DUAL COMPRESSION: When do you use it?

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justhitthebutton
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Post by justhitthebutton » Tue May 23, 2006 10:41 pm

first off, i think there are no dumb questions. ever. i think there is a time and place for everything, including jokes. and 90% of the time, even when something or someone is serious, you should be able to have a laugh. as you see, your original question was answered numerous times. my post was a joke. it was not condenscension on my part or a slap in the face. i could make a joke about myself having my two distressors, tc m1, tc d2, effectron, mics, cables and headphones stolen from me while on tour once because i walked away from them thinking they would be safe. i have yet to be able to afford just one distressor...let alone 2 or the rest that was stolen from me.
and as you can see, i ask numerous questions on here as well. i know how valuable this community is and how helpful we all can be for one another. and i have never gotten pissed from anyones jokes, lighthearted answers, thread hijacking, or anything else.
i dont have a screen name on gearslutz. sorry, if that was a joke i didnt get it.
again im sorry if i upset you. call me if you wanna discuss anything and to see that i am whole heartedly trying to be sincere. 281.415.6779
can it really look better than it sounds?

jcooke
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Post by jcooke » Wed May 24, 2006 10:22 am

Thanks for clearing up your original intention. Electronic communication is sometimes unclear. I did take it as condescension but I guess it wasn't supposed to be. No hard feelings.

Jcooke

justhitthebutton
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Post by justhitthebutton » Wed May 24, 2006 11:39 am

no it wasnt condescending at all. i have been struggling, trying to think of what a better way to say the joke was but i cant come up with it. maybe like. wow, you know enough about gear to own an amazing compressor, but not of the standard basic mixer architecture. but thats not funny either. ironic? maybe. but condescending, no. so again, im sorry.
can it really look better than it sounds?

kayagum
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Post by kayagum » Thu May 25, 2006 2:01 pm

An emoticon would have actually been helpful here.

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snuffinthepunk
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Post by snuffinthepunk » Thu May 25, 2006 2:42 pm

joel hamilton wrote:I have, in the past, run two linked channels on a source NOT for stereo, but as a ducker or even in seires to force the detector into a weird position.

Like if you want something high ratio on a vocal, but it is sounding too "squeezed," I will put one compressor at a low ratio like 1.5:1, and link that comp to another with a higher ratio, but use the low ratio comp as the master, so I can set it to really react. The second comp in the chain is "closing down" based on the first comp's reaction. It can sound really cool. even with the high ratio comp first in the chain, you can get some interesting things happening...

As a "ducker" it is really just having something really transient, like a snare in one compressor, and the violin (for example) in the other. The snare ducks the violin...




Usually this is for stereo operation.
so out of one compressor right into the other?
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caffee
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Post by caffee » Thu May 25, 2006 8:14 pm

Software wise:
I double up compression on drum tracks in Reason almost every time I make a beat. It can create some insanely slamming sounds.

I've never done it with outboard gear. We have a couple of distressors at the studio I'll have to try it on a live mix sometime.

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klangtone
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Post by klangtone » Fri May 26, 2006 12:34 am

I just did some double compression on a cello track that was way too dynamic for the song.

LA-3A (reissue) into a Distressor.
The Distressor was set to 6:1 with 0 Attack and 0 Release.
So it was basically acting as a limiter, while the LA-3A did more subtle compression underneath. Maybe I should have used 10:1 though, cause it still seemed to be a little uneven. But that may have more to do with how certain frequency ranges stick out more.

Anyways... I think it was a good setup cause it kept things natural sounding while still doing significant smoothing.

Roy
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and our religious and charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful." -Kurt Vonnegut

PeterAuslan
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Post by PeterAuslan » Fri May 26, 2006 10:15 pm

I think the idea behind dual compression was that the first compressor is used more as limiter with a higher threshold, bigger ratio and quicker attack and the second compressor is a bit more gentle with a slower attack. If you read the Mixing with Your Mind book there is a very good explanation about the technique.

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