Made A Fascinating Compression Discovery Today

[wagtunes]

Though I am sure not so fascinating for you season'd pros.

Have been really diving heavily into production techniques since thoroughly absorbing Groove 3 videos this month (thank you to all who recommended them) and was working with some pumping pads for a new track I was working on.

So I grabbed my Fabfilter Compressor and went to work. But no matter what I did, I couldn't get the extreme pumping effect that I was after. Think 10CC "I'm Not In Love." The effect I got was too "smooth" for what I was after. I wanted something more extreme.

So after an hour of frustration, I finally dug out the crappy stock Compressor that came with Cubase and after just a few setting adjustments, I had that pad pumping just the way I wanted.

Well, I was a little confused to say the least. So what I did was I went back to Fabfilter and I duplicated the compressor settings of my Cubase compressor for my Fabfilter Compressor. While there was a slight improvement, it was still too smooth for me. The Cubase compressor gave me more of the effect that I was after.

I have heard many people say that Fabfilter plugs are very transparent. Is this what they mean? Because there is no way I can get the extreme pumping I wanted out of it no matter what I did.

As I said, I found this fascinating, though I am sure many of you will probably be smiling right now saying to yourselves "Well of course. That's why we don't have just ONE compressor in our arsenal."

I have discovered a whole new world this week and already my mixes have improved 100%. Of course that's not saying much considering how God awful they were.

So thank you again to everybody who has helped me on my self improvement journey.

Fascinating.

[camsr]

Yes, some compressors do things that make the settings on the panel less relevant. Auto-release for instance, using this feature of a compressor usually lengthens release time, the release setting being less meaningful.

[GFunk]

I use Pro-C for ducking loads. For the pumping effect use hard knee, as camsr said take off the auto release, I like the clean setting the best, and a ratio of around 4:1. Start with the release at max and then gradually shorten it until you hear it pump.

[willdub1]

Though I am sure not so fascinating for you season'd pros.

Have been really diving heavily into production techniques since thoroughly absorbing Groove 3 videos this month (thank you to all who recommended them) and was working with some pumping pads for a new track I was working on.

So I grabbed my Fabfilter Compressor and went to work. But no matter what I did, I couldn't get the extreme pumping effect that I was after. Think 10CC "I'm Not In Love." The effect I got was too "smooth" for what I was after. I wanted something more extreme.

So after an hour of frustration, I finally dug out the crappy stock Compressor that came with Cubase and after just a few setting adjustments, I had that pad pumping just the way I wanted.

Well, I was a little confused to say the least. So what I did was I went back to Fabfilter and I duplicated the compressor settings of my Cubase compressor for my Fabfilter Compressor. While there was a slight improvement, it was still too smooth for me. The Cubase compressor gave me more of the effect that I was after.

I have heard many people say that Fabfilter plugs are very transparent. Is this what they mean? Because there is no way I can get the extreme pumping I wanted out of it no matter what I did.

As I said, I found this fascinating, though I am sure many of you will probably be smiling right now saying to yourselves "Well of course. That's why we don't have just ONE compressor in our arsenal."

I have discovered a whole new world this week and already my mixes have improved 100%. Of course that's not saying much considering how God awful they were.

So thank you again to everybody who has helped me on my self improvement journey.

Fascinating.

Every compressor has a different attack and release curve this is what gives them their signature sound (apart from saturation & other artifacts that are derived from analog processing) but yea that's pretty much what you're experiencing compressors with different attack & release curves. the best way of really understanding this is to draw an automation curve for your volume track & run white noise through the track draw 2 points on the automation line one at maximum one at minimum (doesn't matter how far apart the automation points are from each other) now play the sequence/clip over and over while adjusting the automation curve between the 2 points (there is usually a handle that allows you to draw in curved automation lines) now curve the line inwards and outwards and listen to how this affects the sound. what you should notice is that although the the 2 automation points aren't moving the volume envelope can vary drastically depending on the curve you've drawn this is why many people own more than one compressor, the volume envelopes on some are better suited for taming certain instruments better than others. For instance I love the sound of softube's Tube Tech CL-1B on kick drums, it really makes them pop

[wagtunes]

Though I am sure not so fascinating for you season'd pros.

Have been really diving heavily into production techniques since thoroughly absorbing Groove 3 videos this month (thank you to all who recommended them) and was working with some pumping pads for a new track I was working on.

So I grabbed my Fabfilter Compressor and went to work. But no matter what I did, I couldn't get the extreme pumping effect that I was after. Think 10CC "I'm Not In Love." The effect I got was too "smooth" for what I was after. I wanted something more extreme.

So after an hour of frustration, I finally dug out the crappy stock Compressor that came with Cubase and after just a few setting adjustments, I had that pad pumping just the way I wanted.

Well, I was a little confused to say the least. So what I did was I went back to Fabfilter and I duplicated the compressor settings of my Cubase compressor for my Fabfilter Compressor. While there was a slight improvement, it was still too smooth for me. The Cubase compressor gave me more of the effect that I was after.

I have heard many people say that Fabfilter plugs are very transparent. Is this what they mean? Because there is no way I can get the extreme pumping I wanted out of it no matter what I did.

As I said, I found this fascinating, though I am sure many of you will probably be smiling right now saying to yourselves "Well of course. That's why we don't have just ONE compressor in our arsenal."

I have discovered a whole new world this week and already my mixes have improved 100%. Of course that's not saying much considering how God awful they were.

So thank you again to everybody who has helped me on my self improvement journey.

Fascinating.

Every compressor has a different attack and release curve this is what gives them their signature sound (apart from saturation & other artifacts that are derived from analog processing) but yea that's pretty much what you're experiencing compressors with different attack & release curves. the best way of really understanding this is to draw an automation curve for your volume track & run white noise through the track draw 2 points on the automation line one at maximum one at minimum (doesn't matter how far apart the automation points are from each other) now play the sequence/clip over and over while adjusting the automation curve between the 2 points (there is usually a handle that allows you to draw in curved automation lines) now curve the line inwards and outwards and listen to how this affects the sound. what you should notice is that although the the 2 automation points aren't moving the volume envelope can vary drastically depending on the curve you've drawn this is why many people own more than one compressor, the volume envelopes on some are better suited for taming certain instruments better than others. For instance I love the sound of softube's Tube Tech CL-1B on kick drums, it really makes them pop

Well then if that's the case, how do you know what compressors are better suited for a particular job? I mean you can't possibly buy them all. You'll go broke.

[zeep]

Just try some out to find their groove. Best part of playing with compressors.

[Obsolete236871]

I have to second some of the other opinions:

sounds like you either use a soft-knee setting and/or too long release times. Other factors can play a role, since I don't know the exact details of the Fabfilter Compressor.

[toothnclaw]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumping_%28audio%29