Struggling with Transients and Compression

[lucasoliveira]

Hi everyone,
I need some tips and advices with this two topics...

I was with some creative block for a while, and i saw that if i start something with good "quality" i keep motivated to go on,

So i went to internet and i looked for videos about how to master my sounds, so i could make a beat or something and do some pre master on my sound to looks punchy and clean,
and i found things about compression, and it was great, i learned that i can gain volume without clipping, get some dynamics on my track... and it was good...

then a few days ago i read some things about how transients can make the kicks punchy and synths jump out of the track... the result was amazing

BUT... when i get to compress my "transiented" sound, looks like it loses its transient characteristic, all the punch added on transient step goes away.

AND that is what i need help with....

how this two technics can work toghether and i can achieve a sound with good transients and good compression gain, without lose the punch achieved on transient step?

Thanks and sorry about my english !!!

[LooFoX]

Hi Lucas,

I'm not an expert on these technics (I'm also a beginner) but from what I know if you want to keep the transients with your compressor, the attack of the compressor need to take a "little" time.
It's another way to get punch without using transients shaper.
By setting a mid-long/long attack time on your compressor, it will take a little time to the sound to be compressed, so you'll keep a high-gain attack.
Here I think you have to experiment with the sound you want to be punchier .
But if you make it like that, don't overgain the sound of the compressor, because, as the sound will take time to be compressed, you'll risk to get clipping if your gain is too high.

Again I'm just a beginner so if someone else better at this want to add his experience, I'm also interested to know tips and tricks on this matter .

Cheers,

LooFoX

[Tarekith]

In a very general way, transients and compression are sort of the opposites of each other, so it comes down to deciding when is an appropriate time for either. As mentioned, long attack and shorter release times can help here, as can using limiting instead of compression sometimes. Do you have an example of your music so we can hear what you're working with?

[HardSinc]

In a very general way, transients and compression are sort of the opposites of each other, so it comes down to deciding when is an appropriate time for either. As mentioned, long attack and shorter release times can help here, as can using limiting instead of compression sometimes. Do you have an example of your music so we can hear what you're working with?

Not really true A compressor can be made to enhance the transient by compressing everything after the transient, therefore making the transient louder in proportion. The red face in SS mix rack is great for doing this inline, just bring the threshold right down to the sound is just a click, move the attack up until you have the correct length of transient, then bring back the threshold (from -80 or so), now mix the dry signal back in. It works well because of the speed and because of the saturation on the wet signal.

Try duplicating your sound, placing the duplicate into a sampler, remove all the sustain and release, now bring the decay down until you only hear the transient. Saturate it pretty hard, not so it breaks up.

Now play the two sounds together....listen...

You can now compress the original sound to all whatever you like but you still have the transient and can easily shape it and process it. You can do this more than once. Just use this as a general concept in audio processing..see what you find.

This is a form of what some people might call parallel compression. The saturation of the transient is important step though, which is often missed out. The audio method gives greater control as the original and transient can then both be treated differently, you could bus it, but this has a chance to bring in various problems depending on set ups.

It might sound complex or tricky, but it's really not

[VariKusBrainZ]

You could process the attack and decay separately in parallel

Edit: oops, just read the above post, it was a bit long winded so i skipped it

[HardSinc]

Obviously, the OP would have done that if he knew how, so I explained a little of how and why and more approaches. Sorry I couldn't condense it into one sentence for the simpler members

[HardSinc]

Obviously, the OP would have done that if he knew how, so I explained a little of how and why and more approaches. Sorry I couldn't condense it into one sentence for the simpler members

[lucasoliveira]

It might sound complex or tricky, but it's really not

Indeed it looks complex and tricky hahaha...

lets see if i got it...
you are saying that i should duplicate the channel, in this second channel detect the transients and make something like use an expander to make a fast decay so i can have just the transient sound on this second channel, then i can make the compression on first channel and have more control of my transients on the second channel ?

looks like a good idea,

i will try out some examples when i get home and will post it here!

thanks for all the replies

[ere2learn]

Nice video from Hannes Bieger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxjWGp4egFU

[HardSinc]

It might sound complex or tricky, but it's really not

Indeed it looks complex and tricky hahaha...

lets see if i got it...
you are saying that i should duplicate the channel, in this second channel detect the transients and make something like use an expander to make a fast decay so i can have just the transient sound on this second channel, then i can make the compression on first channel and have more control of my transients on the second channel ?

looks like a good idea,

i will try out some examples when i get home and will post it here!

thanks for all the replies

Not quite. I'll explain it in another way.

Say you have a kick drum in sampler. Duplicate it. Switch to the duplicate. Turn the sustain and release all the way to the left, all the way down. Now reduce the decay to around 50ms and by ear listen as the sound playing reduces to just the transient.

Now play the two sounds together. You're playing the original sound with a doubled transient. Then just go to the duplicated track and saturate the transient, in a nutshell, making it thicker and louder again.

You can then alter the original sound and you'll always still have that saturated transient.

[Lejurai]

Parallel compression (NY compression). Gives punch and keeps transients.