Fave snare comp...

[jon]

...what's been yours lately?

Direct on the snare or on a mult?

[C.Lambrechts]

must be my limited knowledge of english .... but what is a mult ??? :eek: :eek:

[jon]

Mult...sending the source signal to one or more other mix channels (and often inserting effects on those channels instead of on the source directly).

So what do you guys like to thwack your snares off with?

[Jules]

Parallel = Mult

[Knox]

as in Mult Lange

[jon]

or Multi-Platinum.

[e-cue]

I think it's also where the term "Mullet" came from, a haircut of choice, even to this day, for some engineers.

Snare Mult (sometimes I bus them instead) = 3 ways

DBX160XT - API550b
Vac Rac Limiter - Vac Rac Eq
Distressor - Pultec
And the original signal

It should be noted that if you solo these channels, they will probably sound crappy by themselves. I tight gate the DBX chain for attack, The vac rac is squashed pretty good, and I crack 800 - 1K htz often. The distressor chain could be anything from "nuke" to 2:1, sometimes I go for world war three, sometimes I'm just looking for a richer tone.

[e-cue]

Or if in Pro Tools

Mults:

1176 -> Pultec
Digi compressor -> Filterbank
sometimes Lo Fi
(all time adusted)

[mwagener]

As a single compressor (not multed) I sometimes use the dBX 160 VU with minimal compression (1-2 dB) so the needle barely moves, just to get a little more attack (no pun) during recording. During mixing I sometimes mult the snare track and send it through a Valley People "Dynamite" and squeeze the heck out of it with a somewhat long attack time and a longish release time, to get a nice stick attack to mix in with the original snare. Sometimes depending on the source material, I use a 1176 on the mult to make the snare longer. The Distressor also comes in handy when mixing snare sometimes.

[alphajerk]

mult liquor?

mixing. psp mixpressor [and it has mix control so i can set how much or little effect along with the real signal, no mult needed]... i really like this plugin compressor.

i can dig anything though... make anything work i suppose. distressor, 1176 would be my 2 hardware choices to have. i just need ratio, attack, release, and threshold [or some variation... though i find i would rather have the controls than limited controls like some comps have]

or are you looking for what kind of color do you like with your snare kinda question?

[Jay Kahrs]

Depends on the color I'm looking for. If I want to add some pop and attack I'll reach for a dbx160VU or Distressor. Somtimes an 1176. If I want neutral gain control it's a Orban 414 or Aphex Expressor. To make it a little thicker an opto like an LA-2a works. For a mult any of those work but usually the 160's or 1176. I'll use an 1178 if there's one in the studio. But, I can use just about anything and be happy on a drum mult.

[thethrillfactor]

On the snare itself some times nothing(just EQ) or Neve 32264a/Distressor/Alan Smart. On the mult lately its Dbx 160X for the knock, DBX160SL for the meat and for the flash a Vac rac tube comp. Usually the mixture gives me a great snare sound.

[JayCrouch]

multed-milk balls - aren't those called whoppers?

[Markus Stock]

I often mix three signals together in the mix. The first one is the orignial track - slight eq and RNC with little (3-4 db) compression, fastest attack and fastest release to smoothen out some transients. Signal two is a mult from the orinal snare track which is eq'd and compressed to death. Usually a very broad midrane boost to bring the overtones and attack really upfront - I send this through an SPL Charisma (which I love!) and add loads of distortion. Signal three is a soundreplaced sample (Clearmountain library - most of the thime) which I use for high end, verb and more control on the snare. Mix together to taste...

Best,

[Wiggy Neve Slut]

Here is my fave snare trix:

dependant on how many channels are available @ mix time:

A) Have the original snare trach come up one fader.

I then take an aux send from above channel and put that into a Mult... now the fun begins!!!... The neve i use has no busses so aux is the only way to do this properly.

B) use one Mult with Distressor to get a bit of 'thwack' --> bring in on another channel

C) Mult 2 with 1176 silver 4:1 for a bit of 'body' fiddle with attack and release-->bring in on another channel

D) Mult 3 is a dry version of A that is gated with my fave drawmer gate

E) Is a combination of an aux send from B, C, +D coming up another fader.

So in essence there are 5 channels of snr!!!

They are then EQ'd to taste accoding to the snare compression charactersitics that affect each individual channels.


Sometimes if i have enough channels i will create a side chain compression mix via aux busses to create the impression of more level without actually pegging the stereo bus..... its quite ingenious stuff side chain compression! its nearly as addcitive as compression it self!

Other fave compressos for snr include..

Urei 1178.. difffernt tone from 1176 but stiull very nice i acutally prefer it but i use the 1178 often on a OH multi so it dont get sn action much

Al Smart... what cant this box do! ok vocals arent its strong points

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) FET LA2A limiter.. FAT!

Neve 2264/e.... darker sounding than darth vader...

DBX 160X... very underated comp that is very affordable.

Universal Audio LA2A... Very fat and expensive tone and one u get sick of really wuick but its great while it lasts!

PEACE
Wiggy

[MIKEHARRIS]

good call mike wagener..as the original 160 actually expanded for 15-20ms at the onset of compression...thanks Les Tyler

[nick]

Originally posted by Wiggy Neve Slut
Sometimes if i have enough channels i will create a side chain compression mix via aux busses to create the impression of more level without actually pegging the stereo bus..... its quite ingenious stuff side chain compression! its nearly as addcitive as compression it self!

Hi Wiggy,

Please could you explain a bit further?

How does it give the impression of more level?

thanks,
Nick

[Remoteness]

UREI 1176LN (black face) or DBX 160VU plus
UREI 1178 on overheads or Summit DCL100 and a
SSL stereo comp on the drum buss, sometimes I put a Focusrite ISA330 mastering comp/lim on it.

[Henchman]

All I use is the compressors on the D8B.

[e-cue]

Yeash... really? I tried them out when they first came out and HATED them. Was there an update?

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally posted by Henchman
All I use is the compressors on the D8B.

I'm sorry. You have my condolences. Now, go repent and get an RNC and either a Distressor, Trakker or 1176 so you can discover what good usable compression is like.

[e-cue]

Originally posted by Jay Kahrs


I'm sorry. You have my condolences. Now, go repent and get an RNC and either a Distressor, Trakker or 1176 so you can discover what good usable compression is like.

grggt

Henchman, in all seriousness, how did you go about compression with this? Ratios? Attack / Release? etc...

[Henchman]

It's not that bad. here's a link of one of the songs I did for some friends. D8B comps all the way baby!!!!

I'll check the settings later today.



Omnichord

[Jay Kahrs]

I don't know about that, they were pretty horrible and almost totally unusable when I tried the console. The first time I ran across one was in 1999 while working with a band at the singers home studio. I tried mixing on it and just couldn't get into it so I ended up bringing the tapes to my place and mixing on the Wackie 8-bus I had at the time. When I looked into replacing the Wackie I got a week long demo of the D8B and had them pick it up after 3 days. The compressors were almost useless. All hard knee? Come on. It wouldn't have been so bad if I could've at least patched in real outboard.

[Henchman]

The compressors now have a soft knee switch

[Tim L]

Unless the snare really needs work I usually don't mult it out by itself. For the most part I'll save that trickery for the entire kit (or most of it). More times than not it's an RNC on snare with the Expressor a close second... gotta love that HFX expander!

[ZEUSS]

The D8b compressors are definately more usable now after 2 years of upgrades. I actually find use for them on certain things. I use them on a vocal subgroup all of the time with a frequency boost around 5-10 k on the sidechain band for deessing. But my favorite comp for snare is a distressor by far. Gets out of the way very fast and has a nice color to it. Usually set to 4-6:1 ratio with the dist 2 setting with an attack of 10 and release of 0. My second choice would go to the Dbx 160 VU. 3rd choice would be a tracker or an rnc. 4th choice would be a meek. Any one of those will work for me. It all depends on the snare sound and how the drummer hits it.

[Jules]

If fave means ALL-TIME fave... it would have to be the 3U high blue Tube Tech mono valve comp (model??? - I think Jon uses one for vocals...)

I recorded a AMAZING drummer and the creamy organic sound I got during tracking was incredible.. Good room too (I tried to get the lease!)

Blooooooooooooo

[jon]

That would be a CL1 (CL1A, CL1B, etc). I'll have to try it on snare. My usual snare comps are the 160VU, 1176, Distressor, and SSL channel dynamics, with maybe the SSL or 160 on the direct signal and the 1176 or distressor on a mult, sometimes with other drum kit mics and maybe bass as well, it depends.

[AudioGaff]

dbx 160S/160SL, Summit MPC-100A, Groove Tubes CL1s, API 525