Page 1 of 2
Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:52 am
by Icetickle
I wanna buss compress the drop and the lead. The reason for that is because I have a part where the drop ends and lead jumps in again and I want to make all of that "sit nicely" next to each other. The thing is that I have abletons glue compressor and dada life sausage fattener and I don't know what to use.
Just want your opinion on this one..

Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:55 am
by mthrfnk
Since Ableton's Glue is basically a native version of "The Glue" I'd recommend that. However have you thought about EQ'ing/filtering to help the sounds fit together?
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:58 am
by Icetickle
mthrfnk wrote:Since Ableton's Glue is basically a native version of "The Glue" I'd recommend that. However have you thought about EQ'ing/filtering to help the sounds fit together?
Everything is EQ-ed "properly".. is there a trick or something?
BTW. in what case scenario is sausage fattener used ? lol
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:18 am
by mthrfnk
Icetickle wrote:mthrfnk wrote:Since Ableton's Glue is basically a native version of "The Glue" I'd recommend that. However have you thought about EQ'ing/filtering to help the sounds fit together?
Everything is EQ-ed "properly".. is there a trick or something?
BTW. in what case scenario is sausage fattener used ? lol
No I just meant instead of trying to force the sounds together by compression you should check they fit together sonically - like make sure the sounds don't clash frequecny wise using EQ... but if you've done that then ignore me
Personally I use Sausage Fattener to "finalize" my busses sometimes, just to give the sound a bit more power.
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:19 am
by Genevieve
Automate the volume?
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:49 am
by Icetickle
My lead sounds a bit fucked up because of this compression :\
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:56 pm
by Crimsonghost
Icetickle wrote:BTW. in what case scenario is sausage fattener used ? lol
For fattening you're sausage, bro.

Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 4:01 pm
by Crimsonghost
Genevieve wrote:Automate the volume?
Simplest answer really. Start here and see what happens.
But also, make sure the two sounds don't sound shit together. They might be EQ'd properly but that doesn't mean that there going to complement each other. Maybe something's to harsh? Not harsh enough? To loud? Too quiet? Reverb? Delay? Just gotta keep experimenting and see what sounds right.
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 4:13 pm
by wub
Icetickle wrote:I wanna buss compress the drop and the lead. The reason for that is because I have a part where the drop ends and lead jumps in again and I want to make all of that "sit nicely" next to each other. The thing is that I have abletons glue compressor and dada life sausage fattener and I don't know what to use.
Just want your opinion on this one..

Without being funny, do you understand compression and how it affects the audio signal?
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 4:21 pm
by fragments
wub wrote:Icetickle wrote:I wanna buss compress the drop and the lead. The reason for that is because I have a part where the drop ends and lead jumps in again and I want to make all of that "sit nicely" next to each other. The thing is that I have abletons glue compressor and dada life sausage fattener and I don't know what to use.
Just want your opinion on this one..

Without being funny, do you understand compression and how it affects the audio signal?
I was just going to ask this. Furthermore, I'd ask why does the OP think compression will help things "sit right" in the mix?
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:06 pm
by Icetickle
fragments wrote:wub wrote:Icetickle wrote:I wanna buss compress the drop and the lead. The reason for that is because I have a part where the drop ends and lead jumps in again and I want to make all of that "sit nicely" next to each other. The thing is that I have abletons glue compressor and dada life sausage fattener and I don't know what to use.
Just want your opinion on this one..

Without being funny, do you understand compression and how it affects the audio signal?
I was just going to ask this. Furthermore, I'd ask why does the OP think compression will help things "sit right" in the mix?
It makes the quiet stuff louder and vice versa.. right?
And It usually helps

Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:08 pm
by Genevieve
Don't take this the wrong way, but just practice compression and don't worry about it until you know what you're doing.
Only compression I do in my tunes is with a limiter for parallel compression, nothing else.
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:15 pm
by Crimsonghost
Icetickle wrote:fragments wrote:wub wrote:Icetickle wrote:I wanna buss compress the drop and the lead. The reason for that is because I have a part where the drop ends and lead jumps in again and I want to make all of that "sit nicely" next to each other. The thing is that I have abletons glue compressor and dada life sausage fattener and I don't know what to use.
Just want your opinion on this one..

Without being funny, do you understand compression and how it affects the audio signal?
I was just going to ask this. Furthermore, I'd ask why does the OP think compression will help things "sit right" in the mix?
It makes the quiet stuff louder and vice versa.. right?
And It usually helps

At its most basic, yes. And an expander makes things louder. But there's A LOT more to it then that.
This is a kinda long winded explanation on how to use compression. I think it's a good article for beginners so you can get an easy understanding of how it all works.
http://www.blacklistedmastering.co.uk/article02.htm
A big problem nowadays deems to be the over use of compression. Too much and you just fuck the dynamics of whatever you put it on.
Compression is a fickle bitch, and will take a long time to really get it right.
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:31 pm
by Icetickle
Crimsonghost wrote:Icetickle wrote:fragments wrote:wub wrote:Icetickle wrote:I wanna buss compress the drop and the lead. The reason for that is because I have a part where the drop ends and lead jumps in again and I want to make all of that "sit nicely" next to each other. The thing is that I have abletons glue compressor and dada life sausage fattener and I don't know what to use.
Just want your opinion on this one..

Without being funny, do you understand compression and how it affects the audio signal?
I was just going to ask this. Furthermore, I'd ask why does the OP think compression will help things "sit right" in the mix?
It makes the quiet stuff louder and vice versa.. right?
And It usually helps

At its most basic, yes. And an expander makes things louder. But there's A LOT more to it then that.
This is a kinda long winded explanation on how to use compression. I think it's a good article for beginners so you can get an easy understanding of how it all works.
http://www.blacklistedmastering.co.uk/article02.htm
A big problem nowadays deems to be the over use of compression. Too much and you just fuck the dynamics of whatever you put it on.
Compression is a fickle bitch, and will take a long time to really get it right.
Honestly, I didn't understand shit from that article.
Are compressors necessary or should I just play with volume?
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:32 pm
by Triphosphate
Icetickle wrote:
It makes the quiet stuff louder and vice versa.. right?
It's a really common misconception. A compressor just makes louder things quieter, and leaves the quieter stuff alone. Then, you raise the level of the over all signal and it appears that you made the quieter parts louder.
A couple of things I would suggest to start getting a grasp on the way compression sounds is to use a compressor that doesn't automatically raise the gain, preferably one that shows you how much signal it is attenuating, then practice using a ratio of 4:1, and as fast an attack as the plugin can manage. Start with the threshold all the way up so that it's not actually compressing at all, then slowly bring the threshold down until you're attenuating 3db... then down further until you're attenuating 6db. Practice doing this to different sounds till you're comfortable with it and then start experimenting with the parameters, like a slower attack on drums to let that first transient punch through.
Edit: I almost forgot... when you attenuate 3db and then 6db, use another plugin after the compressor in your signal chain to raise the amplitude 3db and 6db respectively.
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:49 pm
by fragments
I'm not saying I'm a compression guru, but I didn't really "get" compression until I read a lot about how it's used to record and mix tunes where musicians are playing instruments live.
EDIT: Also, I it helped a lot using hardware compressor. That taught me a ton. I don't know why and I'm not saying it'd work for anyone else...but it helped me : )
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:04 pm
by Icetickle
Usually I just put a glue compressor on the drop buss to kinda put the shit together.. I don't think that I'm over compressing it (like 4-5dB gain reduction), rarely putting a compressor on a single element of the track.
Didn't know that compressors are so complex however..
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:16 pm
by fragments
To me 4-5dB seems like a lot. For me that feels like heavy compression (depending on the other settings and what it actually sounds like, but still) Also compressing things by default doesn't seem like good practice to me. The more I learn about compression, the less I use it as "a rule of thumb". Isn't anything over -10dB of gain reduction technically limiting? (<might be talking out of my ass here...)
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:23 pm
by Icetickle
fragments wrote:To me 4-5dB seems like a lot. For me that feels like heavy compression (depending on the other settings and what it actually sounds like, but still) Also compressing things by default doesn't seem like good practice to me. The more I learn about compression, the less I use it as "a rule of thumb". Isn't anything over -10dB of gain reduction technically limiting? (<might be talking out of my ass here...)
Well I have a lot of jumpy things going on.. also isn't compressing the way people try to get really fat basses and stuff like that?
Not that my basslines eating shit ton of bacon.. just sayin.
Re: Buss compression.
Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 11:31 pm
by fragments
I usually try to get "big" bass sounds with proper EQ and gain staging, in other words, making room in the mix. But I could be entirely full of shit.