. I use it and use my ears to get what I think sounds right. There's everything wrong in that, but hey Grin
That's the spirit Wilshmundo Grin
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Don Cherry Wrote:Every human is blessed in her or his life with one love (passion), no matter how long it may last. This Absolute love will last in one's heart and soul forever.
The way i think about compression ; when the loud bits are at the right level, ie in a break, are the quiet bits too low ? Is so a bit of comp will help. And Vice Verca. Can I hear all the noise and crap i dont want ? Over compressed.

Check the scientifical !

Teef
just to add - mixing through a compressor on the master buss is NOT the same as applying a compressor in the mastering stage.

I often mix through a gentle compressor at the right setting - the important thing is to mix through it, not to slap it on after the fact. It will affect the tonal balance of the track and mixing through it from early on is the only way to do it properly. I dont always do it, but I do do it often.

Pretty much 90% of pop records from the last couple of decades that were mixed on SSL consoles will have been mixed through the buss comp on there...
Ive been reading a lot about this

But how do you set your attack ratio etc before you start mixing ?



And i appreciate if you slap it on the 2bis later, your mix will change, but do you just pick somethuing appropriate to what youre mixing and start?
scope Wrote:just to add - mixing through a compressor on the master buss is not the same as applying a compressor in the mastering stage.

i often mix through a gentle compressor at the right setting - the important thing is to mix through it, not to slap it on after the fact. it will affect the tonal balance of the track and mixing through it from early on is the only way to do it properly. i dont always do it, but i do do it often.

that's what i was saying Smile Wave Xyxthumbs
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Don Cherry Wrote:Every human is blessed in her or his life with one love (passion), no matter how long it may last. This Absolute love will last in one's heart and soul forever.
I think Macc explained this to me once.

You can set it up with a sine wave set to -2 or -4 (if you got a pultec in your master out) and set the comp up with that.

I might be wrong though Smile
That's ONE way of doing it, so you have some idea where you're aiming in terms of peak levels, and what gain reduction that'll give you.

Smile
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Don Cherry Wrote:Every human is blessed in her or his life with one love (passion), no matter how long it may last. This Absolute love will last in one's heart and soul forever.

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