compression

[Tony P]

been chatting to a big DJ as i've asked him about compression used in club sound systems and would it effect mixes.

He said that yeah compression always affects your set. all i can say is if you don't know the fundamentals of compression then dont let it worry you. my BIG advice is dont push the gains. keep everything at the right levels. monitors the gains well, before you bring each record in.

 

Does anyone know anything about the fundamentals of compression mixing?????????

[Rush]

yeah turn it up louder

[Ian Cashman]

to know if compression is gonna affect your mixes or if the gain is already too high, whip the bass out at the end of a bar.. if suddenly the volume leaps up a whole load, then either

 

a. output of the mixer is set too high

b. compressor is set up wrong

c. if you have no clue what im on about, dont worry yourself

 

 

[Mr_Happy]

shouldnt the sound test you do before letting rip to the warm up sets pick up and fix any potential problems due to compression?

 

as for the compression filter itself. i thought it was only used to make quiet bits louder and vice versa.

[LiquidEyes]

(Mod1's comments)

Mr Happy, compression is also used to prevent speaker damage and restrict volume levels.

 

There are two symptoms of over-compression (or too much gain on the mixer, which has the same effect):

 

1. as Mod1 said, there is a sudden increase in volume in the transition from a loud bit to a quiet bit;

 

2. (if the attack/release times are shorter) you get a horrible pumping effect where the compression level is constantly adjusting in time with the kick drum. Done in moderation can sound quite cool (as used in a lot of techno tracks), but when over-done it sounds very un-musical and ruins the dynamics of the music (as well as being harsher on the ears).

[LiquidEyes]

Tony.P said:

He said that yeah compression always affects your set.

Don't really agree. The compression settings should be optimised for the "normal" operating level of the mixer. I.e. very little compression should occur unless your LEDs are going into the red.

[James]

An Audio Compression tutorial

[Tony P]

cheers guys, i trust the compression set up will be first class at the club i'm playing at. just wasnted to know if i needed to take anything into consideration before i get there.

 

[Mr_Happy]

yeah, dont play any phatt tunes as they're harder to compress than tunes that have been dieting

[LiquidEyes]

You shouldn't have to do anything special Tony. It's the sound engineer's problem really.

 

Having said that, if you get used to what "overly compressed" music sounds like, you would know to turn down the overall volume (and/or bass).

[Tony P]

ok cheers guys

[Chris Hutchinson]

Post deleted by Chris_Hutchinson

[James]

Chris_Hutchinson said:

why would you want to add more compression to tunes?? usually it gets done before they are pressed to vinyl

 

yep - this is something slightly confusing me too - but I'm very new to all this mastering/EQing etc.

[Chris Hutchinson]

James said:

Chris_Hutchinson said:

why would you want to add more compression to tunes?? usually it gets done before they are pressed to vinyl

 

yep - this is something slightly confusing me too - but I'm very new to all this mastering/EQing etc.

 

lol - i just deleted the post cos I realised he meant a limiter installed in a club to stop volume going too high

[James]

ooops - good point - sorry !