Compressors vs. Riding Faders

[Mike Rivers]

I started a new subject here since the "mics you think are good" discussion drifted this way.

 

This sort of volume riding is precisely what compressors were invented to circumvent, since mixers of the day weren't automated. Nowadays, compressors tend to be primarily valued for their sonic qualities, since level riding is much easier than it used to be. But to do it well takes a lot of patience.

 

Compressors don't do a very good job of level riding. There are dynamic processors that attempt to do that and are more successful on some sources than others - better on spoken word than music. Generally they have a slower attack and longer release time than a general purpose compressor.

 

Compressors were invented back in they days of one microphone, and other than for gain reduction of only 2-3 dB, aren't very useful to smooth out a wild singer. Manual gain riding works much better, but as you say, it takes patience and skill. Some people get pretty good at drawing a volume envelope, and for the occasional howl, "clip gain" works better than I expect it to.

 

True that these days compressors are used more for the sound of an overdriven amplifier or transformer, or to use adjustable attack and release controls to modify the attack of the incoming signal - and there are special products that aren't called compressors (but really are, at heart) which are designed specifically as transient re-shapers. I think SPL started that.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

I started a new subject here since the "mics you think are good" discussion drifted this way.

 

This sort of volume riding is precisely what compressors were invented to circumvent, since mixers of the day weren't automated. Nowadays, compressors tend to be primarily valued for their sonic qualities, since level riding is much easier than it used to be. But to do it well takes a lot of patience.

 

Compressors don't do a very good job of level riding. There are dynamic processors that attempt to do that and are more successful on some sources than others - better on spoken word than music. Generally they have a slower attack and longer release time than a general purpose compressor.

 

Compressors were invented back in they days of one microphone, and other than for gain reduction of only 2-3 dB, aren't very useful to smooth out a wild singer. Manual gain riding works much better, but as you say, it takes patience and skill. Some people get pretty good at drawing a volume envelope, and for the occasional howl, "clip gain" works better than I expect it to.

 

True that these days compressors are used more for the sound of an overdriven amplifier or transformer, or to use adjustable attack and release controls to modify the attack of the incoming signal - and there are special products that aren't called compressors (but really are, at heart) which are designed specifically as transient re-shapers. I think SPL started that.

 

They did, with the Transient Designer, which was revolutionary at the time and is one of the most often-imitated processors currently available.

 

Points well taken about compressors, but the fact remains -- and this throws your comments above into sharp relief -- that most beginners use them in DAWs, with the unbelievably over-the-top settings that would never work in a hardware compressor, to ride levels. This is, to use the technical terminology: crappy.

[Mike Rivers]

 

Points well taken about compressors, but the fact remains -- and this throws your comments above into sharp relief -- that most beginners use them in DAWs, with the unbelievably over-the-top settings that would never work in a hardware compressor, to ride levels. This is, to use the technical terminology: crappy.

 

Sad how we've evolved. I was flipping through a survey of plug-ins in one of the mags recently and it seems that no matter what the basic purpose of the plug-in is, whether a compressor, equalizer, preamp simulator, guitar amp simulator, everything has a "drive" control or the description made mention of sufficient input gain to overdrive the device. I can understand it in an amp simulator because ever since people have been plugging guitars into amplifiers, distortion has been part of the sound. But how many distorted stages do you need in your signal chain? I suppose that the arguing point is that every subtle addition makes a difference in what comes out, and by careful adjustment, stacking, and bad taste, you can arrive at exactly the sound you want - or decide after some time fiddling around, that NOW you have the sound that will put your record on the charts.

 

I'm glad that I record acoustic instrument for people who want the recording to sound like it was played on their instruments. It's so much easier that way - just find the right place for the mic, set the gain for a good level safe from clipping, and go.

[KuruPrionz]

Great thread and 2 Mikes not talking about mics!!!!

 

I'm not a big fan of stacking plugins. You are also stacking noise, no?

 

I've been working on simultaneously recording a second track that has a specific distortion characteristic. Done with hardware going in so all that is needed afterwards is automated volume in the mix.

I've discovered that tuning the distortion to a specific voice or instrument and introducing a nearly un-noticeable amount in specific places can perk the performance up a tad.

 

I got the whole "pile it all in there because you can" thing more or less out of my system doing re-mixes on Metapop.com - which I would highly recommend to anyone want\ing to improve their skills on their chose DAW. The time limit for submitting is one reason, there is a motivation (however slim and meaningless). The lack of responsibility is a great reason, there is no commitment to the Artist, leaving you to run amok if desired with zero consequences.

 

I agree that there were some very well engineered recordings done decades ago and respect the past. I also acknowledge that the Science of making devices for recording and reproduction has made great strides and some things will never be the same. Microphones and speakers are an example, there has been tremendous progress in transducers.

 

Which may be a reason so many want to add the artifacts of days gone by, a completely pristine sounding mic played back through a pair of miraculous speakers can truly be excruciating to hear.

[Benedict RM]

Here's an example of a compressor that will "ride" anything LOL
 

 

Of course it is far from kind to anything. Eek!

This is a trilogy of Plugin reviews/tutorials I made for Higher Hz on Compression, starting at RoughRider (where many start), TDR Kotelnikov (the Dalai Lama of compression) and TDR Molot GE (whip me, beat me)

I was taught, technically, how to ride vocals with the fader in real time but not a thing I have ever done. I mostly start with AdHd Leveling Tool then I will adjust Clip Gain and then a Gain VST if there are other things. Mostly tho I try to be as hands off as possible as most modern recordings are far to meddled with to be enjoyable as a human experience. Not that I am purist at all - give me Def Leppard "Pyromania" or The Cars "Heartbeat City" over Jason Aldean etc as that just feel too faux for joy.
:-)