Audio Compression : The Complete Course

1. Presentation of the course: In the audio world, there are misunderstood, mysterious, but yet being one of the most important tools ever made, the compressors. Understanding compression is fundamental to create high quality and professional mixes. In this course, I'm going to teach you everything you need to know about compressors. We will see gradually, step by step, the concepts, controls, and techniques of compression through easy to understand videos. We'll start with the basics, with the essential concept of dynamic range. Then we'll navigate through the different controls and more advanced concepts to see how compressors work, what they do on the audio, and how to set them up properly. Finally, we'll dive into a series of techniques used by the greatest mixing engineers like compression in series or parallel compression. At the end of the course, you'll be able to run through any compressor comfortably. To choose the right type of compressor and set them up to get the exact sound you're looking for. Follow along carefully. Take your time on each lesson. Practice a lot, and in no time you'll be able to use compression like a pro. 2. Dynamics: Before we define what is compression, we need to define the very important term, dynamics. Dynamics is the difference between loud parts and the soft parts of an audio signal. For instance, take a song with the soft verse and a loud chorus. We can say that this song has dynamics. The difference between the soft part, the verse, and the loud part, the chorus is dynamics. This is what is dynamics from the perspective of a whole song. But for compression, which is the purpose of this course, the dynamics will focus on is the difference between the peaks and deeps of a signal. For instance, a bass, a synth, or a vocal. This is dynamics, also called dynamic range, which is the difference between the loud and the soft parts of an audio source. From this observation, we'll have high dynamic range signals with very loud and very soft parts. Like a guitar recording, where the player alternates between soft and strong strings pluck ins. We have low dynamic range signals where there's not much volume difference between the peaks and the dips. So before we dive into what is compression, we need to understand and keep in mind what is dynamic range, which is a very important term. 3. Why compress?: Now that we know what is dynamics and dynamic range, we can define what is a compressor. A compressor is a sound processing tool that allows us to manipulate the dynamic range of an audio signal. Its main goal is to control the dynamics, more particularly reduce the dynamic range. The reasons to use a compressor are multiple, like even out the volume of a track. We can give more presence to the soft parts, the dips, while ensuring that allowed parts, the peaks, don't stick out too much. All of this will bring out more details. And finally, the compression allows to make uniform the signal. Let's see in action some examples of the benefits of compression on a signal. We're going to start with a vocal, let's go, I'm saying it, time avoiding lease. Oh, please be behind on the non compressed track. As some words are particularly loud that stick out more and take over the rest, and there are softer parts in the context of a mix. The signal like that will be problematic because some words will be drowned and the loud parts risk jumping out too much. We're going to listen again and switch on the same signal with compression. Let's go. I'm saying time, I'll wait. We can leave this whole place behind. Yeah, let's go. I'm seeing time avoiding. We lease, oh, please be behind on the compressed truck. The soft parts of before are now at the same level as the words that were too loud. Visually we can see that the dynamic range is more controlled. The dips are raised and the peaks lowered, so we have more detail. The truck is evened out and it will fit better in the mix. Other example, before and after compression on drums. Here a drum bus. Notice how the hats and snares stand out more on the compressed truck and how the kick seems more powerful. We have the sensation of a more homogeneous result punch. All the elements are well glued together. Finally, an example on a whole mix, the compression adds fullness to the mix. The base is more present, the drums have more impact, and some details are brought out like On the high has and the melodic part. The compression allowed us to glue the elements together, making the mix more cohesive. This is why we use compression to control the dynamic range, to even out the volume for the loud and soft parts to be at the same level, to help the elements fit in the mix. To help the elements glue together for buses and mix buses, for example, to make things bigger, thicker, puncture like for drums, and to bring out detail and expression like on a vocal. 4. Threshold and Ratio: We're going to see now how compressors work. Seeing one by one, the different parameters, We're going to start with threshold. When we want to use a compressor on an audio signal, the first thing we could do is setting when we want to compress. We will do that by setting up the threshold. Threshold is the setting, telling the compressor when to start compressing the signal. When we talk about sound level in music, we speak in decibels. So the threshold is set in decibels. When the input signal is louder than the threshold, the compressor starts working. For instance, let's look at the signal and let's say that we set the threshold at this level. When the signal crosses over the threshold, when it's louder in decibels, the compressor starts working. In this example, the area of the signal here in the frame will be compressed. When the signal or part of the signal is below the threshold, the compressor doesn't work. This part here won't be compressed. Threshold is the first parameter to remember to simplify this, Simply remember that threshold is the control telling the compressor when to start working. Now that we know how to tell the compressor when to work, thanks to the threshold, we need to tell it how hard to work. There comes the second parameter ratio. The ratio tells the compressor how much compression to apply to the signal. It's set like one to 12 to 13 to one, et cetera. But what does that mean exactly? Generally speaking, a ratio is the relation between two things. For a compressor is the relation between the number of decibels of signal crossing over the threshold, and the number of decibels that the compressor outputs. So we have a signal coming in the compressor with a number of decibels above the threshold. At that time, the compressor starts working, and once the compression is done, the signal gets out of the compressor with a lower number of decibels. For instance, with the ratio of 21 every 2 decibels going over the threshold will give 1 decibel at the output. Let's look at this on a graph for better understanding here. The white bar is the input signal, the green one is the output signal processed by the compressor. Here what we're going to visualize is how hard the compressor works. Here we can see that the input reach is -14 decibels, and let's say that we set the threshold at -18 decibels. Now our signal is four DBs above the threshold. If we set the ratio on want to one, there is no compression because the input is equal to the output. If we translate the ratio one to one with words, we will say that for every decibel that the signal goes over the threshold, the compressor will output 1 decibel. So one to one equals no compression. If we set the ratio at 21, for every two decibles that the signal goes over the threshold, the compressor will output one decibal. Here we are four decibls above the threshold. At the output, we will have two decibls less so -16 decibals. If we set the ratio at 41, every 4 decibels going over the threshold will give 1 decibel at the output. In this example, we will have -17 decibls at the output. Starting from this concept, the more the ratio is high, the more the dynamic range will be low. Look at these signals, it's the same loop, but the first one is not compressed and the others are compressed with double ratio. Each time we see that the level difference between the peaks and deep decreases every time we have a higher ratio. On the tur, one ratio. The signal still has a little bit of dynamic range because it's a quite conservative ratio. But the more we compress, the more the signal becomes flat with the level that evens out. Let's listen one by one to see how the ratio affects the sound. To better realize the difference, I'm going to play the first uncompressed and the last. With the higher ratio, we perceive the volume variation because the level is even out. The peaks we have on the first track are not as loud. And we have more present from the areas initially soft, so that makes the sound more detailed, flatter, and smoother. To summarize what we have seen, the threshold tells the compressor when to compress, and the ratio tells how much compression to apply, Threshold equals when, and ratio equals how much. 5. Attack and Release: Now that we know what our threshold and ratio, we can go on with two other important parameters. Attack, release, attack, and release are settings we see very often in music production because they are in many plug ins. For instance, synthesizers with the ADSR, sound envelope attack, decay, sustain release for the sound envelope attack is the time it takes to the sound to reach its maximum level after the beginning of the note. I mean after pressing the key, release is the time it takes to the sound to get back to the initial zero after the end of the note. When releasing the key for compressors, we need to have a similar approach because attack is the setting controlling the speed at which the compressor reaches the maximum level of compression after the signal crosses over the threshold. If we set a fast attack like zero millisecond, that means that the maximum compression is applied immediately once the threshold is crossed. On the contrary with the slow attack, for instance 500 milliseconds, the full compression will take more time to be applied. Once the threshold is crossed, the maximum level of compression will be reached in 500 milliseconds. Compression will be gradual, not immediate. Let's look again the example of the previous video with the following ratio. We had three degrees of gain reduction. If we set the attack at zero milliseconds, that means that the three degrees of reduction are reached immediately when the threshold is crossed. And if we set 500 milliseconds, the three degrees of reduction will be reached in 500 milliseconds. Let's illustrate this with this signal and the threshold at this level. We have seen that the parts crossing over the threshold here in green will be compressed, not the rest. With a very fast attack, the compressed parts will act like this. The signal is compressed immediately when it crosses over the threshold. We can see it because the green color representing the maximum level of compression is here at the very start of the signal. But with the slow attack, we will have something like this. We see that the green appears gradually. Compression took a little bit more time to reach its maximum. What we need to remember is that setting a slower attack time means that the maximum level of compression will be reached gradually. And the faster attack time means that the maximum level of compression will be reached much more rapidly. Look at these signals. The first one is not compressed, the second one is compressed with a very fast attack immediately. At the very beginning of the wave form, we see that the sound is compressed because the amplitude is reduced right away. The third one is compressed with a slow attack. We clearly see the gradual compression. At the beginning, the peaks are preserved and then the amplitude decreases comparing with the uncompressed signal. Here we are preserving the initial attack sound of the kick, and we are compressing the decay phase. A good way to approach the use of attack is to think about transients. Transients are the peaks, so they are high amplitude sound with the show duration in the signal. A transient is very frequently the attack of the sound. Very good examples are drums elements like initial amplitude peaks of a snare or a kick. On synth, we can mention plugs which also have this high amplitude attack Sound. A simple way to summarize attack is if we want to preserve the transients, we will choose a slow attack. In this case, the sound will tend to be punchure. For instance, with a kick most of the time, it's better to preserve the attack sound. If we want to cut the transients, we will choose a fast attack. In this case, the sound will be smoother than with a slow attack. Before we go on with release, let's specify that saying a fast or slow attack is relative, because the values are set in milliseconds. Release is the parameter that controls the speed at which the compressor stops compressing the signal after it has gone back below the threshold. Once we go back below the threshold, the compressor stops working. But with the release, we can control how fast the compressor completely stops compressing, how fast we go back to level zero of compression with the fast release. Once we are below the threshold, the compressor stops working immediately or very quickly with the slow release. Even if the signal has gone back below the threshold, the compressor still works a little bit. Compression stops gradually. Let's see again the signal of before, with the green representing the maximum level of compression, and the white, the level zero of compression. With a fast attack and fast release, we would get something like this. Compression starts immediately when the signal crosses over the threshold, that's why it's green at the very beginning. And compression stops immediately when it goes back below. That's why it's white right away. But if we set the slow release, we see that even when the signal goes under the threshold, compression still works a little bit. It's releasing gradually, that's why we go to white. Gradually, the values of release time are set in a much wider range than attack time, because it can be set in milliseconds and seconds. Let's see an example. Here we have compressed drums with fast and slow release. Let's listen, with the fast release, we have a puncher and thicker result, where each element seems to last a little bit longer. And with the slow release, the sound sags more after the transients is because compression continues to be applied a little bit, even if the signal goes below the threshold. Let's listen again. The release time change really affects the direction of the sound. There is not a better result than the other. It all depends on the sound we're looking for and the mix we're working on. Release is a very important setting to get the right sound and the right feeling we want. It's important as well as for individual tracks, as for buses and mixed buses, it's better to set the release while we are listening to the audio with our ears to see how the audio reacts, and set the right settings to get the sound we are looking for. Release is crucial to set the direction in which the sound is going, But there is no rules here. It's a personal choice on the results that we judge to be the best. Trust your ears. But that's true. The release time is motivated by the tempo of the song and the speed at which the notes are played. So we need to focus on these two factors to set the release. For instance, a song with a low tempo will probably need a slower release than a song with a high tempo and fast notes. 6. Gain reduction and makeup gain: What we will see in many compressors, graphically or with the meter, is gain reduction. Gain reduction is the number of decibels that the signal loses because of the compression. It shows us how much compression is applied to the signal. It's a visualization of the parameters we set, threshold and ratio. Let's look back at what we've seen before with the tone ratio. The difference between the input and the output is 2 decibels. A compressor would show us 2 decibels of gain reduction. With the 41 ratio. We had 3 decibels less at the output. The compressor would show us 3 decibels lost because of compression. This indicator is very useful because it helps us visualize how much compression is applied and help us set correctly threshold and ratio. With the threshold we set when the compression starts, when is the case? Thanks to the gain reduction, we can visualize that on a graph, we see some shapes, show us that compression is starting on the mirror, we see the needle moving. The gain reduction is very useful to adjust the threshold. With the ratio we set how much compression is applied. The higher is the ratio, the higher is the gain reduction. The gain reduction indicator is also helpful to adjust correctly the ratio. For instance, if we see that we have too much compression, it will be wise to set a higher threshold and or set a lower ratio to get a less extreme result in close relation with the gain reduction. There is the makeup gain that can have several names like output gain or simply output or gain. This is an output setting used to turn up the level of the signal to compensate the lost decibels due to the compression. With our previous example and the 41 ratio, we had three decibals of gain reduction between the input and the output. The signal lost three decibals due to the compression making it less loud. These gain losses absolutely have to be compensated because it's essential to preserve the same level between the input and the output of the compressor. In our example where we lost three decibls, we need to compensate by three decibals with the makeup gain setting. Here we have three tracks. The first one is uncompressed banana, no banana, no. The second one is compressed, but no makeup gain is applied, banana no. The result is the signal is much quieter to compensate that an output gain is applied to the third tracker to level match the compressed and uncompressed signal. Banana, no, banana, no, no, no. A second important reason to use make up gain is to make easier the before and after comparison, and to better realize the action of the compressor. If after the compression, the volume is quieter, the comparison is less easy to do. But at same level, comparing the compressed and uncompressed signal is more comfortable. We will better realize the effect the compressor has on the signal. It's very important to see if the compressor had the expected effect, if we took the right decisions and if we made the sound better. 7. Examples in action: To conclude these parts, in what we have learned so far, we're going to see in action through some simple examples in which situations we can use compression and how to use it thanks to the controls we have seen together. We're going to apply the theory with some mixing situations we can all meet first example with drums in this mix that sounds pretty good overall, but these drums may lack a little bit of punch and impact for that loading and compressor on the drum bus will help us. I'm going to let the tour one ratio for now and start adjusting the threshold to see when the compression starts. Thanks to the gain reduction for now. The compression is extreme when here we are on drums and we see that the attack is fast. Right now we are crushing the attack of the kick and snare. Typically here I'm going to set a slow attack to preserve the transience of the drums because we want them punchy. Let's set that by ear and stop when it sounds good. Same thing for the release. Now here, a fast release seems better to preserve the sustain of the drums. For the ratio I, let's turn one. Because it's a quite preservative ratio. I want to crush the signal, so stay away from a high ratio, like ten to one. Now it's time to compensate the decibels we lost with compression. With the makeup gain, we have to get the same volume between before and after compression. Now let's listen to before and after alone. And in context. Second example, with the guitar with no compression, we hear that we have some soft parts a little bit drowned in the mix, and on the contrary, louder parts jumping out a little bit too much. We also notice a little lack of detail. So we need to control the dynamic with compression. Now the dynamic is reduced, making the volume of the soft parts closer than the peaks. Now the track sits better in the mix and is more detailed. Third example, with a scenes base. Right now with no compression, there's no major problem that sounds pretty good like this, but it lacks a little bit of fullness and character. To end to end to end to end to end to end to end to end to end to end to end with compression, we have more fullness especially around the mid frequencies and we have more texture and details and there's also a nice color brought by this compressor. Finally, an example with vocals on this mix, a little get a little closer. For now it's row on the vocals because there's no processing with reverb delay, EQ and more. But we already noticed that some words are too loud and others buried. So we need to control the dynamic to keep a constant level, to make the vocal sit better in the mix, the night begins to fall on us, get a little colder, tonight begins to fall on us, get a little colder, tonight begins to fall on us, get a little, tonight begins to fall on us, get a little cold, get a little closer, get a little closer. After compression, the track is more intelligible, even doubt, thanks to a controlled dynamics that allows us to hear every details of the vocal and make it see better with all the instruments of the song. Little closer. Here are some examples in action. Applying the basic controls of compression. You need to take your time to apply these concepts on your mixes and productions. Training is essential to get solid foundations. And then we can go on with the rest of this course where we will see more advanced concepts. 8. The types of compressors: In this video, we're going to talk about the types of compressors. There are tons of different compressors. To choose each one classified in a type. Knowing these types, their character, and specific aspects will really help you to understand how these different types react to different audio sources. And also help you to choose the right compressor depending on the instrument style, the musical genre, or the effect you're looking for. Maybe you have already seen the words Opto Fet or VCA on compressors. These words refer to the type of compressor. The most common types are optical Opto RMU or tube compressor, Ft, and VCA. We're going to start with the MU or tube compressor. The tube compressors are part of the original compressors, so they are among the first compressors ever made. We call them tube compressors because they use multiple tubes to control the gain reduction in the circuit. There's a series of tube controlling the volume inside the compressor. These compressors are not known for drastic compression, but they are known for their very fluid and musical compression thanks to their composition. Their sound is naturally warm, silky, and fat, with nice bottom end and smooth top end. They also have a naturally slow attack time. In general, we can control the attack speed, but even set at the fastest, the attack stays relatively slow. The most famous tube compressor is without a doubt, the Fairchild 670 made in the '50s. And other tube models have been created after by other manufacturer, like many for plug in. Several companies have one on the market like the Waves Quick Child 670 and the Fair Child 670 from Universal Audio. Both of them reproducing the original Fairchild. And we can also size Slate Digital with the very nice FGMU like we just listened, the compressor color the sound in a warm and fat way. With smooth. Yes, when we see very we need to remember this character as in the example. They are great to compress a mixed a vocals and many kinds of instruments. The optical compressor is one of the most popular. We call it optical compressor because it uses a bulb and photoelectric cell to determine the amount of compression. The signal comes into the compressor and lights up the bulb at different intensity depending on the power of the signal. A loud signal turns the bulb brighter and a quiet one less bright. The cell detects these intensity variations and use these informations to determine the amount of compression. The compression will be stronger with a warmer signal and vice versa due to the internal circuit and what happens in it with the signal Latin of the bulb. Then the cell detecting the difference of intensity. If the attack and release times are slower, this type of compressor is less suitable for signals with a lot of transients like drums, but ideal for vocals, synthesizers, basses, or string instruments for example. They are known for their unique fat and smooth character and their musical and transparent sound. The most iconic Optocompressor is the Teletronics L two A, with its very simple structure like we've already seen and designed with a fixed attack time of ten milliseconds and a release time of 60 milliseconds for 50% of the release, and 1-15 seconds until the signals return to 100% The L three A is also interesting because it has a similar organization, but its total character is different and it has different attack and release times. So that makes it ideal for drums, for example, to finish the tube textile one B, which is unique for an optical compressor because it has controls for attack, release, and ratio uncommon for this type of compressor. And this compressor is particularly appreciated on vocals. If I woke up without, I don't know what I would do. Thought I could be single forever till I met you. If I woke up without, I don't know what I would do. Thought I could be single forever till I met you. If I woke up without, I don't know what I would do. Thought I could be single forever till I met you. If I woke up without, I don't know what I would do. Thought I could be single forever till I met you. If I woke up without, I don't know what I would do. Thought I could be single forever till I met you. If I woke up without, I don't know what I would do. Thought I could be single forever till I met you. As demonstrated in the example, the opto compression gives a smooth warm and fat character with slow attack and release times. We need to remember these characteristics when we see optical compressor. The third type is fat compressor for field effect transistor. The field effect transistor is the electronic component located in the compression circuit of this type of compressor. Don't need to know the technical details of this component, but basically the fat compressors are designed to emulate the sound of a bulb. But instead of using real bulb as a detector, they use a fat component. They are known to have very fast attack and release times with a puncture and more aggressive sound. Making them very efficient for signals with a lot of transient information like drums and perfect. Every time we need to make something cut through the mix as they have controls for input, output, attack, and release, we can use them on a wide range of instruments, and one of their great Sony characteristic is that these compressors color the sound which is often sought after for some musical genre. And this color is also what makes this type of compressor interesting. The iconic compressor of this category is the Universal Audio in 11 76. And many companies have their plug in version of this compressor, like Universal Audio themselves, Waves, Arteria, Ic Multimedia, or Slate Digital. We're going to see an example of what can do a Fed compressor on a signal compared to the other types we have seen so far. Let's go. I'm saying let's go. I'm saying it t, let's go. I'm saying let's go. I'm saying let's. So what we need to remember when we see fat compressor is aggressive and punchy. But this won't be the best option if you're looking for a subtle amount of compression. The last major type of compressor is VCA. Vca stands for a voltage controlled amplifier, which is the amplifier located in the compression circuit. This circuit allows us in general to control everything, threshold ratio, attack release, and make up gain. These compressors provide a clean, smooth and neutral compression. By that I mean the less colored compression, the sound will have less warmth or less harmonic distortion. Compared to the other types of compressors, the sound is more transparent. This compressor is very versatile and great on almost any kind of signals, drums, vocals, bases, et cetera. This type is very appreciated for its ability to link the elements of a mix when used on the mix bus, or link the elements together when used on the bus. This is what we call the glue effect, the SSL G bus compressor from both waves and UID does it wonderfully. The DBS 160 is another famous VCA compressor, known for its unique sonic character. The API compressors are also great, like the API 2,500 and many more. When the other compressors tend to color the sound, the VCA has a more transparent sound and it's the best suited for this mix in order to glue the mix. Now that we know better the different types of compressors, we can start to anticipate how one or the other will sound and why choose one instead of another depending on the situation and the effect we are looking for. 9. Compressors with fixed controls: So far we have seen how compressors work with their different controls, threshold ratio, attack, release. But maybe you've already seen that some compressors don't have all these controls, some don't have threshold or no attack, no release. In reality, each compressor, depending on the type of compressor that we will see in a future video, has a particular circuit. And some circuits work with fixed controls. That means some controls can't be adjusted like we want. A good example is the L 76 compressor from waves. While the threshold is absent. That doesn't mean the threshold doesn't exist, that means it's fixed presets to ascertain value. That's why we see the input control on this type of compressor, because to reach and cross over the threshold, we just need to increase the input level. At a certain point, the signal will cross over the fixed threshold and the compression will start. We will see the gain reduction moving, and then we can adjust the output gain with the output knob. So that's what we need to do when the threshold is absent, so when the threshold is fixed, use the input control to set when the signal crosses over the threshold. Light compressors are also very popular in the industry, and they have a very simple structure with the peak reduction knob and gain knob. No ratio, no attack, no release, no threshold. It's another good example of fixed controls on these compressors. The average ratio is set at three to one, while the average attack time is ten millisecond, and the release time is about 60 milliseconds for 50% of the release and 1-15 seconds for the rest. On these compressors simply set when the compression starts with the peak reduction control, listen to how the audio reacts and adjust the output gain with the gain knob A Zang. Go Zanzi to go Zang Danz. How do you go Zanzi? Did you go a Zanzi? Did go me Zang, go a Zanzi go A Zang. 10. Automatic controls: Let's look at another type of control we see in some compressors, automatic controls. Here I'm talking about compressors with program dependent controls. Program dependence means that the controls and the end results are determined depending on the audio source. If we take a compressor with program dependent controls, it won't react the same way with the signal, with a lot of transients. Then with a flat signal, the controls like attack ratio and release will vary in real time depending on the variations of the input signal. The program dependent controls can be missing on the compressor interface, for instance, in the case of the Teletronics L two A, the release is program dependent because depending on the audio source, it adjusts automatically 1-15 seconds. But on some other compressors, we have the ability to put on automatic mode some controls, in particular, each time we see auto, it's actually a program dependent controls that analyzes the signal and adjust automatically in real time. A common example is auto release. Auto release is very interesting to make a more transparent compression on signals containing both short duration peaks and long sustained sounds. The release adjust automatically on faster time on transients and slower time on the long sustained part, and that tends to make the sound more natural. For this reason, auto release is a very good choice when applied on full mix. Let's listen to this mix and switch between slow, fast, and auto release. Auto release doesn't sound either like the slow or the faster, but it's like a combination of the two. On the peaks, like kick and snare, the compressor seems to adjust a faster release time, whereas in the interval between these peaks, the release seems to be said at a slower time. I think that makes the sound more natural. This is why we use auto release for its ability to make the compressor react differently to the variations of the signal Like we have seen. It's particularly useful on the full mix in order to get a more natural sound. To summarize, when we see missing controls, that doesn't mean they don't exist. That means that they are either fixed, like on the previous video with for instance the fixed threshold on the eleve 76 or program dependent like the LA two a release. If we see auto, that means that we can switch the control on program dependent mode. In some cases that will allow us to get amazing results with snow worrying about setting the controls on the compressor. It's important to understand how these fixed and automatic controls work. 11. Sidechain compression: Maybe you have already heard the word Y chain or y chain compression. It's a popular compression technique often used in electronic music or hip hop, for instance. It's what gives this kind of effects, Like we here, each time the kick hits the pad volume is lowered to give space for the kick, giving that pump in effect. Here the kick is triggering the pad compression. That is what we call y chain compression. Y chain is a way to control the compressor with a different signal than the signal on which the compression is applied. We need three elements for chain compression. First, the main signal. For example, an 88 is the signal on which the compression is applied. Secondly, we need a compressor with the Y chain function. Finally, we need the Y chain signal controlling the compressor. It's this one that will trigger the compressor and tell it when to compress. We can take, for example, a kick. The main signal is the one that will be affected by the compressor. As soon as the y chain signal crosses over the threshold, we define the compression of the main signal will start. It's the crossing of the threshold by the Y chain signal that triggers the compression of the main signal. Let's see that in action, depending on the dog you're using, the set up of a sight chain compression may be different. Find out how to do it. It could vary if you're on Ableton Pro Tools, Logic, FL Studio, et cetera. For this example, I'm going to take a kick and weight, which is a common situation to mix eight and kick in hip hop like that. Kick and base are fighting a little bit. We lack a bit of clarity and the kick is slightly drowned. We are losing punch. A solution to fix that could be trying all the combinations of kick and eight that fit better together. But here we're going to use Y chain compression to lower the volume of the base when the kick hits in order to get a better mix between the two. The eight is our main signal, and the kick is they chain signal on the base. I loaded this compressor that has a Y chain function. An NFL studio to set up the Y chain circuit, I previously selected the kick track in the mixer, then right click here at the bottom of the way track and select chain to the track. Then in the plug in window, I go to Settings Processing tab, and next to Serial Si chain, I right click and select my chain, signal the kick. But as I said, it will be different in other dough. Learn how to do it with what you use. Now we can set the compressor like we know, threshold equals when. If I set -20 decibels, compression starts when the kick crosses -20 decibels ratio equals how much? Let's listen how the compression increases and decreases when we play with the ratio. When we increase it, we get more of the side chain effect because we're compressing more each time the kick hits. Now I can adjust to the output gain to compensate. We get a better mix between the two with the kick that brings out better and we have more clarity because there is less conflict in the low frequencies when the two elements hit. That gives more punch for attack and release. We also need to have the same usual approach when triggered by the kick. We're going to set the compressor reaction time with attacker and the time to get back to level zero of compression with the release. So we can give very different effects with the attack and release. And we're going to look at this on the next example. Let's get back to what we have seen at the beginning of the video with the kick and the pad, and see the influence of attack and release. Let's start with the ratio first. We get more of that pumping effect with a higher ratio. By adjusting the release, we change the feeling of the chain effect. It's because the compressor is releasing at different rates every time the kick folds back below the thresholder. It's interesting to see how we can control the compressor with the release in order to get the sound we want. If we rather prefer the volume of the pad to recover rapidly or gradually and we can also play with the attack, we can get interesting and unique results when we play with attack and release. This is what is Ye chain compression? Ducking is another word you can meet that designates Ye chain compression as well. It's a very popular technique in electronic music where we use the kick as a Ye chain signal to compress other tracks in hip hop. It's commonly used, like we have seen to mix kick and B. But we are not forced to use only a kick as a eye chain signal. We can use this technique with snare or anything else. Experiment by yourself and let your creativity run free. 12. Compressors with High Pass filter: Some compressors have a feature that could be very useful. The high pass filter. It's a particular case of Sy chain, because the high pass filter allows us to filter out the low frequencies of the signal controlling the compressor. Using the high pass filter allows to exclude the low frequencies from the compression circuit that prevents the compressor from overreacting to the low information like kick or base, for example. This is the spectrum of a mixed bus. As we can see, the loudest parts are in the lows below 250 hertz. If we decide to put a compressor on this mixed bus, that could be a problem. Remember that the compression start as soon as the volume of the signal crosses over the threshold here. To start compressing the meds and the highs, we need to set the threshold very low. At that point, the low frequencies will already be compressed a lot, and that can make the sound unnatural in constant and heterogeneous. If we turn on the high pass filter, the Lows will be excluded from the compression circuit, and now we can adjust more precisely the threshold and have more control over the Meads and the highs, for example, on this mix. When we look at this Q to visualize the frequency distribution, we see that the lows are louder than the rest. Now, I apply compression on the full mix in order to glue the mix. Let's listen. As we can see, I adjusted the usual controls, attack release, threshold ratio, and compensated with the makeup gain, and we get a pretty aggressive amount of compression. Now let's listen again focusing on the lows. And we're going to see that when the kick hits, we notice like a pumping effect on the track, as if the kick were ducking a bit. The other sounds during a short lapse of time, every time the kick hits there is like a pumping effect. We can feel on the whole track. That could be the result we want. But if we want a more natural sound, we can use the high pass filter, thanks to which we can filter out to the low frequencies from the detection circuit of the compressor. Here, let's set, for instance, 100 hertz. Now, the lows won't dominate the compressor anymore. We will have more control over the quiet frequencies like the Meads and the highs, and we will have a more natural sound after we are just, again the controls a little bit. The high pass filter is often used on the bus of instruments, or on the mixed bus, or on signals containing loud low frequencies, where we don't want these low frequencies to pump the compressor. Every time we hear that the compressor pumps because of a kick or a base, we can use the compressor with a high pass button in order to filter out these frequencies, form the detection circuit and have a more natural sound. Don't forget that the high pass filter is applied on the detection circuit of the compressor, not on the output signal. 13. Multiband compression: The classic compression like we have seen so far allows us to compress all around the frequency spectrum of a signal from 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz. But maybe you have already heard about multiband compression, which is very popular in mixing and mastering. Multi bend compression is a technique where multiple compressors are used to compress different frequency bands individually. Multi bend compressors have several compressors working individually on a specific band. We can have three bend compressors like this one, to treat the low mids and highs separately. On the low bend, I can decide to apply a big amount of compression, a light amount on the meds, and no compression on the highs. This is the point of multi bend compression. The ability to compress each bend like we want to get the sound we're looking for. And separating the bends allows us to have more control over the signal, to sculpt it with more detail, and to make a more transparent compression. During the mastering process where we work with one track that could be very handy and beneficial to compress the lows and the high separately and have a more advanced control over the mix. Also very interesting on instruments playing on a wide range of frequencies. Like some synthesizers that have thick lows and shrill highs. At the same time, if the lows or the highs jump out too much, we can control them individually thanks to multi bend compression. Now let's see a multi en compressor in action. Here we have this mix. We have this multi bend compressor set up with three bands. The low band here, everything below 150 hertz, the mid band, all the frequencies 100-50 hertz and 6 kilohertz. And the high band, everything above 6 kilohertz. Let's say we want to build the solid foundations with thick lows. We can achieve this goal focusing on the dynamic range of the low frequencies, thanks to the multibend compressor, we can do that without affecting all the other frequencies, like we would do with a classic compressor. I have set the three compressors differently, no extreme compression, but we're going to apply a bigger amount on the lows, a light one on the mids, and nothing on the highs. That's why on the low frequencies I have set a lower threshold with a higher ratio, as I don't want to kill the attack of the kick. We have a slow attack time for the release. We're going to set it while listening to the audio, but in this case I think a quite fast attack will be better. And don't forget to compensate with the gain for the meds, light compression, lower ratio, and higher threshold to tell the compressor to work less hard and not too fast. Attack time to preserve a bit of the snare between before and after. It's like we are giving life to this mix and listen again focusing on the lows. We get thicker lows because we've been able to focus on this particular band to control the dynamic range by making the compressor work harder than on the other bands. With the light compression on the meds, and nothing on the highs, the multiband compressor allowed us to sculpt the sound with more flexibility and more precision. Here is a good example of how useful a multiband compressor can be on a full mix. But as I said before, they are very useful on individual tracks as soon as we need to compress differently, different frequencies on a signal. We have seen here a demonstration with three bands, but they are a compressor. With four, even six bands, we are able to work with even more detail. 14. Limiters and clippers: As we have already seen, the compressor's goal is to control the dynamic range of a signal by reducing the volume of a certain threshold. Attenuating the louder pots to even at the level between the peaks and the dips. Using analog compressors will color the sound thanks to harmonic distortion. Here we're going to talk about a tool similar to the compressor, but that we will use for different purposes in the mix the liter. A very simple definition of a limiter would be to say that it's a compressor with the very high ratio of 100 to one with 101 ratio, we'd need to raise the input level by 100 decibels just to get a gain boost of 1 decibel. That's why we also say that it's a brick wall compressor because with such a high ratio, the peaks will always be stopped to the threshold. Nothing can get louder than the threshold of the limiter. Let's say we put a limiter on a mix with the threshold at minus five decibles. The maximum level of the mix will never cross -5 decibels. Setting the threshold allows to limit in advance the maximum level of the peaks and push up the average level of the signal. When we can imagine a compressor as a tool to push down the top of the notes, the limiter is more like it's pushing all the audio up against the ceiling. But whatever hits the top doesn't clip. We will see after what is clipping, Whatever hits the top doesn't clip, it just flattens out and can't get any louder. The result is that the dynamic range is reduced. We can visualize this graph to get an idea. We can see that the signal is not cut, just its level is modified. A distortion will be perceived. But in general, it will be quiet. Let's see the effect of a limiter on this base. I'm going to use this limitter and set the maximum volume allowed with the threshold and compensate with the output gain. The dynamic range is reduced, so the signal is flattened and even out we are pushing up the average level. So the base seems more powerful even if we're on an identical decibel level. Thanks to the threshold, we know that we keep the signal in control because the peaks won't get louder than the value we set. Now say base with a different limit, thanks to which we get a similar result here. Another common example with a limiter on the master, this is the pro L two from fat filter, which is very popular amongst the sound engineers. Here's the goal is to increase the main level and to keep the mix under control by catching the peaks crossing zero decibel. This could be done during the mastering process or mixing process to play the mix for your clients with same volume as the industry standard. To summarize, we use the limiter to set a level limit not to crossover. For instance, zero decibel for the mastering reduce the dynamic range to flatten and even out to the signal, push up the average level of the signal and to keep the signal in control by catching the loudest peaks. Similar to the limiting, we also have the clipping phenomenon that I mentioned before. There are two types of clipping, hard and soft clipping. What a hard clipper does on the signal is simply cutting the picks at the level we set, like we can see on this graph. In comparison with the limit of graph, we clearly see the cut like a scissors cut. Obviously this clipping will produce a strong distortion. Let's listen to the result on a piano first and then on a kick. Using this clipper set to hard clipping, we hear the aggressive distortion on the piano, but it's less obvious on the kick heard. Clipping is an efficient technique on percussive elements because it can help to give them character bites and to cut through the mix on signals with more tonality like piano guitars and more, the effect is more dramatic, which can give interesting results but better use subtly. The soft clipping is a soft kind of clipping. This effect also cuts sharply the peaks at the threshold, but the result will be a little bit less drastic because the slope of the signal is softened and smoothed before the cut, like we can see here. Of course, we will also have distortion with this kind of clipping. 15. Parallel compression: Parallel compression is an alternative compression technique with standard compression, or compression in series that we will see on the next video. We just insert one or several compressors on a particular track. We know the result of the audio going above the threshold is attenuated according to the settings we set. For example, with Turan ratio, the audio is attenuated by 1 decibel every 2 decibels above the threshold, lowering the peaks and reducing the dynamic. This is what we also call a downward compression effect. On the contrary, parallel compression is more like an upward compression. To understand that, let's define first what is parallel compression. Parallel compression is the blending of an untreated signal with a compressed copy of this signal. Most of the time we set the compressor to have a big amount of compression on the copy. Instead of crushing the picks to make them closer to the dips, we push the dips to make them closer to the picks. As we also blend the picks on the compressed signal, we perceive like an extra power like on kicks and snare on drums for instance. The result has a different flavor. This technique allows us to get unique tones and make our tracks thicker without sounding like overcompressedtracks. Setting up a parallel compression is similar in every dog. And let's see now an example with several drum tracks grouped on the bus. Here I have my drum bus and a copy of it on a second track that we will call parallel track. To apply parallel compression, I'm going to insert a compressor on the parallel track. We apply a high ratio and a low threshold to get a big amount of compression. And now we're going to blend this treated signal with the untreated one, adjusting to taste between before and after we get a nice, thicker sound and we are adding detail thanks to the compressed track. Nowadays, many plug ins have a mixed knob, which is a simple and quick way to apply a parallel compression. The mixed knob controls the amount of treated signal compared to the amount of untreated signal at 0% we only hear the dry signal uncompressed. At 100% we hear 100% of wet signal, 100% of compressed signal. But if we set less than 100% we blend together the compressed and uncompressed signal, creating a parallel compression. For instance, if we go back to the drums of earlier, we're going to use this compressor, which has a mixed knob here. No need to create a parallel track. We can insert directly the compression on the effect chain of the track. Let's set this up and then adjust the mixed knob to taste. Parallel compression is a very good technique that allows us to get very nice results and have access to a nice palette of tones by getting natural, thicker and more present sounds. It's famous on a drum bus, but we can apply it on any source. Vocals, bases, kicks, et cetera. Let's see quickly an example on vocal. I want to feel you move with me, Body free, you next to me. I want to feel you move with me, body free, you next to me. I want to feel you move with me, body free. I want to feel you move with me, Yo body free, you next to me. I want to feel you move with me. Yo body free, you next to me. I want to feel you move with me, body free. You next to me. I want to feel you move with me, yo body free, You're next to me. I want to feel you move with me, yo body free, you next to me. I want to feel you move with me, body free, you next to me. We can say that with parallel compression, we can break to the sound, the best of the two worlds, the best of the compressed and uncompressed. But rather than thinking it's a better technique than standard compression or compression in series, we better have to think about it as another weapon in our mixing arsenal. Its use will depend on the situation and what we are looking for. It's good to test several techniques to see what sounds best and what we are working on. 16. Compression in series: A popular compression technique is using several compressors in series. Compression in series is using multiple compressors on the same track, one after the other. Let's see in action what this technique can give and how it's interesting. In this example, I have three compressors on this track. A VCA compressor, a tube one, and a Fet, one after the other On the base track, Let's first listen to the track with no compression, and then compress with one compressor, and finally compress with three compressors chains chain. Let's analyze what we just heard when we listen to the version with the VCA compressor. Only we see that the settings are adjusted to get a quite important amount of compression, around -6 decibels of gain reduction. We are compressing harder to have more gain reduction with a higher ratio that affects the sound, giving it bigger lows and more detail in the mid frequencies. When we switch to the version with three compressors in series, we get a smoother and more natural sound. Because this time we set the compressor to get a small amount of compression on each one, around -1 decibel. We are reducing the dynamic range, but the compression is not as obvious. As with only one compressor is more natural and more transparent. That is the main reason for using compression in series. Sometimes it's better to compress just a little bit with two or three compressors instead of compressing harder with only one if we want to get smoother and more natural tones. Another benefit of compression in series that we can hear easily in the previous example is that we can benefit from the particular character of several compressors on a single signal. From that we have an infinity of combination to get unique tones. For instance, on vocals, I can use first an opto compressor to make use of its character and musicality on this signal. In addition to that add color, thanks to a fat compressor, the night begins to fall on us, get a little cold, sir. The night begins to fall on us, get a little cold, sir. The night fall on us. Get a cold, sir. The night begins to fall on us. Get a little cold. Sera, The night begins to fall on us. Get a little closer. The night big is, so fall on us, get a little closer. The night begins to fall on us, get a little closer. Here's how compression in series is excellent to get more transparent, more natural, and smoother compression to get unique tones, thanks to the sonic characteristics of each type of compressor we added to the chain. But that doesn't mean we can't have good results with only one compressor. In many cases it will be okay, but you can experiment compression in series with subtle settings to have something a bit different. This technique is very popular on vocals and bass, but can be applied on any kind of signal. 17. Glue compression: In the production and mixing process, there comes some moments where we group together multiple tracks in a bus, a drum bus, a synth bus, or vocal bus for instance. We can often want to tighten up, glue together the elements of the group in addition to ensuring that the levels are good. We can reach this goal by compressing these elements with the same compressor. I mean, add a compressor on the bus. This compression is commonly called glue compression because we are looking to glue the elements together in a project as soon as we identify the tracks we want to group together. Here for example, the synth trucks, we create an auxiliary track that's going to be the bus where we group our tracks. We also ensure that the output of each scenes matches with the input of the bus. Now the audio of the scenes is sent to the bus, and we can apply a grouped mixing by adding plug ins. Here we're going to load a compressor and listen to the difference between before and after. Oh, the compression glues together the tracks, it tightens up the elements of the group to make them more cohesive and get a bolder sound. And by compressing these tracks together, we ensures that none is too far behind or lost in the mix. For this kind of compression, it appears that VCA compressors do the job very well, and generally, this type of compressor is preferred like the SSL bus compressor. For instance, we can also cite the API 2,500 or the need 3036 oh nine for the settings. Most of the time we will prefer a slow attack, a fast release, and a ratio between 1.5 and 41. It's not a kind of compression where we look for a big amount of compression. On average one or two DBs, up to four but rarely above four, these original guidelines. But of course we can experiment with other compressors and settings. Other example here with the kick and base compress multiple tracks through the same compressor is especially useful for low frequencies instruments. If we have several instruments in the low ends, we can compress them together to tighten up the low ends and be sure that these instruments work well together. And grouping kick and base is a common situation during the mixing of a song. Glue compression also works well on other groups, like a group of vocal harmonies, a group of guitars, or anything else. It works on any possible combinations including a full mix. So feel free to experiment, but keep in mind that compression is not necessary all the time on the group. It's often useful, but not mandatory. 18. Compressing vocals: In the mixed vocals are extremely important. These signals are difficult to mix correctly, with sometimes a strong dynamics and it has to be controlled with compression. Compression is a very important part to have a clear and clean vocal mix. A technique that works well with vocals is using compression in series to have more control over the dynamic. Many great mixing engineers use two compressors on their vocal chain. As we said in the compression in series video, we don't have to make each compressor work too hard on vocals. Again, reduction 2-5 decibels on each compressor is generally enough, better have a quite conservative ratio, 2-41 The mistake we need to avoid is to overcompress the vocals because we immediately feel when there's a strong amount of compression on this signal that doesn't sound natural. Compression in series is a nice way not to overcompress vocals. We also have to pay attention to the transiens. We have to control them. But not crushing them like -20 decibels for instance. Otherwise, the vocal won't sound good in the mix and will be small. We always have to keep a healthy amount of dynamic. In this sense, the setting of attack time is important. It can change depending on the musical genre, but we often set a medium attack time, or even slow, medium, fast. In some cases, the tone of the vocal is also primordial in a mix. An overcompressed this signal make the tone disappear. The vocal seems thin and without character better reduce the amount of compression. If we feel that we are losing the tone and fullness of the vocal with what we've just seen, we can, for instance, use first a compressor to catch the loudest peaks without crushing them, and add a second one to add clarity and to color the sound by proceeding like this, the result is going to be smoother and more natural that trying to reach the same sound with only one compressor. So let's see that in action. Now where I go, demons go. Where I sleep, demons sleep my hair, I can't move. She used to be answer not anymore. Where where I got my demons go. Where I sleep, my demand sleep my hair, I can't move on. She used to bid, say not anymore. Where I go, my demands go where I sleep, my demand, she used to bid, I say not anymore. I can't move far on where I go. My demons go where I got, my demons go where I got my demons go where I sleep, my demons sleep my hair, I can't move. She used to be answer. Not anymore where I go, my demons go where I sleep, my demon sleep my hair, I can move on. She used to bid answer, not anymore where I go, my demons go where I sleep, my demons sleep. She used to bid answer not anymore. I can't move far where I got, my demons go. Where I sleep, my man sleep, my hair, I can move on. She used to pity say no anymore where I got my demons go. Where I sleep, my Amleep, my hair, I can move. She used to pity, say no anymore where man go, where I sleep, sleep my head, I can. She used to be not anymore. Here we are not compressing heavily on each compressor and we get a nice natural sound. But if I compress hard. Where I go mad. Where I sleep, my hair, I can, she used to be not anymore, that sounds bad and we lose dynamic tone and fullness. Parallel compression is another excellent way to control the vocal dynamic in a natural way and to give fullness to in the mix where I go, my demons go. Where I sleep, my diamonds sleep, my hair, I can't move. She used to Biddy, I said, not anymore where I go, my demons go where I sleep, my demons sleep. She used to Bidy. I said, not anymore. I can't move far where I got my demons go. Where I sleep, sleep my hair, I can move. She used to pity not anymore. Where I got my demons go, where I sleep, sleep my hair, I can move. She used to pity not anymore. Multibond compression is also widely used by mixing engineers because it helps to control the sound individually on the low, mids and highs. We use it rather after the first or second compressor. Because the multi bond doesn't do the heavy lifting, we can use it, for instance, to control plosive like per below 100 hertz. We don't often touch above 10 kilohertz, but we can control some harsh frequencies in the mids and early highs between 100 hertz and 10 kilohertz where I go, my demons go where I sleep, my demons sleep my hair. I can move. She used to be answer, not that anymore. Where I go, demons go where I sleep de sleep my hair, I can move. She used to Betty has not anymore. She used to. Betty has used to Betty has used to Betty has used to Betty has used to Betty has she used to? Betty has not anymore. Here are some popular type of compressors for vocals. Fat compressors to give a nice coloration and if we look for aggressive tones, opto compressors to add warmth and a nice smooth and transparent compression. Another popular one which is hard to put on the category in particular is the distressor. Very versatile, accurate, and with beautiful colorations. There are multiple versions of this compressor, like the FG Stress from Slate Digital Oso form, Empirical Labs, or the Authentic emulation from Universal Audio. These are some popular ones, but the other types can work very good as well. If we look at the Sony characteristics of the MU and VCA, they can also give pleasant results. For instance, Alex Tome, famous mixing engineer, uses the MU Pick child 670 from waves first followed by the SSL bus compressor VCA style in his vocal chain. Special mention also to the R compressor and R Voc from waves because they are widely used to. Before we finish this video, just notice that in many cases, vocals are recorded with this chain. The microphone going to a preamp like nave 1073 going to a compressor like Cl1b. When the track comes in the mixing session, the dynamic has already been controlled a little bit during the recording. In this case, maybe only one compressor will do the job, or maybe we will need anyway, the second compressor and a multiban. Or only one compressor and a multiben, or no multiban at all. There are an infinity of scenarios. We have to train our ears to know what we have to do, but we can use the techniques seen on this video and all the other ones from the course to help us sound more professional. 19. Compressing drums: Like vocals we've just seen before, drums are also difficult to compress in the mix because they are essentially transients. These transients give the specific sound of the drums and percussions. We must not kill these transients from that. We already know that attack time is very important for drums compression because we know that a fast attack on the compressor give a less transient, whereas a slow attack preserves better the transience, We better have to choose this second option here, release time is also very important. We set it by ear to match with the tempo of the song and to preserve the fullness and the rhythm of the drums. In most cases, we will choose a fast release time. Concerning the compressors we can use on drums as usual, there's no rules. But it's true that because of their punchy and aggressive nature, fat compressors are quite popular on a bus. Ssl bus compressors do a very good job too. My favorite is the Neve 303609. It sounds incredible for the punch and the depth of the drums. Let's see that in action. Now on a bus, the compressor is bringing the glue to this bus and gives it a thick, bold, and punchy sound. This result is partly created by the settings of attack and release on 11, 76 compressors, one is slow and seven is fast. Here we set the slowest attack and the fastest release. These are classical settings for compressing drums. Let's listen again touching these knobs and see what happens. When we go too far, we lose impact and punch with a fast attack. We flatten the drums because we crush the transients with a too slow release, we smash and muffle the sound because the compressor takes too much time to recover. What we need to remember here is that attack and release are very important when compressing drums. In order to have a thick and punchy sound, it's better to have a slow attack and fast release. It's very common to compress the drum bus following these fundamentals to bring glue and bite. But of course, all of this work also on individual drum elements like boosting the sound of a kick or a snare. Parallel compression is also very common on drums, is another great way to muscle them and make them cut through the mix while making the compression more transparent. An advantage of parallel compression is that on each send, on each parallel track, we can give different tones depending on which compressor we use. And it's great to add that to the signal, We can experiments adding one parallel track may be two, even three. A technique that works also great for clap snare kick and more is to combine an Q on the insert with a compressor on the send. For instance, with a kick with the Q on the insert. Depending on what we are working, we can boost the lows and the high ads. Then parallel compress, and finally, add that to the kick. On another mix, maybe we would add some low mids. It all depends on what we hear and what we feel. Let's see that with this Q, the better maker, and the compressor. I love on a parallel chain, the DB X 160 available with Waves and UAD. Perfect to add a little smack on the drums and an extra punchy touch. I can also combine Q plus compression on the send. If I want to accentuate the low is on the kick, I can boost this area with Q and then compress and add that to the kick. In another case, maybe I would accentuate the high meds or another part of the signal. Again, it all depends on what you hear and what you feel. We have to let each song speak to us, and each song speaks differently. There will always be different elements hitting differently at different times. It all depends on what you feel. It all depends on the vibe. Here are some techniques to experiment to spice up your drums and give them more impact on the mix. Again, an infinity of possibilities here with the variety of compressors that exist that we can use in series on the inserts to enjoy the unique characteristics of each compressor. Parallel compression is also great for that to add unique tones if we use multiple sends with different compressors, if we combine multiple effects on the parallel chain, et cetera. Again, no rules. We can use the popular techniques seen on this video, but we can also experiment everything. 20. Compressing bass: We could think that basis, or other low frequencies instruments, don't have a great dynamic range. So they don't necessarily need compression like vocals or drums. But in reality, these instruments may have a big dynamic range and they actually have to be compressed. Basis represents the foundations of the mix. These foundations have to stay solid and stable. If the dynamic range is not controlled, it can unbalance the entire mix. Compression also gives the base more weight. We can use it for this goal as well. Let's see a quick example of compression on a base F Y. Concerning the settings of the compression like drums, we have to focus on attack and release. A rule we can remember is the following one. Every sound we hear has a wave length. Bases have a bigger wave length compared to high sounds which have a shorter wavelength. With bases and the long wave length. If we set very fast attack and release times, it can result that the attack and release are faster than the wavelength itself. The result is a distortion of the sound like that some people would qualify this distortion as unpleasant, but it can also give an interesting effect for attack and release. What we have to remember is that setting the two as fast will distort the sound. If we want to stay away from that, ensure that at least one is not. Fast ratios can in some cases be higher than for other instruments, 41-81 because the dynamic may be big, especially for live recorded bass guitars. But for base synth we can apply a lower ratio. The classic compression in series that we know well now is again a very nice technique on basis, we know the benefits of compression in series. I'm not going to get back on it, but just a literal example, a technique to try for the control of low frequencies in the mix is to group, kick and base on a bus. And compress that bus. It will create a packet for the low frequencies and help them stand out while giving them more impact and weight. Finally, we'll also have Y chain compression. If there's a lack of clarity and masking between kick and base, we can use Y chain compression if we need more punch from the kick, using this one to reduce the volume of the base. We already seen this type of compression. So you can watch again the Y chain compression video if needed. Don't forget simple compression with only one compressor and parallel compression as well. Every techniques are good to try here. Try out these techniques on your mixes, remembering that bases may need compression in some cases, but it's not mandatory every time. If you're not sure, just try and see. 21. Compressing the other instruments: We have seen how to compress instruments like drums, basses, and vocals concerning the others. Guitars, sings, pianos, violins, et cetera. We'll have similar goals for all these instruments for compression. The main reasons are classical control, the dynamic range to make it sit better in the mix, to make the instrument cut better through the mix, and to give more detail and give a particular tone. Thanks to sonny characteristics of some analog compressors about the control of the dynamic, A guitar is a nice example because the player can play some notes stronger and then play smoother. Given a big gap between the peaks and the dips, some notes may be too loud in the mix or too low. So here's a very standard way to use compression, and we can apply that for every instruments. For the second reason, which is bringing the sonny characteristics of a compressor, we can use any compressor of our choice. Now that we know the different types of compressors and their characters, it's easier for us to make this choice here. We're not looking for a big amount of compression, just give a nice layer of tone for that. One, B or two may be enough. Some compressors even color the sound just by running the signal through the circuit. For instance, just hitting the tubes of the tube compressor can give a pleasing tone. We can get interesting results without touching any knob is the case with the Fairchild for instance. Some others also have this capability. Learn to know well a maximum of compressors with compression in series, we can always use multiple compressors. If we want to add multiple sonic signatures from multiple types of compressors, we can add one or two, even three compressors just for tone. If the instrument we want to color needs first its dynamic to be controlled, we'll load first a compressor to do this task. And we'll combine it in series with one or several other compressors for their sonic characteristics. On the same guitar, I can, for instance, load in addition of the first one, a T compressor to add its color and aggressive character. One more example here with a piano and a very compressor to thicken up the sound and bring warmth to it. We see that we don't have a big amount of gain reduction, but we're giving nice tones and a pleasant vibe to this piano. And finally here, an example of sound coloration without even touching a single knob with the VBC plug in from Slate Digital on every other instruments. In addition of standard use of compression, play with colors, tones, and sonic characteristics of every different compressors. Don't forget glue compression, we have already seen. It will be very useful if you have a bus of synthes, guitars, or trolls, or anything else. Multiple compression could be interesting as well in order to control the particular part of the instrument signal. In this last example of the video, multiple compression will be useful on a cello when we play the cello and the bass together, as there are two elements playing in low registers, there's a clash in the lows and we hear some loud resonances From this cello, I can use multiband compression to attenuate the bottom of the spectrum and get a better mix between the two. Here I don't want to touch the either the highs to preserve the body and the clarity of the cello in an infinity of other situations. Compression can be useful on instruments which can have unpleasant resonances in the lows, Ms, or highs like an acoustic guitar recorded with a microphone, synth, orchestral elements, etcetera, et cetera. In short, for the other instruments, we can clearly use every technique we have seen so far. Try different techniques. If you detect some issue and see if it improves the mix. Try to group some elements together and compress the bust and see if that works. Experiment just for tone as well and see if you get pleasant results. 22. Compressing the Mixbus: The whole mix mixing, or the master mixing, is as important as mixing individual trucks or Buses. And the compression applied on the master is an essential part. The master truck is also named mix bus. The important thing about Mix bus is to be careful because we can create more problems than solve if we apply two drastic settings with compression. An important rule about mixed bus compression is to stay smooth a little bit. We'll already do a lot. Why compress the mixed bus? The main reason is to get a more cohesive glued mix. We need to fill the elements glued together. Compressing the mixed bus is using glue compression. The second reason is to control the dynamic range of the mix. By reducing the dynamic, we can even out the different parts of the song, smoothing out the pigs that are too loud, and enhancing the softer parts. Another reason, which is like a consequence of the previous one, is to get a bigger and thicker sound given by analog compressors thanks to harmonic distortion. How to compress the mixed bus? Like I said before, the mixed bus compressor has to work gently. We use low ratios from 1.5 to one to 2.5 to one, and we need to look for a small amount of gain reduction, one or two DB, to ensure not to overcompress the mix. As a starting point for attack and release, we can start with a slow attack to preserve the transients and a fast release, but it's always good to adjust these controls by ear to see what sounds best. Compressors that works wonderfully on the mixed bus are VCA compressors, or tube compressors, as well. As we can hear, mixed bus compression gives more fullness to this mix. We get a bigger sound thanks to a more controlled dynamic range that evens out the levels. Many more techniques can be used on the mixed bus like compression in series or parallel. I'm going to use a mix of different techniques. We have seen over the course, compression in series parallel, play with different attack and release times. Use the high pass filter and see what it brings to the mix. We get a very nice result with a clear sound, bigger global image better than before. Finally, multi band compression is also used a lot by mixing engineers on the mix bus. Let's see what we can get here. I split the spectrum into three bends at 160 hertz and 2.5 kilohertz. And we're going to compress each band setting up the parameters by ear trying to improve the sound. We will see that here we can go harder than before. On the settings, what I'm looking for is to have even more solid and stable lows, a controlled and glued mid band, and more airy his. But the highs will need less compression than the other bends. So play around with compression on your mixed bus to get this bigger sound. And make sure to go gently for that. Compression in series is a nice way to explore. And parallel compression as well, to make sure not to overcompress the mixed bus.