when DO you compress low end?

[joninc]

it seems that most new compressors (hardware or software) have sidechain circuits to prevent the compressor from reacting to low end. i get that - i understand how it can be unnaturally pumping but clearly sometimes you do need to control the lows so
my question is - when DO you want to compress the low end? or maybe where is a better question.

I love big phat bottom on mixes (thinking tchad blake, husky hoskulds, mike piersante etc.) but you still need to reign in the dynamics of it so it's even.

Do you do that at the source - ie: the kick track/channel or at the the drum buss?

Or for bass guitar track - on the individual channel or the mix buss?

it would seem to me that maybe you'd want to not have your mixbuss comp reacting.

curious what you guys do.

[vvv]

n the rare occasions that I use a mixbus comp, it's for, eh, ...

I don't use a mixbus comp, haven't in years now.

I compress tracks separately, or sometimes as a submix (backing vocals, doubled guitars, drums).

I don't use sidechains, nor multiband compressors, either, which I think of as more tools of repair than usual use.

Of course, a practical reason is that I mix ITB, using hardware compressors as I track, and ITB compressors pretty much just for mixdown leveling (as opposed to tone), other that the occasional drumbuss smash.
_________________

[joninc]

so when do you compress low end?

[vvv]

"I compress tracks separately, or sometimes as a submix (backing vocals, doubled guitars, drums)."

More specifically, I record bass through one or more compressors (pedal + rack, the latter usually dbx or a 1176 clone or Meek)) going in, and I limit ITB ("limiting" as a form of compression, right?).

If i'm not just working with a drums submix (and if I am I'll often isolate the kick out with gates and EQ), I'll compress the kick ITB, and limit it if necessary.

If I only have a drums submix, sometimes I'll use parallel compression, often adjusting the EQ re the kick.

[Injured Ear]

so when do you compress low end?

When I'm mastering somebody's mixes and they haven't got their kick/bass balance sorted out. In which case I'm only compressing the bottom end. It's not the only thing I do, but it's one of the things I do to help out.

But to get back to the point: In general a full mix has more bass content than treble content in most modern music. We can all agree on this? But also the ear is more sensitive to midrange and treble content than it is to bass content. We can all agree on this as well? By hi-passing the detector circuit in a compressor we allow the compressor to be triggered in a manner that is more in line with what we are perceiving.

[RoyMatthews]

What I did for awhile, with varying success, was to have several submixes ala Michael Brauer. More specifically, I'd have a kick/bass gtr bus that gets some compression and an everything else drums bus that gets an overall compressor which I suppose reacts the same as a comp with a low end filter. The kick and bass usually get individual compression before the bus. The kick is usually what triggers the bus compressor but it's only a couple of dB to keep the low end controlled and even.

I may add some other instruments to this bus like maybe an organ bottom depending on the part. If it's a pad then almost definitely.

[Magnetic Services]

If I'm quick-mastering a track for an artist with a limited budget, or just for listenable rough mixes, the very first thing I will do is compress the low end (cutoff frequency depending on the particular song) and add a limiter for peaks. I will add some gentle EQ and more compression if necessary, but those first two steps usually make the most difference. Something about a full, even low-end makes a track instantly sound more satisfying and "finished".

On an instrumental level, compressing just the low end is great for controlling boominess in acoustic instruments or weird-sounding rooms without affecting the more sensitive dynamics of the mids and highs.

[drumsound]

My mix bus compressor has a low cut side-chain that I use 99% of the time. The low end is controlled on the source, not at the mix bus. I usually compress bass and often compress BD in tracking, and sometimes again in the mix. Drums get a parallel compressor that may or may not have a lot of control. Low end in the guitars are generally handled with EQ of some sort or another. It might have been in mic choice or position, low cut on the mic pre, or EQ in mixing. I don't often mic the bottom of the Leslie these days, because I end of cutting it out in the mix anyway.

[cgarges]

None of the mix buss compressors that I normally use have hi-pass filters in the side chain. I get by fine without them, but they can be useful for sure. I'm not usually hitting my mix buss very hard, anyway.

In tracking, I DO generally compress things that have a lot of bottom end: kick drum, bass amps, tuba, etc. So that they can be individually controlled a bit. I might compress that stuff again in the mix or I might not. But generally speaking, it's easier to get more compression happening without a lot of artifacts if the low frequency content of as source (say, your whole mix, for example) isn't the primary thing controlling the amount of compression. I find this to be especially true at higher ratios.

Sometimes, you might want that pumping and breathing happening, so you can disregard any kind of side chain filtering to get that to happen faster.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[punkrockdude]

I learned by testing years after years that low frequencies in my opinion need saturation before compression to sit nicely. I add saturation and lowpass it down to most often around 500Hz before I blend it back with the dry signal just so that I notice that something almost insignificant has been added. THEN i compress. This makes a world of a difference.

[Waltz Mastering]

you still need to reign in the dynamics of it so it's even.

Do you do that at the source - ie: the kick track/channel or at the the drum buss?

Or for bass guitar track - on the individual channel or the mix buss?

it would seem to me that maybe you'd want to not have your mixbuss comp reacting.

Dynamics and Eq for the most part are easier to control at the source and on the individual tracks, where a buss comp or eq, maybe could be needed for a small global touch up or tilt.

Dealing with the lower octave can be a chore if the room and system you're using is giving you some false information, where it's hard to get an accurate assessment on what's really going on down there.

I guess you could look at the order of importance as

Source > meat and potatoes
Individual tracks > balance
Bus > global fine tune
Master > finish coat

Having bus processing isn't a must in my book.. gl

[digitaldrummer]

I've had to use a multi-band EQ (like the Waves C4) to control some bass and kick tracks that just had way too much low end content, but using EQ to roll it off just made it sound wrong (unnatural). Compressing some of the low frequencies and allowing others to poke through normally made it work better.

Mike

[vvv]

I guess you could look at the order of importance as

Source > meat and potatoes
Individual tracks > balance
Bus > global fine tune
Master > finish coat

Having bus processing isn't a must in my book.. gl

+1

[Nick Sevilla]

I only compress the low end...

When it needs it.

I'll be here all week folks.

[oneflightup]

much easier to work on the bottom end on an individual track.

160's or 1176 is great on bass to level it out....

Nick