Am I not Compressing Enough?

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Hi guys,

So after producing more and more, as well as watching some more tutorials, I find that this thing gets very obvious now: I tend to use compressor way less often than others.

I am definitely not comparing myself with "compress everything," just talking about regular compressor use. Typically, I only use compressor in the following situations: 1) Transient shaping, which, however, is more often done by things like Transient Designer. 2) Glue things together, which mostly happens on some mix buses. 3) Pumping effect (although I tend to use LFO Tool more and more) 4) Adding colors, but I am more inclined to use other tools like tape or saturation device.

That's it. I know people say that compressor can help to control the volume and tame the music. But I work only on electronic music stuff, so there is hardly a problem about inconsistent volumes/performance. And in fact, whenever I compress something, especially synth lead, I feel like it actually losses some life and become less interesting. So most of the time, after eqing, I will be satisfied already.

And for the most tutorials I have watched, I found that after people add the compression, the result is either barely noticeable or subtle but I think I am good without it. However, all of these could be due to that I am fairly still a newbie and my ears are not experienced or sophisticated enough.

So I am wondering if there is any other important functions of a compressor that I am missing here and if I am really doing too little compression. :scared:
I really appreciate it if somebody can share some insights. Thank you in advance. :tu:
Trance, Trance Is Life

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If you're doing electronic music it's not like you have uneven performance or technique issues to smoother out. Most of it already sounds compressed.

If you're not using it on vocals though, then yes ypu're not using it enough.

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I use a compressor to glue, leveling, increase attack, coloring, side chain or just shape the sound. Compressors can for example be a good tool if you want to reduce the sustain of a kick drum. I am not using compression on everything. In my opinion a compressor, or any other effects for that matter, should be used with a clear intent in mind. Certain compressors can also be useful for improving the stereo field by using mid/side compression. Parallel compression is a nice way to increase the transients and attack.

I never add any compressor unless I have a clear goal by doing so, and I often don't add any compressor at all for certain sounds. It doesn't mean that a mix is more or less professional depending on how often you use a compressor. If it sounds good then it sounds good :)
Win 10 -64bit, CPU i7-7700K, 32Gb, Focusrite 2i2, FL-studio 20, Studio One 4, Reason 10

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If your tracks sound too quiet after applying compression, try raising the gain or the output volume of the compressor.

TBH I would advice not using any compression until you properly understand what its doing.

:)

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hhuang9611 wrote:However, all of these could be due to that I am fairly still a newbie and my ears are not experienced or sophisticated enough.
You are perfectly fine and "right", next stage is golden ears GAS syndrome when small nuances become huge and every plugin is magical and adding up big time and you avoided really newbie stage when you don't know what you want or can even hear anything, but rely on opinion of famous endorsements and GAS driven golden ears forum individuals.
This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

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hhuang9611 wrote:Hi guys,
I am definitely not comparing myself with "compress everything," just talking about regular compressor use. Typically, I only use compressor in the following situations: 1) Transient shaping, which, however, is more often done by things like Transient Designer. 2) Glue things together, which mostly happens on some mix buses. 3) Pumping effect (although I tend to use LFO Tool more and more) 4) Adding colors, but I am more inclined to use other tools like tape or saturation device.
And that's exactly why compressors are for! You're 100% correct in how you use them.
hhuang9611 wrote: That's it. I know people say that compressor can help to control the volume and tame the music. But I work only on electronic music stuff, so there is hardly a problem about inconsistent volumes/performance. And in fact, whenever I compress something, especially synth lead, I feel like it actually losses some life and become less interesting. So most of the time, after eqing, I will be satisfied already.
Also correct. Often people take approach from Rock music where a lot of tracks/channels needs compression because bass notes are not played on even volume, vocal is too dynamic etc etc. and they're using same approach on channels in electronic music which doesn't have these issues. This lead to overcompression of sound and you should be glad that you can hear it! A lot of folks is deaf and they can put 10 compressors with ratio 100:1 and they will say that it sounds brilliant... "But in tutorial they said that I must compress" - it's the worst way of thinking in audio production.
Compressors was made to unify sounds that are too dynamic and in busy mix some notes tend to disappear and others are too loud. In age of tape it was almost impossible to treat every single note separately with volume knob so compressors were unnecessary. They still are but for synth lead which have equal level all the time... no point to compress it to make it equal in volume. It's already is.
hhuang9611 wrote: And for the most tutorials I have watched, I found that after people add the compression, the result is either barely noticeable or subtle but I think I am good without it. However, all of these could be due to that I am fairly still a newbie and my ears are not experienced or sophisticated enough.
That's because (I'm guessing without seeing these videos) they use it for these subtle nuances, not to overcompress and it can be heard or sometimes more 'felt' than heard. You will get to that point. Does not necessary affect quality of production but may add a bit of additional spice.
hhuang9611 wrote: So I am wondering if there is any other important functions of a compressor that I am missing here and if I am really doing too little compression. :scared:
I really appreciate it if somebody can share some insights. Thank you in advance. :tu:
Doing too little compression is better than overdoing it :) Overcompressing is first sign of amateur producer.

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Zexila wrote:
hhuang9611 wrote:However, all of these could be due to that I am fairly still a newbie and my ears are not experienced or sophisticated enough.
You are perfectly fine and "right", next stage is golden ears GAS syndrome when small nuances become huge and every plugin is magical and adding up big time and you avoided really newbie stage when you don't know what you want or can even hear anything, but rely on opinion of famous endorsements and GAS driven golden ears forum individuals.
That's the post-amateur, pre-professional stage. Which may lead to being soft/hardware collector who's not doing music anymore, when you drive carelessly :D

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Awesome. :lol:
This entire forum is wading through predictions, opinions, barely formed thoughts, drama, and whining. If you don't enjoy that, why are you here? :D ShawnG

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badass_billy wrote:If you're not using it on vocals though, then yes ypu're not using it enough.
Well, I hardly have any vocal elements in my track, because I cannot sing and finding the sample with right key and phrase is too much of a work....
ATN69 wrote:I never add any compressor unless I have a clear goal by doing so
Yep, and that's why I use compressor less often than what I have seen others do. I just don't feel the need for compression. And I just want to make sure that I don't miss anything that can justify the use of a compressor (based on others comment on this thread, seems my current understanding is not bad.)
thecontrolcentre wrote:If your tracks sound too quiet after applying compression, try raising the gain or the output volume of the compressor.
Well, for me, volume isn't always an issue after compression. It's just feels like everything now sounds equally loud (the job compressor is supposed to do) and that's kind of boring.
Zexila wrote:You are perfectly fine and "right", next stage is golden ears GAS syndrome.
emm... I am really looking forward to reaching that stage :hyper:
pixel85 wrote:...(awesome comments folded)
Thank you very much for the detailed comments. Glad to know that my understanding of compressor is not too bad.
Last edited by hhuang9611 on Wed Jul 18, 2018 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Trance, Trance Is Life

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hhuang9611 wrote:
thecontrolcentre wrote:If your tracks sound too quiet after applying compression, try raising the gain or the output volume of the compressor.
Well, for me, volume isn't always an issue after compression. It's just feels like everything now sounds equally loud (the job compressor is supposed to do) and that's kind of boring.
I reckon you're hearing what's going on just fine in that case. :)

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thecontrolcentre wrote:I reckon you're hearing what's going on just fine in that case. :)
Yep, and that's what confuses me. I see no need for compression, but it seems others will add the compressor in the same case, so I am wondering if I don't understand compression correctly, or if there is some reason to use a compressor that I don't know. (But judging from others comments for now, I am not doing things very wrong)
Trance, Trance Is Life

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If your music doesn't have vocals, and it's just a bunch of electronic stuff ... then it doesn't really need that kind of dynamic processing.

The purpose of a compressor is to condense the dynamic range. Usually for actual instruments, because humans have uneven volume in their performance of things. Your music probably already has limited dynamic range as it is.

I mean, it's highly unlikely that you played some of your midi notes too hard. :hihi: Probably debatable as to whether it can even be called music, but that's a whole 'nother topic altogether.

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badass_billy wrote:Probably debatable as to whether it can even be called music, but that's a whole 'nother topic altogether.
Wow...That is harsh. :scared:
Trance, Trance Is Life

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hhuang9611 wrote:
badass_billy wrote:Probably debatable as to whether it can even be called music, but that's a whole 'nother topic altogether.
Wow...That is harsh. :scared:
I'm just old-school like that. Fake instruments do nothing for me. Anyone can click buttons on a computer screen. Hit a real drum. Play a chord. Sing something. Then we can talk about things like compression.

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badass_billy wrote: I mean, it's highly unlikely that you played some of your midi notes too hard. :hihi:
I see you have never ever played any keyboard instrument :)

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