automating compression

[jithknot]

i was playing around with a track and was trying to automate compression at odd places. but it just failed
is it even logical to automate compression??

[jkhuri44]

very logical to automate...at times.

for example....automating something at its tail ,,,simultaneously easing off threshold, make up and ratio at the end of a track during a fade out...

one example...of many.

end of the day, there are 100 ways to do something ...the right way is the way that sounds right!

i dont find myself doing this much though,,,only in special cases.

[jithknot]

so how do you go about automating something thats in the middle of a track?? (lets say a song)

when i tried, there was a dynamic "fluctuation" (i.e volume dropped and then rose back) right after the automated region.

[jkhuri44]

u need to draw smooth curves, over a long time....

ie, fast automation is gonna sound....like a quick fluctuation....

[heathen]

If you're automating threshold you'll need to automate (probably) the output gain as well.

[chris p]

If you are using plugins, or own a rack full of Smart C2s (or other compressors of your choice), you can get similar results by using multiple compressors flexibly: things like modified sidechaining, parallel compression, serial compression (which multiplies the comp ratios, remember, so 5:1 following by 2:1 = 10:1 overall) or even, to quote Micheal Stavrou (and risk incurring the wrath of RO'N), backwards compression. Compression is not always intuitive: try using a brickwall limiter setting ahead of your more gentle compression even though your instinct may be to have them the other way around.

It all depends on what you are trying to do with the mix, and how compression works. What is the mix issue that leads you to try automating the compression parameters?

[jithknot]

well its just that in the song the high strings of the clean guitar sound very loud, at the same time if i eq it, the distorted guitar in the background suffers, so when i compressed it, it sounded better, but after goin out of that part, it would compress things that i didnt want to get compressed.
its a song thats already mastered, and particularly has a lot of compression in it.
thats one of the reasons, and a couple of other parts have similar problems.
i was just trying my hand in mastering :P
not very good at it. but just for the sake of experimentation :)

[chris p]

Try a multiband compressor - it splits the audio into frequency bands, and compress each separately. You can tame those medium high freqs while leaving the rest of the mix pretty much as is.

[Kurt]

de-esser maybe?

well its just that in the song the high strings of the clean guitar sound very loud, at the same time if i eq it, the distorted guitar in the background suffers, so when i compressed it, it sounded better, but after goin out of that part, it would compress things that i didnt want to get compressed.
its a song thats already mastered, and particularly has a lot of compression in it.
thats one of the reasons, and a couple of other parts have similar problems.
i was just trying my hand in mastering :P
not very good at it. but just for the sake of experimentation :)

[jithknot]

hmm yeah, if i could get my hands on a multiband compressor, i would try it. :)
would a dynamic EQ do the same job??
and de esser?? hmm ill try it out
thanks of the advice everyone :)

[Chinagraf]

Since you can't probably afford a Weiss, what about Waves Q10 or Q4 etc. Very tighty on the bandwidth, goes to a hundred..

[Kurt]

http://www.geocities.jp/webmaster_of_sss/vst/#c3

Here's a freeware 3 band compressor for win/mac. Haven't tried it though.

[lonearranger]

i was playing around with a track and was trying to automate compression at odd places. but it just failed
is it even logical to automate compression??

Can you tell us what program/platform you are on and what the problem you are trying to solve is? Which compresser are you tring to automate.

Cheers

[jithknot]

mac osx, protools LE 8, and was trying to automate the bf 1176 plugin

[lonearranger]

mac osx, protools LE 8, and was trying to automate the bf 1176 plugin

But what is the problem you are trying to solve with the compression?

Would automating the pre compressor and post compresser volume be of any use.

Cheers

[Kurt]

You could just cut the section you want treated differently onto a different track and compress it separately.