Chaining Compressors

Using a great sounding compressor is awesome but sometimes when it is pushed too far it just sounds awful or it will cause unwanted effects so you should chain 2 compressors together to ease the load on the one by itself.

If you use a compressor that has a slow attack on something that is very dynamic like vocals, you can have it cause a breathing or a pumping effect. To fix this problem you can use a fast compressor with a high ratio and threshold first to treat the dynamics. After place a slower compressor with a low ratio and threshold to smooth everything out.


so for example you can use an 1176 to limit the signal then smooth it out with a LA2A

Hope this helps!

#EveryDetailCounts!

Limit Yourself...

I recently stumbled upon Graham Cochrane's eBook "The #1 Rule of Home Recording" and he discusses setting a limit on yourself. He says, "Limit your options like your life depended on it." The more I read his eBook the more it made sense to me and clear it became. What is the purpose of limiting yourself and not taking advantage of the unlimited undos, plugins we can use, or even setting a deadline for the project you're working on? Well it's simple, it's so you can focus on the creative part of the song and not focus on every single breath being perfect. The creativity the song is putting out is what the audience will remember and hear. They aren't going to catch the flaw of that small breath that you hate that you are going to mute out. In fact, all the flaws in the song create a sense of it being a real person, a real song, a person with emotions that they are sharing with you. There are many more examples and truths about the concept of limiting yourself and I found for myself not only is it saving me time, money, and my mixes are coming out better than ever but I am less stressed worrying about editing my songs before I mix them.

Like Graham said "Ask yourself these questions: Are there any pops or clicks that need to be cut out? Does anything cut in or out too abruptly? Are my drums and bass lining up in a nice groove? Am I missing any parts that I'll want in the mix?"

That's the main thing to focus on and then just mix the song and get creative with it! I highly recommend reading his eBook; it's a quick read I only 16 pages and you can finish it within 15-25 minutes. It helped me and I hope it helps you as well.

Thank you my readers, you are awesome and thank you Graham Cochrane for sharing a vital piece of your knowledge that every engineer should consider.

#EveryDetailCounts!

Checkout The website http://therecordingrevolution.com/ and subscribe and download the eBook!

Analyze your mixing room

I thought I should help out by writing up or doing a video on testing and analyzing your mixing room, then i happened to stumble upon this video which shows you a very easy way to analyze your room. Just by knowing your room your mixes will come out a lot better because you wont be tempted to add too much high end too much low end and so on.. check the video out here:

Mixing Tutorial: How to Test and Analyze Your Home Studio Room

Hope this helps! #EveryDetailCounts

Stereo Buss Comp Before Mastering

Don't feel like you can not use the buss compression when mixing just make sure you know what it is doing to your mix. It should be making an improvement.

I get asked this question every now and then and I say go ahead and use compression on the 2-bus if it is for aesthetic reasons and not to make the track louder. First thing to ask is do you need it. Don't do it just because you think you're "supposed to," or because your favorite engineer does it. If you choose to, then have a reason. For example if the 2-bus compressor is being used to add a pleasing coloration to the sound, go for it. If it's being used for loudness, take it off. Also buss compression is fine as an effect (for color etc) if it is done properly and not for achieving extra level. Don't do anything purely for level. Other than that, whatever makes it sound the way you want is fine. The mastering engineer will take cues about your creative intent from the way you make the mix sound. If you have lots of bass, in the absence of directions to the contrary, one could reasonably assume that you value the bass.

SN: make sure to A/B listen with it level-matched. If you have the output turned up, psychoacoustically you'll tend to be drawn to the louder one. Once you listen to both at the same subjective level, you'll often notice that the compressed one actually sounds worse.

#EveryDetailCounts