Quote:
Originally Posted by John Eppstein  If the mixer is good the compression is unnecessary. If he isn't, then he'll just make things worse by adding it. |
From an interview with CLA...
Chris Lord-Alge: Mixing on an SSL 4056 E console modified to G+ from a Sony 3348 as our 48 digital medium. Some people might wonder why I’m still using this; the reason is that it still sounds good to me. It’s all edited on Pro Tools HD and transferred mostly flat to the 48 digital medium, and then we mix back to 1/2-inch 96K, 2-bit two-track. Basically that’s what they are going to master from, with an Apogee front end on it. It’s a pretty simple chain if you think about it, but my chain has a pair of Pultecks EQing the whole bus
with three compressors
Should I deduce that CLA is not good enough ? He uses three compressors on his master bus (he must be three times bad then...lol) ! Many great mixers use compression on their master bus while others don't, it's a matter of taste, technique, experience and workflow. It's been said a million time here but I'll keep repeting it: there's only one thing that really matters, the final result.
I believe a good mixer should keep a couple of things in mind. Good mixes will need little to no eq/compression during mastering and, most importantly, eq and compression always call for adjustments that can't easly be done without damaging something else...sort of a trade off.
BTW, In this partiular case I'd tell the OP not to do anything, since he's done mixing and from that point on, it's the ME's task the get the job done.