Mix Bus Compression: An Almost Foolproof Recipe

[robbspencer]

Nice article , thanks for posting it!

[mojobone]

Bump.

[brianvassallomusic]

Very nice read, and easy to understand. Thank you for sharing this. BOOKMARKED!

BEST
Brian Vassallo

[ttully]

Great Article.....
Here's what a lazy bum I am ...
I have used the same plugins on almost every track I have done for the last few years..set almost exactly the same for everything.
No matter what the genre...Orchestral, rock, hip hop, comedy (etc), I know it's not the way to do it but somehow it works.

Mix buss compressor, eq and limiter.
I record and mix with them all enabled all the time.


Tim

[davekropf]

Great Article.....
Here's what a lazy bum I am ...
I have used the same plugins on almost every track I have done for the last few years..set almost exactly the same for everything.
No matter what the genre...Orchestral, rock, hip hop, comedy (etc), I know it's not the way to do it but somehow it works.

Mix buss compressor, eq and limiter.
I record and mix with them all enabled all the time.


Tim

Don't feel too bad! I tend to use very little compression, fader automation, and panning on my tracks (especially virtual instruments). I personally believe that we can get too bogged down with what could be done that we can easily over-process our tracks.

[LOCK88]

Great read Mojo, thanks for posting.

[cosmicdolphin]

Great Article.....
Mix buss compressor, eq and limiter.
I record and mix with them all enabled all the time.

LOL...Me too Tim..I mean I tweak them a bit generally the settings are similar-ish

[piwacquet]

Really great stuff Mojo. Thanks.

Mike

[Len911]

My foolproof recipe is the Sonnox Oxford Limiter!
https://www.sonnox.com/plugin/oxford-limiter-v3#

Seriously, if you can't find a preset, or a even a preset from which to start...

Not to mention several other features like:
+ dither and noise shaping
+ recon errors fixed
+ industry's true peak measurement standard (ITU-R BS.1770-4)
+ Recon meter shows actual rather than sampled signal

There's a lot to be said for presets, you can instantly hear the difference and get in the ballpark quickly without twiddling around or making your own. The other behind the scenes handling of your signal is also a lifesaver, knowing you're in standard, the convenience of dither and the many noise shaping types all contained in one unit.

The problem with general basic tutorials is that might they might explain how something works, but they don't give you specifics or options on a specific make and model. It might explain how a transmission works, but it doesn't tell you if you have a manual or automatic, or how many gears you have, where it is, or how to change the fluid,lol!

[Kolstad]

Good read Mojo, thanks!

I think buss compressors can work well for the rock genres, where more .. eh Mojo is needed
Things like rock, pop/rock, indie, alt.rock, blues, blues rock.

In these genres a buss compressor is often used to glue the whole mix together and/or give it little more grit.
But if you smack it on the mix after having done the basic mixing, you can loose some clarity.
So many mix desicions is about clarity, notching out frequencies, getting the parts to sit well ect.

That's one problem starting with a bus compressor can solve.

Starting with the bus compressor is like starting with the glue, and then you do the basic mixing afterwards.
It can save time so you don't have to go through the mix desicions again.
You already have the glue, and then make mix desicions for clarity, balance and space.