Production Advice

“Should I use a buss compressor on my mix ?”

That’s a question I get asked a lot, and as a mastering engineer, I’m conflicted about what advice to give. The follow-up, “should it be single or multi-band ?” is easier to answer, though.

First of all:

Why would you use a buss compressor over your whole mix anyway ?

This post started out as a comment on The Recording Revolution about buss compression, and Graham’s video from that post (above) gives a good explanation.

He’s pretty clear that you should compress your whole mix, and the truth is that almost all “name” engineers in the pop, rock and indie genres, will slap an SSL or similar buss compressor over the mix as one of the first things they do when setting up a mix.

Simple, right ?

Well… maybe. A great buss compressor used on a great mix will often “glue it together” nicely, as Graham says. It’s a tried and tested technique that has been used on a huge number of hit records.

BUT:

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Using compression in your mixes is essential – and you need to use it right.

OK, maybe not if you play classical harp or Polynesian nose-flute – but in most genres, using compression to control the dynamic range of instruments in the mix is fundamental.

The problem is, learning to use compression isn’t easy. And it’s not helped by the fact that most explanations start out saying something like “a compressor reduces the dynamic range of it’s input by attenuating signals that exceed a pre-defined threshold”.

Or something.

Personally I don’t find this kind of description very intuitive, so this post will try and keep things straightforward. So before we go to much further:

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At first sight there’s something deliciously ironic about the fact that fans of Heavy Metal music – in particular the “Death” and “Thrash” varieties – are the ones who complain most bitterly about the loudness wars.

Most notable of course is Metallica’s infamous Death Magnetic, but consistently I see more and more comments by fans of the loudest, most aggressive styles of music who hate the damage done by excessive compression and brick-wall limiting.

But why is this ? These people are all deaf to begin with from attending too many loud gigs and constant head-banging, right !?!

Well, no. In fact, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense, because without quiet, there can be no loud. And the whole point about metal is that it should be played – and listened to – loud. (Well, one of the points, anyway !)

But a recording that has no dynamic contrast left in it doesn’t sound loud (ie. punchy, hard-hitting, aggressive) when it’s been crushed to death – it just sounds “wimpy loud” instead.

I didn’t make the video above, but it illustrates the point perfectly, and proves yet again that there’s more to metal (and metal fans) than just moshing and  \m/ emoticons.

Hats off to them, and let’s hope the bands, labels and producers are listening…

(And, if you’re making music and want to know how to make your recordings sound loud without crushing it to death, click here.)

There are plenty of moments to enjoy in this video with veteran mastering engineer Howie Weinberg – not least, proof that mastering engineers really do have a sense of humour !

I want to pick up on just one thing he says almost in passing though, and amplify it. People are always asking “What is mastering”, and it’s a question that lots of people have tried to answer, including me:

What is mastering ?

But Howie’s analogy is short, sweet, and very, very, deep. He says that a mastering engineer is like a photographer who specialises in retouching images in the darkroom to get the very best out of them.

I want to make that statement simpler, and explore the idea in a little more depth:

Mastering is like photoshop for audio

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Dynamic Range Day is March 20th, 2010

That’s TODAY !

Actually, that was two years ago.

But there’s going to be a third Dynamic Range Day in 2012, on March 16th and this year I want it to be even better.

DRD now has it’s own website – for all the latest information, click here.

If you’d like to get involved, please “Like” the Facebook page for regular updates.





Thanks, and see you soon !

Now just for the record, here’s the original text of this post, dead links and all, edited on the day…

Join us in a day of protest against the CD “Loudness Wars” – more info below

• Use the Twitter hashtag #DYNAMICRANGEDAY on March 20th to try and get this issue “trending” on everyone’s Twitter page

• It’s easy to take part – just SHOUT (type in all caps) ALL DAY, EVERYWHERE !

• And when people ask, tell them why you’re shouting

Read the full story here: Dynamic Range Day – The Idea

What are the Loudness Wars ?

Watch this video: 

Latest News

• 20/04/10 NEW Join us at 9pm GMT on Twitter to try and get this issue trending !

• 20/04/10 NEW Read my Dynamic Range Day post here

• 20/04/10 Dynamic Range Day gets off to a fantastic start, with a huge evening of activity on Twitter

• 19/03/10 Dynamic Range Day is global, and has just started in some time-zones !

• 18/03/10 How to take part in Dynamic Range Day

• 18/03/10 Over 2000 guests confirmed to the Facebook event already – still climbing

• 18/03/10 Pleasurize Music Foundation support Dynamic Range Day

• 25/02/10 Dynamic Range Day Banners available for download

• 25/02/10 TurnMeUp.org adds a Dynamic Range Day banner to their front page

Check back soon for more updates Click to continue »