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Originally Posted by redddog  Could someone explain what it is as well as how to do it and when?
I've got way more to learn than you! |
parralell compression is when you double a track and compress one copy very hard, and mix it under the original. It preserves the dynamics of the instrument but makes it sound more solid.
Somtimes both tracks are sent to an aux to be grouped and recompressed or limited. Some mastering engineers do it when the low end is missing or unpredictable. Rather than draggin the audio over to a second track, It can also be accomplished on a mixer, when you "mult" or use a send to a bus that has the compressor. In mixing, it is often used on bass tracks as well as kick and snare drums to add pressence without very much gain.
To do this you use a "send" routed to a bus that is set to input of an aux channel that has a compressor inserted. Hit the signal hard and blend that fx channel sound back under the original until it sounds fatter but does not get louder. When you mute the signal on the compressed track it should sound thinner but not quieter. The goal is to have the isnturment cut through the mix but still not be squashed. So you don't want to hear more of the squashed track than the unprocessed. Of course, you can do what ever you want to do with it until it fits the song you're working on. But, this is how I use it.
Also, what I do on Vox is similar but not the same. Record a first take, and a double take. The double track gets hit with a compressor very hard and limited, and mixed under the first vox take. They are singing the same things but two diferent takes. They get mixed to a group bus and compressed back together. For an effect you can have other 3rd and 4rth takes that switch around on the cadences of the chorus to change it up or send to delay. You just have to automate the mutes.