Multiband compression (for sound design) on the cheap

[cron]

I do a lot of sound design in offline programs like CDP and FScape and can end up with unusual sounds that have insane dynamic range and/or radical frequency shifts over time. Standard compression isn't quite cutting it when it comes to smashing them into shape, so I'm looking at adding a multiband compressor to my arsenal.

I'm not particularly interested in mastering capabilities (although it'd be a nice bonus) - more something that can 'foreground' difficult material.

This is the particular sound (isolated) that I'm struggling with at the moment. As it is there's something like 30dB+ of gain reduction going on (with the excellent Kotelnitov) yet it's not quite there in terms of presence. The unprocessed sound was challenging the limits of 16 bit wav.

Is multiband the right way to go here, and if so, suggestions for free/cheap plugs would be very much appreciated.

https://soundcloud.com/chqtestsubjects/ ... compressed

[Vortifex]

..

[Armagibbon]

Multiband aint gonna cut it for that surgical shit imo. Get Mspectraldynamics and reafir they do the business man. Reafir you got free with reaplugs so try that in compressor mode first. I use the melda plug when I gotta get attack and release diff across frequency...

[cron]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'd love to check out MSpectralDynamics, but it's way outside my price range. I hear DSM 2 occasionally goes down to $49 though, so gonna wait for that cos I get vouchers from Plugin Alliance that'll take it down to $24.

I downloaded Reafir for noise reduction a while back, and it didn't even occur to me as an option. I hadn't even clocked there was a dedicated multiband compressor in the pack! Will give those a go and see how I get on. Cheers!

[Obsolete236871]

...

This is the particular sound (isolated) that I'm struggling with at the moment. As it is there's something like 30dB+ of gain reduction going on (with the excellent Kotelnitov) yet it's not quite there in terms of presence. The unprocessed sound was challenging the limits of 16 bit wav.
...

That's not how Kotelnikov works. Kotelnikov only applies gain reduction up to a certain point. You can not "squash" the living hell out of your audio material with it. That's due to the intelligent way it apllies compression. It's meant for transparent compression, not for squashing sine waves into square waves.

[cron]

...

This is the particular sound (isolated) that I'm struggling with at the moment. As it is there's something like 30dB+ of gain reduction going on (with the excellent Kotelnitov) yet it's not quite there in terms of presence. The unprocessed sound was challenging the limits of 16 bit wav.
...

That's not how Kotelnikov works. Kotelnikov only applies gain reduction up to a certain point. You can not "squash" the living hell out of your audio material with it. That's due to the intelligent way it apllies compression. It's meant for transparent compression, not for squashing sine waves into square waves.

I think it's doing a pretty solid job there considering. Kotelnikov may usually be used as a mastering compressor, but it's capable of crazy-fast attack which was really helpful here. I'm not really trying to squash it, just level it out. The original sound was a mixture of wildly varying RMS with insane transient spikes, and it's levelling it while still leaving a bit of transient pop pretty nicely IMO.

To be honest, I'm completely unexperienced with multiband compressors so they may well be the wrong tool for the job for all I know.

[Armagibbon]

imo try and ride the average first so you only got peaks to compress. I just do it manual with a fader but like if you want it automated theres waves vocal rider or mautovolume or whatev... thing is, the comp aint gonna survive if you got all those diff kinds of probs goin on so you gotta help it out a lil bit

[heavymetalmixer]

Second vote for TDR NOVA and ReaXComp.

Also two recommendations:

1) Try to level the track manually with pre-FX automation or clip gain (or whatever is called in your DAW). Not too detailed, only heavy-lifting.

2) Sometimes using two or more compressors one after another (called "serial compression") helps to achieve better sound than making a single compressor do all the work.

[jancivil]

Multiband is what you have indicated. The one I use is not cheap as it comes in a bundle anyway. I would recommend something which shows you spectra, though.

[jancivil]

and shows parameters for automation to your host.

[Cooker]

free http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?pl ... ro&id=2067

[Obsolete236871]

I was not implying that Kotelnikov is bad. I just highlighted that you cannot get inifinite amount of gain reduction with it, because that's not how the processor works. I think it's described in the user manual, if you want to read it up.

As others have indicated, I would try a setup with multiple processors. You can have a fast acting compressor to catch the extreme peaks and transients, then a slower compressor to "ride the waves" and ultimately a limter for example.

You get a similar setup if you use Limiter 6 by TDR. The more sophisticated GE version costs 50€, but you can use the plugin without limitations (but no recall of settings possible when you close the plugin) in demo mode or get the older, free version of Limiter 6 which is great aswell. It has multiple dynamics processors in series.

[Lesha]

Also free: https://www.kvraudio.com/product/ott-by-xfer-records

[highkoo]

OP, you gotta have OTT for this heavy work, for sure.

Also, not a comp, but an interesting tool OP made me think of, if it gets a vst port;
https://shop.propellerheads.se/rack-ext ... -splitter/

Also..,
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-c ... -plug.html
A very old and unique tool that does not get mentioned much. Incredibly useful for sound design.
I guess still no other dev has copied the concept?

[Turello]

That's the answer...

http://vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin ... er&id=2584