Logic Compressor

ICN

Messing around with this today.

I noticed in the expanded controls - that it had a wet / dry amount slider. Havent seen it before.


Anyway - I've heard that Parallel compression can introduce phasing, so I'm just wondering if this wet / dry might create the same issue?

Any tips for how it should best be used?

I really liked the way I could keep the "real" sound by keeping it around 18/20% - but I'd like to know any pointers / recommendations on how best to fatten up the signal?

or other effects that could be added to the chain afterwards?

I'm thinking that it would be best used on Kicks / Snares / Claps / Random short samples..

jtsuited

Parallel compression is hugely over-rated imo. nothing that can be done with it that can't be done with standard downward compression.

Sometimes in mastering it is useful but otherwise it's just a long way round to do something simple.

As far as tips go, to get the most out of parallel compression, really smash the signal you're compressing and watch out for phasing issues in the bottom end.

Anima

I don't think you can do parallel compression on the fly realistically. You'd have to bounce the original signal first and then smash it and add it to the original signal. Every plugin adds its own phase distortion or plain speaking, every plugin takes a certain amount of time to complete its task on each sample/block. I'm not sure if Logic or any other DAW compensates for this automatically but I know FLStudio doesnt, which is annoying I must say.

seannash

i was very excited when i heard abut parallel compression and how to do it.
tried it a good few times but never got any satisfying results.
sounds great in theory but in practice for me it didnt really have a great effect

ICN

Anima wrote: »

I don't think you can do parallel compression on the fly realistically. You'd have to bounce the original signal first and then smash it and add it to the original signal..

So heres a question..

Smash it - Print it - Add it.

Does that prevent Phase issues?


Are Phasing issues with Parallel Compression due to delay with the plugins?

Is Phasing cancelled out by printing it & mixing it in?



I like the sound of blending in a compressed or distorted version.

Did it all the time in Reason as it got things sounding far chunkier.

Anima

Yeah the plugins add the phase delay that you hear when you do it all at once. You can delay channels to cancel this in some programs but I find it to be very fiddly. Easier to just record it to a file and do it that way.

ICN

Anima wrote: »

Yeah the plugins add the phase delay that you hear when you do it all at once. You can delay channels to cancel this in some programs but I find it to be very fiddly. Easier to just record it to a file and do it that way.

Excellent idea Mate.. Thanks a lot!

Will give that a try out.

ogy

cubase, ableton and logic have plug-in delay compensation. protools le doesn't, but protools hd does

DamagedTrax

ogy wrote: »

. protools le doesn't

still piss easy to do.. just use a plugin that doesnt add delay. like mcdsp or waves.

PaulBrewer

seannash wrote: »

sounds great in theory but in practice for me it didnt really have a great effect

PComp is a great plan.

You may need to be melting the PComped track though i.e. compressing much harder than you normally would if you were running the compressed only track.

The other thing is depending on how much grunge you want is the attack and release times. Both quick will give you a very aggressive sound with a lot of artifacts that can add a lot of energy to a track ...

I often don't add much cymbals to the PComped track unless you're looking for a very thrashy effect.

seannash

PaulBrewer wrote: »

PComp is a great plan.

You may need to be melting the PComped track though i.e. compressing much harder than you normally would if you were running the compressed only track.

The other thing is depending on how much grunge you want is the attack and release times. Both quick will give you a very aggressive sound with a lot of artifacts that can add a lot of energy to a track ...

I often don't add much cymbals to the PComped track unless you're looking for a very thrashy effect.

i know how to do it but i just didnt find it useful for me to be honest.
ah well