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Right I'm just wondering something here,

I was working on a tune the other day and I was throwing in some drums samples into my project as ya do to hear them and what way they act with each other, I got samples that i really liked and made a pattern with them. Slapped a bit of eq on them and then moved onto some basses because inspiration just hit me out of nowhere. After I had the basslines arranged the way I wanted and stuff I did a rough mix on my basses and drums so I could hear how everything sounded.After I was happy with that I went back to my drums and realized that I had no compression on any of them...but the thing is they all sounded great...so I decided to just leave them the way they are.

now heres my question and don't flame me for this but.....is that wrong? I mean aren't you ment to compress your drums by even a tiny amount? and will I run into problems later on in the process?

thanks for your answers in advance!

-K100

where did you get the samples? unless they're straight recordings they've probably already been compressed. not that you have to compress everything, depends what kind of tune it is really.

Wrong section.

EDIT:

They moved it to Production from SNH.

Towany wrote:Right I'm just wondering something here,

I was working on a tune the other day and I was throwing in some drums samples into my project as ya do to hear them and what way they act with each other, I got samples that i really liked and made a pattern with them. Slapped a bit of eq on them and then moved onto some basses because inspiration just hit me out of nowhere. After I had the basslines arranged the way I wanted and stuff I did a rough mix on my basses and drums so I could hear how everything sounded.After I was happy with that I went back to my drums and realized that I had no compression on any of them...but the thing is they all sounded great...so I decided to just leave them the way they are.

now heres my question and don't flame me for this but.....is that wrong? I mean aren't you ment to compress your drums by even a tiny amount? and will I run into problems later on in the process?

thanks for your answers in advance!

-K100

Short answer: No, compression isn't mandatory. The only thing you're meant to do is make it sound good, and if you got there without compression then leave it be.

Long answer: Some engineers don't even use compression at all (other than any compression that happens as a byproduct of physics, such as when you record to tape) such as Steve Albini. Many jazz and classical engineers/producers also stay away from compression as much as possible because it destroys subtle dynamics.

If your drum track has lots of dynamics and variations in volume both between respective kit sounds and between sections, then using less compression is going to help you keep those dynamics intact. If, on the other hand, your drum track is (like much EDM) not much more complex dynamically than soft/LOUD/soft, compression can be used to help "glue" the drum mix together. In fact, you can also send both drums and bass to the same compression bus to help "glue" them together sonically (this takes practice and study, though, esp. with plug-ins instead of hardware.)

^^^ i wrote the same answer lol then went to post it and saw they beat me too lol

It is taste bro. Is there too much salt in this? Depends on your taste.

And yes, you could be running into problems later down the line, if those are unprocessed drums and are highly dynamic. If your track is too dynamic it is going to sound quieter relative to other tracks. That is fine also, if you can trust your listeners to turn it up.

And yeah, if those are like commercial samples they're probably already compressed themselves. You can also try a little compression over the whole thing, just a little, maybe 3db of gain reduction, and then A/B with and without. When you A/B check to see that A and B are hitting the same peak on your meters. There is a chance if you get the rest of your comp's settings right, a slight amount of compression with a slight amount of makeup gain will make that mix, or submix, just a little bigger, heavier. Then again maybe not, that's why you A/B!

Thanksfor the comments guys! Its just I couldn't get over that feelin of doubt in my head if I should or shouldn't compress my drums haha.

Drums and Snares may not need compression depending on their source. I don't compress the hats too. And very distorted basses won't need compression either.

And don't worry about loudness just yet. Mix if tight and strong and worry about loudness in the mastering stage, but only AFTER you have a perfect mix.

Can I ask where the samples are from?

I never put compression on the drums :/

i only use sidechain compression, i dont use regualar compression anymore because its the dynamics that make tunes flow more naturally and sound less robotic.

if it sounds good , it's sounds good.

i don't compress individual drum sounds when using samples coz they don't vary in their dynamics, your static sample will hit at the same volume every time (dependent on modulation), sometimes i limit the channel for the sake of drum rolls if i ever use them and i use gentle compression on a bus but nah, it's not necessary at all. some people use compression to get the right tone, but even then, there's thousands of drum samples out there, if you find you're having to mess about with one sample for too long u may as well ditch and find something else.

i only compress them if they're not knocking hard enough through the other parts
it's not something i do automatically. i often use compression on kicks, but tbh many drums don't need any
the parts i usually level/flatten/squash are bass synths, accompaniments, pads, guitars, piano... because the undertones and overtones bring a lot to the sound but are sometimes too quiet... so i level the peaks and ride the input of my comp to push those parts of the signal. makes em more up front and rich sounding
percussion and drums don't really need that, the compression is more to accentuate the attack and provide peak-controlled volume boosts in order to cut through the mix

no need to do anything, really. just cuz you have the tools don't mean you need to use 'em.

quite often by the end of a mix i'll have say
--the kick routed to the drum buss, which is getting an unbelievable amount of compression in parallel (like 30db at like 20:1), but that compressor has a hipass circuit so the bulk of the kick sound isn't being compressed;

--that kick is also being sent to a general vibe-y compressor, maybe with the synths and snare, just to get some pumping going

--and it's also getting sent to a bus that's got nothing on it, just letting the uncompressed tone through

so at that point, the kick's interacting w/ 2 compressors, but not really being compressed. the drum buss compressor adds density and thickness, the compressor on the send distorts a bit, so it adds some high-end. just creating for different vibes and energies; mix those together and you can wind up using a lot of interesting-sounding compression, but not actually that much compression.

Towany wrote:Right I'm just wondering something here,

I was working on a tune the other day and I was throwing in some drums samples into my project as ya do to hear them and what way they act with each other, I got samples that i really liked and made a pattern with them. Slapped a bit of eq on them and then moved onto some basses because inspiration just hit me out of nowhere. After I had the basslines arranged the way I wanted and stuff I did a rough mix on my basses and drums so I could hear how everything sounded.After I was happy with that I went back to my drums and realized that I had no compression on any of them...but the thing is they all sounded great...so I decided to just leave them the way they are.

now heres my question and don't flame me for this but.....is that wrong? I mean aren't you ment to compress your drums by even a tiny amount? and will I run into problems later on in the process?

thanks for your answers in advance!

-K100

Honestly bro, I hardly use compression...i know I may get flamed for it but thats thr truth. dont get me wrong every once in awhile I throw some compression down but if u can work your drums, melodies, basslines good enough compression really isnt needed. It is a very important aspect in production and mixing and mastering but I hardly use it and my tracks come out beautifully even on big systems

One could say that compression is like using salt when cooking: a little bit tastefully used can add some pep and flavor, but it's very easy to overdo and turn into brine swill. For example, see mainstream American top 40 R&B radio...

alphacat wrote:
Short answer: make it sound good

alphacat wrote:One could say that compression is like using salt when cooking: a little bit tastefully used can add some pep and flavor, but it's very easy to overdo and turn into brine swill. For example, see mainstream American top 40 R&B radio...

hahaha LOVE THAT ANSWER^