KVR Audio

Brandon203113 · Post by **Brandon203113** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 2:44 pm

Let's say i got a sound from the artist that was ridiculously compressed during the composition and whatever they did they bounced it to audio, what are some ways i could fix the sound being flat AF? I tried using a regular compressor to give it some movement, but the sound is still pretty damn flat cuz of all the harmonics even'd out... anyone have any suggestions???

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 2:49 pm

Ask for an unprocessed copy. Simple...

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 2:54 pm

I don’t think adding another compressor is going to help...

Usually you would remaster something at that point to improve the sound - if the mixdown is crappy there’s not much you can do about that. A surgical approach to enhancing it piece by piece is all you can really do now.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 3:09 pm

send it back?

imrae · Post by **imrae** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 4:49 pm

I made an improvement in one of these cases by using a frequency-selective expander to add some dynamics back to the vocals. This only worked as well as it did because the vocal was already band-limited and had some space around it.

In general you may be able to salvage an over-compressed track with expansion, but doing it cleanly with the whole mix is asking a lot.

kingozrecords · Post by **kingozrecords** » Tue Sep 10, 2019 7:02 pm

A pumper limiter that will add both peaks and motion:

esquire: free 32/64 bit vst
https://leattol.com/vst/

Pumping will attack the peaks and create a slight draw which you can compensate with the static ceiling. The ceiling does not auto-makeup so it makes the sound seem in movement. Next, use the attack and release, a bit heavy on atk and almost none on release and it sounds live.

I remember hearing about pumping, but other products which claim to do the same still utilize auto makeup, so there's no discerning the contrast and motion; ultimately, rarefaction.

pljones · Post by **pljones** » Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:48 pm

If whatever was used to flatten the signal wasn't frequency aware, you may be able to restore some life by applying some hefty EQ to appropriate frequencies. (I've often found if there's a lot of bass rumble, just running an high-pass over the signal can get quite a bit of range back.)

kingozrecords · Post by **kingozrecords** » Sat Sep 14, 2019 5:30 pm

pljones wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:48 pm If whatever was used to flatten the signal wasn't frequency aware, you may be able to restore some life by applying some hefty EQ to appropriate frequencies. (I've often found if there's a lot of bass rumble, just running an high-pass over the signal can get quite a bit of range back.)

Yes, you're very right about that. Hmm, seems like that is a good idea for a plugin. *Writes it down

ramseysounds · Post by **ramseysounds** » Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:29 pm

Sh*t in = sh*t out. Usually.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:39 pm

ramseysounds wrote: ↑Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:29 pm Sh*t in = sh*t out. Usually.

in audio terms perhaps.
in human or animal terms its more "anything in = shit out"
some things more than others.
like a lot of fruit

but yep, totally, no point trying to polish a turd.
send it back and ask them for a clean mix

mixtur.se · Post by **mixtur.se** » Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:37 am

Maybe a transient shaper or something like waves trans-x to restaurant to restore some dynamics. You could also try layering new transients with samples where possible. An exciter or dynamic eq might also help to enhance part of the spectrum.

I would also use volume automation between sections to improve overall dynamics etc

How to fix an overall dense sound???