PART I: THEORY

When learning the basics of recording, the subject of compression often seems daunting. When to use it? How much is too much? Too little? What ratios and attack times are best? Why compress at all? Or maybe none of the above, you may have a life. In the following article, I’ll try to shed some light on the issue without becoming overly technical, and then focus on real-world examples of how to enhance your sources with the right compression.

First, some history: Compression was developed by radio broadcast engineers in the 1920’s to automatically detect and lower peaks in the program material to “level” or “compress” the transmitted AM signal, preventing distortion. This is why many early (and current) compressors have level somewhere in their name, and those ugly, ugly industrial paint jobs. Soon after, duplication engineers began using them to do the same thing when cutting master discs for wax, then vinyl disc duplication. If a recording was too loud, had too much bass content or the transient peaks were too sharp, the cutting lathe would literally jump out of the groove, ruining the lacquer master and interrupting drinking. Adding hardware compression and equalizers before “cutting” the record made the process much easier and had the added bonus of making recordings more consistent at lower volumes on a wider range of speakers.

Today, mastering is more common than ever, with nearly every recording currently released eq’ed and compressed or “leveled” in some way. Soon, compression moved to individual instruments, especially when close instrument and vocal mic placement became the norm in the 60’s and 70’s. New instruments with a wide dynamic range like electric guitar/bass and the modern drum set would now typically be compressed, and a more consistent volume for each note could be put to tape, making mixing easier while doing drugs.

On vocals, singers with softer voices could be compressed to help every syllable cut through a full mix, signaling the end of big voiced singers until Meatloaf. He actually sang directly to tape. No mic, nothing. Then Bono Highlander-ed him. There can be only one… Different types of hardware compressors were developed, each with its own character, each loved and hated like Pee Wee Herman. Software compressors have evolved frightening quickly to faithfully model classic analog units, sometimes combining the best elements of several designs or doing tricks impossible with hardware.

But I know what you want to know, how do it work?

PART 2: CONTROLS

Most compressors, either hardware or software, have a range of controls that look like Stephen Hawking’s ipod, but in practice, are really simple. Starting with what they do in the signal chain, here they are:

1. Threshold is the point at which the compressor starts to “hear” the input signal and process it. Think of this as your “zero” point. Use the attenuation/reduction meter to help set the compression level. If you see large amounts of compression on your input signal (more than 5db), raise the threshold. If you see little or no compression, lower it until you’re compressing 0-3db on average. This is a subtle tracking setting, mixes may require more, but don’t they always?

2. Ratio is the amount that the signal is reduced (or compressed) based on the strength of the incoming signal. 2:1 compression will compress -2db for each 2db above your threshold point and output only +1 db. 5:1 will compress -5db and output +1db and so on. The first number is the db you want reduced, the second is the 1db of output after compression.
Anything over 8db is generally considered limiting, a process which sets the absolute level of a signal through fast, steep, devil-may-care compression and absolutely precise output control.

3. The Attack and Release knobs determine how quickly the compressor starts and stops affecting the input signal. Auto, Fast and Slow are all curves determining how quickly the compressor reacts to the source. Auto averages transient information it detects from the incoming signal and sets the compressor attack and release “Auto”matically. It is a GOOD THING. “Pumping” and “Breathing” occur when Attack and Release don’t match the transient speed of the input source or when you visit the wrong rest stop.

4. Knee or Soft Knee is a term for a softer sloping compression curve, (like the bend in your knee) that is smoother on attack and release than the more sliding-board curve of the standard settings. It may work with or independently of the main Attack, Release or Auto controls. Hell if I know, it’s your compressor! Read the manual! God!

5. Level, Gain, Make-Up Gain or Output is essentially a volume control which lets you manually set the final output of the compressor, adding or subtracting volume to the processed sound. Use this to set the level to your recorder or mixer fader. Leave 3-5db of headroom for later processing or fader rides during mixing.

There are many types of hardware and software compressors and they all have different strengths and weaknesses, like a ticklish weightlifter:

• Tube compressors give a warmer, smoother compression but at the expense of high-end crispness at extreme compression.
• Opto, Optical or Vactrol compressors have many of the same tonal qualities as tube compressors, but are more transparent and forgiving at high compression rates.
• Solid-State compressors are very transparent and color the signal least at low-medium reduction settings, but at extreme compression settings, the signal becomes highly colored in an unnatural way. Usually, NOT a GOOD THING.

However, unnatural sounds can be of use in some situations. Like many elements in the recording process, distinctive, individual tones can come anywhere in the signal chain. It’s all about using your wits, your ears and finding what’s appropriate to the track to use compression musically. I’ll talk and talk about how in the next segment.

PART 3: PRACTICE

Here’s some general compression tips, and then some more advanced voodoo. Most apply to both hardware and software models. Watch your ears as you experiment, compressors can turn out volumes that will rid a house of varmints for a fortnight.

Lightly compress when tracking vocals and widely dynamic sources. I know that many digital purists claim that at 24bit depth there’s now no need to worry about noise floor or bit-rate, just record lower, compress later. I recommend doing both. The sound of a lightly compressed vocal will immediately give a more produced, polished sound in the artist’s headphones as they track. And as you probably know, a confident, wow-I-sound better-that-I-thought artist is halfway there to a great performance. It also helps a tracks consistency when you mix. No more that 2-3db at a 4:1 ratio though, unless you want to color the track, and that’s HARD to get out. It’s way easier to add more compression later, when you can experiment to your hearts content with more effect-type settings without being stuck with them. Or just record one with light compression and one without to another track. With nearly unlimited DAW real estate these days, why not?

Use different compressors for what they’re best at. A guitar that has a very bright top/thin low end is a bad match for a solid-state tone. Likewise a heavy, deep bass doesn’t benefit much from the softening and warmth of a tube type. Take each sound as it comes, and see what it might benefit from. Same thing applies to vocals. Does the singer get brighter or darker as they go for it, is their tone more edgy and thin, (tube) or round and darker (solid-state)? Again, during tracking, you don’t want to go too far with changing voice timbre through compression, but in mixdown, the sky is the limit. (pun SO intended)

Two units are better than one. If you need 6db of leveling, use a few db of your most transparent compression on really dynamic sources like vocals, bass and acoustic instruments. Then use other, different flavored compressors for a few more db when mixing to get the best of both worlds, rather than a lot of one. Try making copies of the track and using different compressors with different qualities, subbing out one for another or blending them when appropriate for the song.

Do NOT compress your mix before professional mastering. Many mastering engineers, (myself included) have been receiving tracks that are limited or compressed to -.03 or OVER full-code digital signal, leaving no room for eq, multi-band processing or even a decent chance to let the track BREATHE. I know it’s sweet to throw that limiter across the master fader bus, dig in 5 or 6db and hear the magic happen. And that’s cool for making copies for your car or to groove to. But PLEASE take that stuff off before you run out your final, highest-resolution-possible master. Leave -6db for the mastering engineer to do his/her thing and you’ll get results that will make you cry with joy.

Sometimes, move the damn fader, Jim. If you find that you just don’t like any of the post-tracking compression you put on, just manually ride the fader. It’s much more transparent and leaves more of your mic/preamp tone intact, but does require having enough fader gain to work with and Spock-like patience. Make sure to also leave some headroom in your instrumental mix at the master fader for the 2-3db that vocals add. It’s totally old-school retro, man!

Ignore number four! (Sort of). I’ve sat at the elbow of well-known mixers and seen the whole mix go thru a compressor, even with NO compression happening. An $11,000 compressor, but still a compressor to get their “sound”. At a seminar with two multi-platinum producers, one swore by compressors at the master, the other swore at it. Jimmy Douglass: “I just don’t like the sound.” Brendan O’Brien :“It sounds like a RECORD!” and no, he wouldn’t say which one! If you prefer the sound of a classic limiter at the master fader when you print your final mix for mastering, lower the main master fader until you get a peak of -6db. DON’T do it at the output of the compressor or plug-in. Some of these software simulations even mimic output gain structure, so it may change your carefully crafted tone.

Compress before equalizing! By compressing before the equalizer, the eq is applied in a more consistent way across the track. If you’re trying to get more “air” into a vocal or instrument, putting the eq first will result in the air being rolled off or otherwise changed as compression kicks in. Eq after and the air stays constant across the top end. This is also true for background vocals. Send them all into an Aux Bus or sub-group, compress it first, then add eq and effects. “It sounds like a record!” Piano, horns and acoustic guitar also need compression first, to keep the eq sparkle as they get louder.

Equalize before compressing! If you’ve got tracks or mixes that sound good when things are at mid-volume and energy, but the sound gets edgy as the track gets more aggressive, use compression color to smooth it out. Got a singer whose top end is just a little harsh? Let tube or optical leveling take some top end off and add warm harmonics. As some instruments get brighter into their top range, the roundness of a tube compressor helps tuck them in, while keeping them up in the mix. Full mixes can also benefit from this combo, the compression adding a tape-like tone to thin lower mids in a way eq doesn’t. Solid-state’s tonal edginess as it gets hit harder is great for singers or sources that lose high end as they gain volume.

Sub-mix, compress and eq things to gel them together. Set up a Stereo Aux Input and send the drums to it. Or just the kick and bass guitar. Or two guitars. Or reverb. Or background vocals. Then compress and eq the living hell out of it! Then blend them back into your original tracks. I’ve seen hip-hop producers who had the same kick drum in five different DAW eq/compressor channels to make it sing in all registers. This also works great on lead vocals, adding air and bringing out every breath and luscious detail. Use a high-pass filter set around 1k after the compressor to keep things from getting too muddy. Just DON’T use it on everything!

These are just some basic ideas, and hopefully a jumping off point for your own signal chains and concepts. As you can see, there are no hard and fast rules, so don’t let compression intimidate you. It’s a powerful tool in getting a consistent, polished sound. To quote the rapper Cannibus: “I’m never under pressure, cuz I keep the pressure under me…” Feel free to leave a comment here with questions and opinions and I’ll answer them as soon as I can. Good mixing!

Todd Watson is a producer/audio engineer with twenty five years experience in nearly every aspect of audio production, including studio and location recording, mixing and mastering, as well as post-
production scoring, sound-design and audio sweeting for tv and film. His work includes artists ranging from Greg Allman to The Game, and corporate clients as diverse as The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra,
Cartoon Network and Yamaha. He is currently based in Atlanta, GA. Check out some of his tracking, mixing and mastering projects and scoring and sound design work

Related posts:

1. Giving Your Electronica That Recording Edge
2. How to make electronic music with computer? Where to start?
3. What Is Mastering? Article Of Ian Shepherd.

Let’s face it. Sometimes your synthesizers just don’t cut it. Sampled guitars don’t work and vocal loops can sound stale. You can build interesting beats filled with otherworldly textures and complicated synths patches but if it lacks a human feel then maybe it won’t work so well for human ears.

Your target market are humans right?

When your new electronic song starts to sound just like the one before it, maybe it’s time to record a few instruments to spice things up.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of electronic music and all the interesting soundscapes the genre uses. My respect for people who can create complicated electronic beats and dense colorful synth sounds is immense. But I’m a recording engineer type of guy so here are a few tips you can use when you want to record a few real instruments to complement your electronica.

Microphones

You can record most things with a decent large diaphragm condenser. Condensers are preferable to dynamic microphones, since dynamics have a narrower frequency range and a dirtier sound. Recording vocals over your trance track is easy if you have a nice full range condenser that captures the full tonal range of your singer, with every nuance of the performance coming through. Microphones get cheaper every day and there are many budget options out there for less than $100. Check out a few of my recommendations for condenser microphones here.

Acoustics

Most bedrooms aren’t designed for music recording. The sounds you get out your microphone in the middle of a untreated bedroom can sound ringy, roomy and boxy. And that’s not something you want on the back of your single.

“An incredibly ringy production! The boxiest vocal in modern music!”

Not the ideal result you were looking for from that microphone you just bought. Before you run back to the store and buy some more equipment that you will be convinced that you need, see if you can’t get a better sound out of your room with a little treatment.

High pitched ringing can be dealt with by using blankets to absorb high frequencies. Hanging blankets around your microphone can get you a better sound instantly, without you needing to buy expensive room treatment products. The thicker the better.

Dealing with lower frequencies and bass can be more problematic as you sometimes need to either buy thick bass traps to absorb the low end of your room or you can create them yourself, which is much more work than just hanging up blankets and duvets. Check out the home recording studio page at Audio Issues for more information on acoustic treatment.

Recording

If you have done all you can to treat your room and are satisfied with the sound of it, the next step is to find a good spot to record in. A good trick for recording with only one microphone is to evaluate the width of the instrument you are trying to record and then place the microphone at the same distance. That way, you should capture the full tonal range and sonic information of the instrument. If you have a large room try placing yourself somewhere in the middle and hang duvets and blankets around the instrument and microphone. Do a before and after recording to hear the difference. You don’t want to completely kill the reflections when you are recording acoustic instruments so it’s important to find a spot in the room that your instrument sounds good in.

You can create a dead vocal recording space easily. Closing yourself off in a very absorptive closet can deaden a vocal immensely, enabling you to get a completely dead but very processable sound that you can mix with whatever reverb and effects processors you want. I always go for a dead vocal that will give me more options in the mix down phase. Using some blankets and duvets I created a nice vocal recording booth in my old apartment.

Conclusion

Adding a few acoustic touches to your electronic mixes can give new life and edge to your productions. If you had any doubts as to how you would start adding recorded sounds from your bedroom into your music, then I hope some of the tips above shone some light on how easy and approachable bedroom recording is.

Related posts:

1. Insight To Compression
2. How to make electronic music with computer? Where to start?
3. Introduction To Sample CD’s

So, let’s begin.

1. Get the tools. Hardware first.

The following are just what I use and am familiar working with. You can actually produce very good music just about anykind of computer setup and even with free software.

• Computer. I still have my old Athlon XP with 1GB ram memory and 800GB hard drive space and I’m still doing fine with it. But the more power, more merrier.  UPDATE: Well, here’s my latest computer system:  http://petrisuhonen.com/studio-upgrade

• Sound card with ASIO driver support or any sound card. Although I recommend the ASIO support. It reduces the latency in your audio software. I have M-Audio Audiophile Delta 2496 and it has been enough for me for all these years.

• Monitor speakers or good headphones. Although I created “Turnpoint” with cheap Sony headphones I bought from a supermarket, decent headphones or monitors are highly recommended. I have Behringer Truth B2031A monitors and AKG K271 studio headphones and I’ve been very happy with them.

• MIDI keyboard, although its not necessity: I’ve created many songs just by using mouse and computer keyboard. Many computer music software lets you play music using your computer keyboard as a sort of ‘virtual keyboard’. But on the other hand you get a totally different feel for playing melodies and controlling your audio software with a MIDI keyboard. I use M-Audio Oxygen 61.

Get the software:

• Get a digital audio workstation and learn the basics of it. I really recommend Image Lines Fruity Studio. It’s a very powerful, easy to use and you can do so much with it and fast! I’ve been using it for years and all my released stuff (including the “Turnpoint” which was number one position in dutch dance charts) has been produced using Fruity. There are others like Ableton Live and Cubase and some free alternatives too although I’m not so familiar with the free ones. I must say I’ve been working with both, Ableton and Cubase, but I’ve always come back to Fruity. This is a matter of taste, but Fruity is my choice. For more info about Fruity Studio, check out: http://flstudio.image-line.com/

• Get audio editor. This is for doing final adjustments for your song before you upload them to the net. I recommend Sony Media’s Sound Forge Audio Studio. Check it out here: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/audiostudio

• Get some soft synths aka VSTi’s. They’re virtual synths that produce different kind of sounds. There are loads of free ones in the net, just do a search through Google for free vsti or free soft synths. And if you have some money I recommend reFX Vanguard. It can produce many kind of sounds from huge basses to lush pads and sharp leads and arps. Native Instruments Absynth is one excellent synth too. In fact all stuff that comes out from Native Instruments is highly recommended! Others I recommend are H.G Fortunes synths like ProtoPlasmTSMPro, STS-33 and Artvera’s Golden ASET. These can produce some really beautiful and experimental pads and background sound. Also, check out reFX Nexus.

And now to the music making. First things first.

2. Learn song structures: listen and study other peoples work.

• Get some songs from the genre you wan’t to break into, take a song you like, listen it carefully an make a notes how it’s build: how many bars long is the intro, what kind of elements does it have, where does more elements start to come in, where’s breakdown, how many bars long breakdown is, what kind of elements are repeated and faded etc. Make a notes and write them down on a paper.

• When talking about radio-pop songs, they’re typically 3-4 minutes long and structure goes like: [intro]->[verse]->[chorus]->[verse]->[chorus]->[bridge]->[chorus]->[outro] or chorus can also work as intro so it would go like: [chorus(intro)]->[verse]->[chorus]->[verse]->[chorus]->[bridge]->[chorus]->[outro]

• If we think trance or dance music that is aimed for club’s, it goes typically like: [quite long intro with drums and other elements]->[breakdown(here's the main idea of the song, it could be a nice melody or whatever. I call it the "hook")->[the "hook" with drums(this is the climax where everything's playing together. In dance floor people will typically go nuts at this point lol)]->[the "hook" with drums fades out]->[another breakdown with the "hook" or another "hook", whatever you like]->[the "hook" with drums again(another climax)]->[fade out]

These are the structures I typically like to use with my own songs. Of course, it can be anything you like. There’s no boundaries. I’ve also used many different kind of variations. But some sort of logical progression is recommended if  you wan’t to produce music for the ‘masses’ and wan’t it to be easy to listen and catchy.

3. Start with the drums and bass.

• I’ve found it’s best to first build the drums and get the groove going. With a cool drumgroove it’s much easier to start build a bass groove on top of it and other instruments as well. And remember drums & bass should work together, not overlap each other. If you have heavy drums, find a little bit lighter bass instrument or do some EQ’ing. Or vice versa. Or if you have harsh sounding drums, dont’ use harsh sounding bass sound. And vice versa. I think the most hardest part in music producing is to make drums & bass work together and IMO it’s also the most important thing. When you build a solid drum groove and bass, you’ve come a long way in your song. I really recommend to put a great effort on these two.

4. Fire up the synths.

• Many soft synths has several quality ready made preset sounds to start with. These will help to get you going. But I recommend to experiment and twiddle and fiddle with the knobs and sliders and buttons and see what happens. You can find some really original and wild stuff by experimenting.

5. Use sample cd’s. Sparingly.

• I use sample cd’s. You can find all kinds of song elements there: drumloops, synthloops, bassloops, single drum hits, fx etc. They speed up the producing process. So many times I have found a perfect fill, fx or drumloop that fits perfectly to my song so I don’t have to start building it from scratch. You can find some really cool stuff from these cd’s which you can then recycle and chop-up to get you started. I recommend checking out samples from Peaceandloveproductions, Big Fish Audio, Zero-G, Mutekki Media and Best Service. These guys produce some pretty awesome stuff for many different genres. But remember, don’t build your songs based on ready made samples, use them as a helping aid instead. You have to have something original and something you have created by yourself. In fact most of the song should be YOUR idea. Of course you can turn ready made samples into something completely original by reversing, twisting, cutting, pitching and running them through various effects. Just use your imagination.

I use help of sample cd’s like a spice or glue to help me achieve my goal in my music which is to present my original ideas to the people.

6. Mixing: give a power to the rhythm

• When I mix my songs (if it’s a rhythmic music), I  give most power to the drums. Drums are element that should be heard of clearly. Then, “according to drums”, I level the bass and other instruments. I use drums as the basis for how I mix other instruments in my song. I just make sure drums are punchy and loud enough and if some other instrument is trying to compete with drums (or bass in this matter), I EQ the low out a bit or simply drop down the level of that instrument. Use the drums like a “yardstick” to make other instruments fit in your mix.

7. Mixing: hear how pros do it and learn from examples.

• Again, listen to your favourite songs in a same genre and notice how they’re mixed. What kind of elements stand out and why? How does your song sounds compared to your favourite songs?

8. Plan to use vocals?

• Well, I don’t have much experience working with vocals, but if you’re building a song which main idea are based on vocals, make sure you make them stand out CLEARLY in the mix.

9.  Your ears get tired so take a break or continue producing in the next day.

• It has happened to me many times that I thought I’ve made a killer song in a day and then in the next day when I listen to the song again, it sounds like garbage: all the instrument levels and EQ settings are out of balance or there are elements that doesn’t seem to fit in the mix at all. And  then I either dump it or get depressed and forget it. That’s because if you produce music for several hours nonstop your ears get sort of tired and you can’t hear things in as balanced as with “fresh” ears. So it’s not better try to finish a song in a day (I’m not saying you can’t, I’ve finished songs from start to end in a day, but in my case, this is the way it usually goes), leave something for a next day, maybe the mixing and EQ’ing part.

That’s about it. Later I’ll write down some more tips and maybe a few words about the promotion through internet.

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Related posts:

1. How to promote your music online? How to make your music heard by lots of people?
2. Trance Song Structure: How Is A Typical Trance Song Built ? How Does It Progress ?
3. Giving Your Electronica That Recording Edge