What compression should be used for a music track?
If you’re looking for compression that sound smooth and transparent, shoot for somewhere between 2 and 4 dBs of gain reduction. If you’re working in a heavier genre where obvious compression is ok, you may want 6 to 10 dBs of compression.
Should you EQ before or after compression?
Each position, EQ pre (before) or EQ post (after) compression produces a distinctly different sound, a different tonal quality, and coloration. As a rule, using EQ in front of your compressor produces a warmer, rounder tone, while using EQ after your compressor produces a cleaner, clearer sound.
Should you compress everything in a mix?
Absolutely. Compression is the best way to control dynamics and keep some instruments in check while making other elements of the mix tighter and more powerful. I compress each instrument, and I also use bus compression and parallel compression together.
How does compression affect tone?
It can thicken and add body to tone, and it can also be used to help add sustain. Compression is one of the hardest effects to understand how to use proficiently.
Does reverb come before compression?
There is no rule. You do what’s right for the sound and/or the song. But I would never add reverberation before compression if I was going for a natural sound. Also, I use EQ before compression, he he.
Should you compress guitars?
Compression lets you glue the sound together. You can sometimes even out your tone through your playing, but because of the guitar’s tonal nature, you’ll never even out the sound the way you can with a compressor. It’s very common for guitarists to use compression with super-clean acoustic and electric guitars.
How do you tell if a song is over compressed?
Over-Compression Sign #1: Fewer Dynamics For example, the chorus of the song is often a bit louder than the verse. This makes the chorus sound more vivid and exciting to the listener. Dynamic variations have a whole lot of influence on the energy and emotion of the song.
Should I put a compressor on the master?
Audio compression on the master bus can have a drastic effect on the mix. Therefore subtle compression is better than aggressive compression. Adding a compressor to the master bus after the final mix can upset the balance you’ve already created. It’s best to mix into the compressor.
How do you use a multiband compressor for mastering?
Add a multiband to your mix buss (or master fader). Start by setting a single band to somewhere around 0-100Hz and bypass the rest. Adjust the threshold and ratio until around 5dB of compression is applied on most notes or drum hits.
What dB should your mix be before mastering?
How Loud Should My Track Be Before Mastering? If you want to send your mix off to get mastered, you should aim for around -6dB Peak, and anywhere from -23 dBFS RMS or LUFS to -18 dBFS RMS or LUFS average. That’s the quick answer, but as usual, it’s a bit more nuanced than that.
Should I compress after reverb?
An effective way to apply reverb to a lead vocalist or lead instrument is to use a compressor to automatically reduce (aka “duck”) the reverb when the signal is present, and release after the word or line ends to let the reverb ring out.
Should I EQ before reverb?
Insert an EQ plugin before the reverb plugin. It’s important to insert this EQ before the reverb, because you want to tame frequencies that are hitting the reverb to begin with. Now set up a high pass filter and filter out everything below 600 Hz.
How much should you compress a guitar?
However, if you feel like you need it, it’s a good idea to start with around 1-3dB of compression and see how that feels before going any harder. Typically, this amount of compression is more than enough to help the acoustic guitar sit in place while retaining its natural sound.
What is multiband compression?
Multiband compression is a more advanced form of compression. A multiband compressor splits the frequency spectrum into separate bands. Each frequency band also has dedicated compression settings.
How to compress bass with a multiband?
1 Load up a multiband compressor on the bass part. 2 Set one of the bands on your compressor to 0-100Hz (or higher). 3 Apply 5dB of gain reduction or more – you can be more aggressive with compression on low end instruments. 4 Now apply the same amount of makeup gain. More
What is the low frequency band on a multiband compressor for?
Setting a multiband compressor’s low-frequency band to control the bass spectrum below about 100Hz can help rein in the low-end of any notes which happen to excite the unwanted resonance. Just because the bands are there, doesn’t mean you have to use them all.
How do I set up a multiband compressor?
When setting up your multiband compressor, treat it in the same way as normal compression. Let’s look at how you would set up a regular compressor: For multiband compression, you would use the same system… but for each of the multibands you were using. For more attack and aggression, use a slower attack time.