Compressing double tracked (l/r) guitars - compress separately, or on stereo group channel?
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alligatorlizard alligatorlizard https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=276868
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 133 posts since 14 Mar, 2012
Hi,
Say I've got double tracked guitars - same part but played in twice and hard panned l/r (or close to it) - I generally send these to a stereo group track and do the processing on this.
However, I'm wondering, is it better to compress each mono guitar track separately, before it gets to the stereo group channel?
And if I choose to compress the group channel - how important is it to use a stereo compressor?
...talking of which, I often use Slate Digital's 1176 compressor (usually the vintage blue one) on guitars - does anyone know if this operates in stereo if inserted on a stereo track? Or does it just apply the same gain reduction to each side? Can't find this info anywhere...
Thanks!
Say I've got double tracked guitars - same part but played in twice and hard panned l/r (or close to it) - I generally send these to a stereo group track and do the processing on this.
However, I'm wondering, is it better to compress each mono guitar track separately, before it gets to the stereo group channel?
And if I choose to compress the group channel - how important is it to use a stereo compressor?
...talking of which, I often use Slate Digital's 1176 compressor (usually the vintage blue one) on guitars - does anyone know if this operates in stereo if inserted on a stereo track? Or does it just apply the same gain reduction to each side? Can't find this info anywhere...
Thanks!
Last edited by alligatorlizard on Tue May 11, 2021 12:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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alligatorlizard alligatorlizard https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=276868
- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 133 posts since 14 Mar, 2012
...got a reply from Slate saying "For the modules that don't have special stereo parameters you can assume that plugin processing is similar to running two mono tracks with two separate instances of the plugin instantiated"
So I guess that answers my question - at least with the Slate compressors, there's no disadvantage to just put the compressor on the stereo group track.
So I guess that answers my question - at least with the Slate compressors, there's no disadvantage to just put the compressor on the stereo group track.
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- KVRAF
- 4710 posts since 26 Nov, 2015 from Way Downunder
Correct, if you use a compressor that is "dual mono", then L/R will be treated separately.
Except... dual mono processing is still rare in many cases with compressors.
Except... dual mono processing is still rare in many cases with compressors.
- KVRAF
- 15250 posts since 8 Mar, 2005 from Utrecht, Holland
In essence this is a regular stereo signal. What happens on the left, also happens on the right. Unless the guitarist has very bad timing.alligatorlizard wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 11:58 am Say I've got double tracked guitars - same part but played in twice and hard panned l/r (or close to it) [...]
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- KVRist
- 30 posts since 3 Jun, 2021
With double-tracked guitars, slight differences on each side can result in a bigger wider sound. Using different 1176 models on each side is a cool subtle trick. SSL eq on one side and Neve on the other. etc...
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- KVRAF
- 2564 posts since 2 Jul, 2010
The conventional wisdom is that stereo-linked compression sounds more "stable" than dual-mono, but can introduce some noticeable artifacts when one side "ducks" the other.
Both options are valid, so the real question is: why are you double-tracking and hard-panning the guitars? What does that achieve, and does the compression choice work with that or against it? How do they sound without compression and what are you trying to achieve with the compression?
There aren't really any wrong answers, but there might be inconsistent answers
Both options are valid, so the real question is: why are you double-tracking and hard-panning the guitars? What does that achieve, and does the compression choice work with that or against it? How do they sound without compression and what are you trying to achieve with the compression?
There aren't really any wrong answers, but there might be inconsistent answers