Compressing vocals

Littlejonny

This is something I've always been a bit confused about - you want dynamics, you don't want dynamics, you want it to sound like there's a dynamic performance but you want to b able to hear every syllable. 

We have a singer in our band who apparently actually records her own stuff with zero compression and zero EQ - I know, that's illegal right?

Anyway, when I record her, I always struggle to hear the benefits of compression on her voice. This morning I did a little mix and I took this approach:

Logic Pro: 'digital' compressor with attack set to 0ms, 2:1 ratio shaving off 0-5 dB. The idea here is to simply level the vocals transparently. When I've seen people do this, they tend to do a 20ms attack - why not 0ms?

I then added a '1176' style compressor after this to add a bit of subtle pumping...

What's your approach??

thecolourbox

I'll be honest, in the recordings i do i just mess about with buttons on stuff until it sounds different or better, then set volume accordingly. I'm willing to accept that's probably not the best approach

flying_pie

I use a lot of compression - sometimes manually with volume adjustments - but in think a lot of down to my vocal technique. If there are high bits which I I need to belt then there is usually a massive difference volume wise. I'm used to musical theatre singing where normally the belted notes fit the piece dynamic-wise. The sound engineers will often use compression there so that's how I've learned.

I also need to use EQ but in think that's down to my voice. I'm a natural bass and my voice is thick so doesn't cut through the mix like a tenor or female voice might. I mainly record silly covers and virtually all the time it won't be in a style that suits my voice.

I suspect your singer has great control, very steady technique and she will write stuff that naturally suits her voice. If that's the case then it makes sense that you might not much in the way of adjustments

Winny_Pooh

Compression does change the sound of a vocal and the inflections, not just the levels (which are ridden to death in DAW automation on commercial releases also). So it's not just dynamics. 

The tolerance for volume dynamics is extremely low in a modern recording that's not acoustic music or classical etc. Anything else sounds a bit odd TBH.

Having said that voices are the most familiar sounds to the human brain so you can't go too squashed compared to things like drums or electric bass.

Why would you add pumping to a vocal?

Danny1969

Well there's no rules really as compression can be used as a very obvious effect. Muse being one example where there's so much compression that the breaths he takes before each line are as loud as the vocals. Some people like that. 

Generally though, most people want the compression to even out the volume difference in the singing as transparently as possible. That means a slower attack time, 4:1 ish ratio and maybe 4 to 5 dB of gain reduction. In general it's hard to get a vocal to sit right with no compression at all so I also use some. 

The attack and release time can make a huge difference with drums. You can literally change the tone of a snare just by playing with the release time. 

octatonic

Littlejonny said:

This is something I've always been a bit confused about - you want dynamics, you don't want dynamics, you want it to sound like there's a dynamic performance but you want to b able to hear every syllable. 

We have a singer in our band who apparently actually records her own stuff with zero compression and zero EQ - I know, that's illegal right?

Anyway, when I record her, I always struggle to hear the benefits of compression on her voice. This morning I did a little mix and I took this approach:

Logic Pro: 'digital' compressor with attack set to 0ms, 2:1 ratio shaving off 0-5 dB. The idea here is to simply level the vocals transparently. When I've seen people do this, they tend to do a 20ms attack - why not 0ms?

I then added a '1176' style compressor after this to add a bit of subtle pumping...

What's your approach??

I use the classic, tried and true approach of a great microphone into an excellent preamp (these change depending on the vocalist but often a U87 or AEA R84a ribbon into a Groove Tubes ViPre, BAE (Neve style) 1073 or Chandler Germanium), then into an EQ (I use a Manley Massive Passive, Empirical Labs Lil Freq or SSL 611) and then into an 1176 and then into an optical compressor, a Urei LA2a or Tubetech CL1a.

The 1176 catches the peaks, high ratio, fast attack, and medium to fast release, reducing peaks by about 2 to 3 dB.
The LA-2a then smooths out the rest of the track aiming for about 3 to 5 dB of gain reduction.

Sometimes it is better to reverse the order and use the LA2a into the 1176.
Mostly it is 1176 -> LA2a

Sometimes I will do the same thing but with a pair of Distressors in series.
The first one set like an 1176 (high ratio, fast attack, medium release etc) and the second one set like an LA2a (10:1 ratio, attack on 10, release on 0). It is a different tone but it sometimes works great, especially with Dist 2 or Dist 3 (usually 2).

'When I've seen people do this, they tend to do a 20ms attack - why not 0ms?'

Because you will be left with a lifeless vocal that has no attack to it.
You don't want to even the performance out to the point that it has no life to it.
If mixing for rock or pop music you want to be able to make the vocal front and centre- you want it to cut through, but you still want it to have *some* dynamics to it.

I wouldn't personally use the Logic Digital compressor for that though.
I'd use 2 compressors in series- the first being Logic's 'Studio Fet', into Vintage Opto.

Hardware (rather than plugins) is easier to get a finished vocal sound to it.
If I have to use plugins (not often) then it takes me longer to get what I want, but I realise not everyone wants to invest in £10k worth of hardware.

Littlejonny

Danny1969 said:

Well there's no rules really as compression can be used as a very obvious effect. Muse being one example where there's so much compression that the breaths he takes before each line are as loud as the vocals. Some people like that. 

Generally though, most people want the compression to even out the volume difference in the singing as transparently as possible. That means a slower attack time, 4:1 ish ratio and maybe 4 to 5 dB of gain reduction. In general it's hard to get a vocal to sit right with no compression at all so I also use some. 

The attack and release time can make a huge difference with drums. You can literally change the tone of a snare just by playing with the release time. 

This is interesting to me…and kind of focuses my original question: why do people say that a slower attack time is more transparent? Doesn’t that let the front of the note through and then clamp down, thereby if there’s a sudden peak the compressor won’t catch it and you’ll hear it pumping?

octatonic

Winny_Pooh said:

Why would you add pumping to a vocal?

Have a listen to any Shinedown track- that overly compressed vocal treatment is a form of pumping.

It is used in certain types of vocal (Aggressive rock, Hiphop for example), but it isn't the same as a pumping side chain effect.
It isn't really 'pumping' though, it is just that you can hear it working when in a lot of other styles you definitely don't want that.

I hear a lot of beginner mixers are overusing compression- if I can hear it working it is usually too much.

OP: Another thing to try is parallel compression.
I always have a parallel vocal bus ready to go in my template.
I'll usually have a saturator type device on the parallel bus (in plugin land try Decapitator, or Vertigo VSM-3) and an 1176 set to all buttons in.

Also, use a vocal reverb with some predelay to separate the vocal from the reverb, it helps keep it up front.

Littlejonny

Perhaps I should be using the word ‘clamping’ in place of pumping 

crosstownvamp

The longer attack time allows the transient through, the 'p' and 't' sounds in particular - though of course you might then get popping. A lot depends on how loudly the singer is doing their thing . Then how loud their in-breaths are, which you may or may not want, and if you don't want them you can add a noise gate.. yup, it's a minefield.

octatonic

Littlejonny said:

Perhaps I should be using the word ‘clamping’ in place of pumping 

Yes, I knew what you meant.

Littlejonny said:

This is interesting to me…and kind of focuses my original question: why do people say that a slower attack time is more transparent? Doesn’t that let the front of the note through and then clamp down, thereby if there’s a sudden peak the compressor won’t catch it and you’ll hear it pumping?

This is what make up gain is for.
A slower attack time, as you say, allows the front of the note through (if it is a transient).
It then clamps down, reducing the dynamic range of the signal.

You can then use the make up gain to level the entire signal.
This is why compression is difficult to master- because small changes in threshold, ratio, attack, release and make up gain can have a dramatic effect.
Getting the balance right takes time and experience.

The approach to take as a beginner is this:

I suggest starting with a snare drum track, soloed, with nothing else playing.
The logic compressor is good for this because it has a decent meter.
Set it to Studio FET.

1. Setup:

Set your threshold so it is maximally compressing.
Set the make up gain to zero.
Then set the ratio to the maximum, which is 30:1.
Then set the attack and the release to the longest.

2. Work the attack.

Now work on just the attack parameter.
Bring the attack to the fastest setting (remember on an 1176 the controls are reversed- if using an emulation make sure they have not changed this).
You might need a bit of make up gain at this point- try 5-10dB.
Now go to the longest attack setting.
Observe the difference.

When attack is at the shortest it will be completely squashing the signal.
When it is at the longest it probably isn't doing anything.
Now bring the attack control down so you can hear the transient allowing the front of the hit through but it compresses the rest of the signal, probably around 10-20 ms.
Go between 20ms and 120ms.
Hear how much more of the thwack of the snare is coming through.
This is important!
Now set the attack to about 70ms.

3. Work the release.

Start by taking the release from longest to shortest- got back and forth a bit.
Watch how when you have a snare hit repeat, when you have the release long the compressor is still releasing the previous hot when it activates again.
Generally you do not want that.
When people set compressor release times they will usually want the compressor to have fully released before the next hit happens.
Now set the release to its longest and with each hit reduce it a bit and notice how the snare tail is lengthened.
This is important.

I would set the release around 100ms now.

4. Work the make up gain.

FIRST, reduce your channel fader to at least -20dB (or you will blow your speakers and maybe your ears.)

Set the make up gain to something high like 30dB.
Listen to how ridiculously loud the tail of the snare is.
Now reduce the make up gain with each hit, turning up the channel fader at the same time (this is where a controller is really helpful).
When you get to around 15dB you will still have a loud tail relative to the transient.
Now reduce make up gain to about 5dB.

5. Reduce the Threshold and Ratio.

Now reduce the Threshold and Ratio to around -40dB and to 4:1 or thereabouts.
You should be getting around 10-15dB of reduction, which is loads.
Now go between bypass and engage on the compressor plugin.
Observe how different the snare sounds when soloed.

Now change the Threshold between something like -20dB and -30dB.
When set to -20dB  you should be getting something like 3dB of compression (depending on how loud the snare track was recorded.)
When set to -30dB it should be around 7dB of compression.
Listen to how different they sound.

Now do everything I just said above when the snare is playing with the rest of the kit.
Then do it with the entire track.

Now repeat this with every instrument/group.
Kick, toms, Drums bus, bass, guitars, vocals.

I would write down your preferred settings for each instrument/group and use those as starting points (or save as your own presets).

This is the very beginning steps of how to work a compressor- once you do this a billion times it will be second nature.
If you never do this then it is hard to really understand what is happening, especially when loads of other things are going on.

octatonic

crosstownvamp said:

The longer attack time allows the transient through, the 'p' and 't' sounds in particular - though of course you might then get popping. A lot depends on how loudly the singer is doing their thing . Then how loud their in-breaths are, which you may or may not want, and if you don't want them you can add a noise gate.. yup, it's a minefield.

You can but I haven't gated a vocal in 15 years.

These is where I'd use clip gain and strip silence to separate out all the in breaths.
You can get rid of them completely but more usually I'd just reduce their level with clip gain.
Sometimes I put the in breaths on a different track with less aggressive compression and put both tracks in a routing folder.

I don't really use gates at all now, sometimes on kick/snare/toms, but more usually I will use an expander, or just strip silence.
Oxford Drum gate and Sound Radix Drum Leveller are my go to plugins here.

The only time I regularly use a gate is on a snare/tom reverb aux, where I will gate the incoming signal so that only the transient of the snare/tom strike gets reverbed.
It helps keep things tight.
That would be Fabfilter Pro-G or Sonnox Oxford Dynamics/Gate.

marxski

I never compress vocals on the way in. There is so much dynamic range at 24bit you can safely keep your loudest peaks at -6db and then do any compression when mixing. You have to be certain you’ve got it right first time otherwise.

Cirrus

So much of this is context dependent, isn't it? Some vocals need compressing more than others. I need to obliterate my voice to get consistency because I'm not a very strong singer. I've got a friend who, in his heyday, had a singing voice so silky, smooth and controlled that compression sometimes took away more than it added. His voice just came out radio ready.

marxski said:

I never compress vocals on the way in. There is so much dynamic range at 24bit you can safely keep your loudest peaks at -6db and then do any compression when mixing. You have to be certain you’ve got it right first time otherwise.

This is perfectly valid. For me it's about building a sound as you go, and making choices with intent. Saving decisions until mix time is safe, I find tracking through a compressor is exciting and after some early mistakes which taught me lessons, I've never regretted it. It's just sped things up and added energy/focus downstream.

Stuckfast

One of the easiest traps to fall into with any processing, but especially compression, is to apply it because 'That's what you do', instead of having a specific aim in mind. In some styles of music you might want the obvious squashed, almost distorted effect that you get from hammering an 1176. In others you might aim for invisible dynamic control. In classical music you'd probably not want any compression. Either way the most important thing is to listen to the track first, decide whether it needs anything and if so what, and only then figure out what compressor settings might achieve that. 

Extreme compression is often problematic with home recordings because it brings up the sound of the recording environment too much. If there's any trace of 'bedroom ambience' on the vocal tracks, applying 15dB of gain reduction will make it a whole lot more obvious. 

Littlejonny

octatonic said:

Littlejonny said:

Perhaps I should be using the word ‘clamping’ in place of pumping 

Yes, I knew what you meant.

Littlejonny said:

This is interesting to me…and kind of focuses my original question: why do people say that a slower attack time is more transparent? Doesn’t that let the front of the note through and then clamp down, thereby if there’s a sudden peak the compressor won’t catch it and you’ll hear it pumping?

This is what make up gain is for.
A slower attack time, as you say, allows the front of the note through (if it is a transient).
It then clamps down, reducing the dynamic range of the signal.

You can then use the make up gain to level the entire signal.
This is why compression is difficult to master- because small changes in threshold, ratio, attack, release and make up gain can have a dramatic effect.
Getting the balance right takes time and experience.

The approach to take as a beginner is this:

I suggest starting with a snare drum track, soloed, with nothing else playing.
The logic compressor is good for this because it has a decent meter.
Set it to Studio FET.

1. Setup:

Set your threshold so it is maximally compressing.
Set the make up gain to zero.
Then set the ratio to the maximum, which is 30:1.
Then set the attack and the release to the longest.

2. Work the attack.

Now work on just the attack parameter.
Bring the attack to the fastest setting (remember on an 1176 the controls are reversed- if using an emulation make sure they have not changed this).
You might need a bit of make up gain at this point- try 5-10dB.
Now go to the longest attack setting.
Observe the difference.

When attack is at the shortest it will be completely squashing the signal.
When it is at the longest it probably isn't doing anything.
Now bring the attack control down so you can hear the transient allowing the front of the hit through but it compresses the rest of the signal, probably around 10-20 ms.
Go between 20ms and 120ms.
Hear how much more of the thwack of the snare is coming through.
This is important!
Now set the attack to about 70ms.

3. Work the release.

Start by taking the release from longest to shortest- got back and forth a bit.
Watch how when you have a snare hit repeat, when you have the release long the compressor is still releasing the previous hot when it activates again.
Generally you do not want that.
When people set compressor release times they will usually want the compressor to have fully released before the next hit happens.
Now set the release to its longest and with each hit reduce it a bit and notice how the snare tail is lengthened.
This is important.

I would set the release around 100ms now.

4. Work the make up gain.

FIRST, reduce your channel fader to at least -20dB (or you will blow your speakers and maybe your ears.)

Set the make up gain to something high like 30dB.
Listen to how ridiculously loud the tail of the snare is.
Now reduce the make up gain with each hit, turning up the channel fader at the same time (this is where a controller is really helpful).
When you get to around 15dB you will still have a loud tail relative to the transient.
Now reduce make up gain to about 5dB.

5. Reduce the Threshold and Ratio.

Now reduce the Threshold and Ratio to around -40dB and to 4:1 or thereabouts.
You should be getting around 10-15dB of reduction, which is loads.
Now go between bypass and engage on the compressor plugin.
Observe how different the snare sounds when soloed.

Now change the Threshold between something like -20dB and -30dB.
When set to -20dB  you should be getting something like 3dB of compression (depending on how loud the snare track was recorded.)
When set to -30dB it should be around 7dB of compression.
Listen to how different they sound.

Now do everything I just said above when the snare is playing with the rest of the kit.
Then do it with the entire track.

Now repeat this with every instrument/group.
Kick, toms, Drums bus, bass, guitars, vocals.

I would write down your preferred settings for each instrument/group and use those as starting points (or save as your own presets).

This is the very beginning steps of how to work a compressor- once you do this a billion times it will be second nature.
If you never do this then it is hard to really understand what is happening, especially when loads of other things are going on.

Thank you for this long and very informative post.

It seems you are compressing every single instrument...I tend to just compress kick, snare, bass and vocals. Keys, guitar, sax, etc. go uncompressed until the final mix bus. Obvs this depends on the style of the track, but that's generally where my ears cease to hear the benefit.

My question I think is worth asking again - if you are clamping down AFTER the transient, then you aren't really controlling the dynamics, right? The transients are still varying in loudness even if what follows them is controlled?

If we want the compressor to flatten the dynamics of a signal, then why aren't we asking it to catch the transients? I'm aiming for transparent compression here - I don't want to hear the compressor working, rather act like an automatic volume adjustment. In my understanding, the slower the attack, the more likely we are to hear the compressor working - or is that a misconception??

octatonic

Littlejonny said:

octatonic said:

Littlejonny said:

Perhaps I should be using the word ‘clamping’ in place of pumping 

Yes, I knew what you meant.

Littlejonny said:

This is interesting to me…and kind of focuses my original question: why do people say that a slower attack time is more transparent? Doesn’t that let the front of the note through and then clamp down, thereby if there’s a sudden peak the compressor won’t catch it and you’ll hear it pumping?

This is what make up gain is for.
A slower attack time, as you say, allows the front of the note through (if it is a transient).
It then clamps down, reducing the dynamic range of the signal.

You can then use the make up gain to level the entire signal.
This is why compression is difficult to master- because small changes in threshold, ratio, attack, release and make up gain can have a dramatic effect.
Getting the balance right takes time and experience.

The approach to take as a beginner is this:

I suggest starting with a snare drum track, soloed, with nothing else playing.
The logic compressor is good for this because it has a decent meter.
Set it to Studio FET.

1. Setup:

Set your threshold so it is maximally compressing.
Set the make up gain to zero.
Then set the ratio to the maximum, which is 30:1.
Then set the attack and the release to the longest.

2. Work the attack.

Now work on just the attack parameter.
Bring the attack to the fastest setting (remember on an 1176 the controls are reversed- if using an emulation make sure they have not changed this).
You might need a bit of make up gain at this point- try 5-10dB.
Now go to the longest attack setting.
Observe the difference.

When attack is at the shortest it will be completely squashing the signal.
When it is at the longest it probably isn't doing anything.
Now bring the attack control down so you can hear the transient allowing the front of the hit through but it compresses the rest of the signal, probably around 10-20 ms.
Go between 20ms and 120ms.
Hear how much more of the thwack of the snare is coming through.
This is important!
Now set the attack to about 70ms.

3. Work the release.

Start by taking the release from longest to shortest- got back and forth a bit.
Watch how when you have a snare hit repeat, when you have the release long the compressor is still releasing the previous hot when it activates again.
Generally you do not want that.
When people set compressor release times they will usually want the compressor to have fully released before the next hit happens.
Now set the release to its longest and with each hit reduce it a bit and notice how the snare tail is lengthened.
This is important.

I would set the release around 100ms now.

4. Work the make up gain.

FIRST, reduce your channel fader to at least -20dB (or you will blow your speakers and maybe your ears.)

Set the make up gain to something high like 30dB.
Listen to how ridiculously loud the tail of the snare is.
Now reduce the make up gain with each hit, turning up the channel fader at the same time (this is where a controller is really helpful).
When you get to around 15dB you will still have a loud tail relative to the transient.
Now reduce make up gain to about 5dB.

5. Reduce the Threshold and Ratio.

Now reduce the Threshold and Ratio to around -40dB and to 4:1 or thereabouts.
You should be getting around 10-15dB of reduction, which is loads.
Now go between bypass and engage on the compressor plugin.
Observe how different the snare sounds when soloed.

Now change the Threshold between something like -20dB and -30dB.
When set to -20dB  you should be getting something like 3dB of compression (depending on how loud the snare track was recorded.)
When set to -30dB it should be around 7dB of compression.
Listen to how different they sound.

Now do everything I just said above when the snare is playing with the rest of the kit.
Then do it with the entire track.

Now repeat this with every instrument/group.
Kick, toms, Drums bus, bass, guitars, vocals.

I would write down your preferred settings for each instrument/group and use those as starting points (or save as your own presets).

This is the very beginning steps of how to work a compressor- once you do this a billion times it will be second nature.
If you never do this then it is hard to really understand what is happening, especially when loads of other things are going on.

Thank you for this long and very informative post.

It seems you are compressing every single instrument...I tend to just compress kick, snare, bass and vocals. Keys, guitar, sax, etc. go uncompressed until the final mix bus. Obvs this depends on the style of the track, but that's generally where my ears cease to hear the benefit.

My question I think is worth asking again - if you are clamping down AFTER the transient, then you aren't really controlling the dynamics, right? The transients are still varying in loudness even if what follows them is controlled?

If we want the compressor to flatten the dynamics of a signal, then why aren't we asking it to catch the transients? I'm aiming for transparent compression here - I don't want to hear the compressor working, rather act like an automatic volume adjustment. In my understanding, the slower the attack, the more likely we are to hear the compressor working - or is that a misconception??

I’m not compressing every instrument at a track level.

I’m talking about ‘if you have to’. 

I’m out and about now, I’ll respond more later.

Stuckfast

Littlejonny said:

My question I think is worth asking again - if you are clamping down AFTER the transient, then you aren't really controlling the dynamics, right? The transients are still varying in loudness even if what follows them is controlled?

If we want the compressor to flatten the dynamics of a signal, then why aren't we asking it to catch the transients? I'm aiming for transparent compression here - I don't want to hear the compressor working, rather act like an automatic volume adjustment. In my understanding, the slower the attack, the more likely we are to hear the compressor working - or is that a misconception??

Controlling the dynamics of a signal doesn't inevitably mean flattening it. For example, you might want to emphasise the initial crack of a snare drum and de-emphasise the ring that follows it. In that case, you'd set the attack slow, so that the gain reduction only kicks in after the main body of the snare has gone through. 

Whether you can hear compression working isn't really a simple function of attack or release times. It depends on the context, the input signal, the compressor parameters, the amount of gain reduction taking place, and the listener. If you set a very fast attack or release time on a bass instrument you will certainly hear the compressor working because it will generate unpleasant distortion. That's because the wavelength of a low-frequency sound is longer than the attack or release time, so compression alters the shape of the waveform. 

The 'knee' of a compressor is one of the most important settings in determining how audible it is.

Have a read of this for more detail...

octatonic

marxski said:

I never compress vocals on the way in. There is so much dynamic range at 24bit you can safely keep your loudest peaks at -6db and then do any compression when mixing. You have to be certain you’ve got it right first time otherwise.

This is why multing is a thing.
I do compress on the way in, not loads, but a bit.
But I split the signal at the patchbay and record a completely dry version as well.
I do this with bass a lot too.

octatonic

Stuckfast said:

Littlejonny said:

My question I think is worth asking again - if you are clamping down AFTER the transient, then you aren't really controlling the dynamics, right? The transients are still varying in loudness even if what follows them is controlled?

If we want the compressor to flatten the dynamics of a signal, then why aren't we asking it to catch the transients? I'm aiming for transparent compression here - I don't want to hear the compressor working, rather act like an automatic volume adjustment. In my understanding, the slower the attack, the more likely we are to hear the compressor working - or is that a misconception??

Controlling the dynamics of a signal doesn't inevitably mean flattening it. For example, you might want to emphasise the initial crack of a snare drum and de-emphasise the ring that follows it. In that case, you'd set the attack slow, so that the gain reduction only kicks in after the main body of the snare has gone through. 

Whether you can hear compression working isn't really a simple function of attack or release times. It depends on the context, the input signal, the compressor parameters, the amount of gain reduction taking place, and the listener. If you set a very fast attack or release time on a bass instrument you will certainly hear the compressor working because it will generate unpleasant distortion. That's because the wavelength of a low-frequency sound is longer than the attack or release time, so compression alters the shape of the waveform. 

The 'knee' of a compressor is one of the most important settings in determining how audible it is.

Have a read of this for more detail...

Nice article Sam.

Here is my favourite video to get people hearing compression.
It is for drums but it is really well explained.
It is by Gregory Scott of Kush/UBK fame.

octatonic

Littlejonny said:

Thank you for this long and very informative post.

It seems you are compressing every single instrument...I tend to just compress kick, snare, bass and vocals. Keys, guitar, sax, etc. go uncompressed until the final mix bus. Obvs this depends on the style of the track, but that's generally where my ears cease to hear the benefit.

It really depends on the song.
Mix organisation is really what is key here.

I tend to set up my mix like I would on a large format console, because that is how I learned to mix.
I do put things in folders now but that is fairly recent.
I still have all my tracks on the left of the mixer, the centre section with my mix bus, print tracks etc in the middle and FX auxes on the right side.

My template is huge because I want to be able to deploy whatever I want without having to create anything.
Here is a session I have open at the moment and this is just the effects returns area.

I have multiple plugins per channel set to 'inactive'.
If I want a Drum Plate (3rd from left) then I have 8 different plates I could call on.
All I have to do to audition them is make each one active in turn and choose the one I like.
In this song I am using good old D-Verb in non-linear mode. Classic.

EDIT: I posted the wrong picture here, I will fix it tomorrow.


So when you are asking about compression.
I can compress any or all of them, each track might have 3 compressors in bypass, and I have 48 channels of analogue hardware I can call up as inserts too.

But my mix architecture allows me to be flexible so I can deploy the forces where they are needed efficiently.
But I have things I like that I go to regularly because they work.

For instance I usually compress one of the snare tracks- there are usually at least 3 snare tracks (usually hardware Compex), kick (usually a hardware Distressor), toms are sometimes done on an SSL channel strip or as a stereo pair using a Crane Song STC8 (hardware).
The drum shells are bussed together and I do no more than 1-2dB of compression on the shells bus, usually with a Serpent SB4001 (SSL style 500 series) or API527 pair (also 500 series).

The room mics get crushed with a Zener limiter, or the Distressors, or 1176's.
The OH's are usually uncompressed, same with HH, although I often use an expander on hats, sometimes a multiband compressor on the top end.

All the drums are then bussed with the bass to a combined drums and bass bus and EQ's and compressed.
I have been using an SSL G series (hardware) there for a long time but I just picked up a pair of BAE 10DCF's which I am loving on this bus.

I do a bit of compression on vocal tracks but mostly on the group.
I do a bit of compression on the bass track.

These group level buses are a great way to organise instrument groups, I can have the whole mix come up on 6 faders.
I have one for Drums and Bass, one for Guitars, one for Vocals, one for Keys, one for anything Orchestral and one for FX returns (except drums, those go to the bass and drum bus).

These busses all go to the mix bus where I have an API2500, Maag EQ4m and a Manley Massive Passive (all hardware).
This rarely changes and I mix into them.
I also sometimes use Silver Bullet and/or Sonnox Inflator on the mix bus, as I have done in this track.

But really the magic happens with parallel compression.
This is for tonal change.
It happens a lot on drums but also on guitars, vocals and bass.

I have send going to a DBX160a pair, an Empirical Labs Fatso and a Compex 100% of the time.
This is for drums.
How much i use them depends on what the track needs.
I might not use any of them.
Or all of them.

If I need more note attack, for kick and snare I blend some of the DBX160's in.
The Fatso is set to the SSL ListenMic sound.
It is a big fat snare sound.
The Compex is similar to the Fatso but it has more body, it is a different tonal thing (think Paramore snare).
In this track below they are all bypassed (for now, I will probably bring the DBX's in soon).

On Guitars I have a VariMu style compressor.
On Vocals I have a Deesser, an exciter, an 1176.

It is all about having options.
I don't want to start a mix and have to go and choose 20 plugins (or hardware processors) on drums out of the 1000 or so that I have, It would take half a day to set up the mix.
Having a template ready to go that I can just import into a session is the way to do this.
I can set up a mix in under an hour and have everything ready to go.

I know this is a lot to take in but it is important to understand that mixing changed a lot over the last 30 years.
We have limitless options now and many professional mixers work like this.
When I started (in the 80's) I was lucky to have one compressor.
You decided which track you used your compressor on (usually the vocal).
Then when I got a second one, which track would I use that one? (snare)

Now I can have compressors on every track if need be.
It is important to know that although there are a lot of plugins in this session mostly they are doing very, very little.
1dB of gain reduction is typical, maybe 2 (except for room mics).

If you are curious here is the rest of this session''s mixer page:

Tracks/Folders:



Parallel Buses, Group Buses and Mix Bus:

Littlejonny said:

My question I think is worth asking again - if you are clamping down AFTER the transient, then you aren't really controlling the dynamics, right? The transients are still varying in loudness even if what follows them is controlled?

If we want the compressor to flatten the dynamics of a signal, then why aren't we asking it to catch the transients? I'm aiming for transparent compression here - I don't want to hear the compressor working, rather act like an automatic volume adjustment. In my understanding, the slower the attack, the more likely we are to hear the compressor working - or is that a misconception??

So Sam has described it really well above and watch the video I linked too.

'If we want the compressor to flatten the dynamics of a signal, then why aren't we asking it to catch the transients? '

Read what I wrote yesterday and follow it through, step by step.
You need to get inside compression and I am not sure I can describe it to you in a way that you will understand it, not because this is any failing in you, it is just something you get by doing it.
But I will have a go.
....