Parallel Compression (Drum Sub-Mix) Question

[ghetto3jon]

for those of you who use parallel compression on drum sub-mixes: do you compress the individual drum mics while tracking as well?

[drakewire]

I like to go in clean on everything except the Kick... This way I can get a good sound without using a bunch of added artifacts then I like to use a pultec eq to get a good submix, after Im done with that I use the Waves API 2500 Plug and push the little bastard to its breaking point..

[ghetto3jon]

(replying to my own post)

if i understand it correctly, the "parallel compression on drum sub-mix" technique uses the original/unaffected channels for the attack, and the super-compressed sub-mix to make it big and larger-than-life. so if the original tracks are used for attack, i would think that compression during tracking on the individual drums would be a bad idea. but this is all "on paper," which doesn't always pan out to be the truth. sometimes theorizing gets me into trouble...

[monet]

try lightly compressing one group, then slamming the other (4 or 8 or 12:1, back ....well...maybe all the way)......then use the lightly compressed group as the main body, and mixing the slammed group in, almost like mixing in an effect...

keep in mind, there are a million ways to do this....some people never compress going to tape, while others always do it...some of it depends on what you want, some depends on what gear you have.......if you have the gear, doing things as you go will give you a more clear picture of what you are going to end up with while you are doing it....Mutt Lange is, of course, the classic "don't do ANYTHING till you mix" dude, whereas there are others who are just as great that think the opposite......I personally print things, especially in cases where I have a certain real hardware box or something that I want (like a Small Stone or something)....

peace
Bryan

[gsilbers]

you can do both ways. send each individual track to an aux to be paralel compress. which you will be able to have more control in case the mix on the paralel drum is off by the snare for example. you can lower the send to it.

then the other way is to send a drum submix to an aux and compress that. this is the most common one. the other way takes a little more coordination and keeping track of the levels.
I do electronic music so I do a lot of this but the difference is that I wont send the kick drum to the parallel compress track cause most of the tracks will have a compressor triggered by the kick. but this is an efx for this type of genre.

[Chadlington]

no right or wrong answer. I've seen a million people do it a million different ways. Me personally, The only thing I may add compression too while tracking is drum room mics. You never know how dense the track may get down the line.

[ghetto3jon]

i might join you, Chadlington. i've over-compressed individual drums while tracking before, and by the end, they've lost all their attack and punch. i'm starting to think compressing individual drums during tracking (unless for effect) is generally counterproductive...especially when parallel compression is going to be used to beef up the sound anyway. (unless the drummer is really inconsistent with his strike, i suppose)

[andsonic]

Originally Posted by ghetto3jon

i might join you, Chadlington. i've over-compressed individual drums while tracking before, and by the end, they've lost all their attack and punch. i'm starting to think compressing individual drums during tracking (unless for effect) is generally counterproductive...especially when parallel compression is going to be used to beef up the sound anyway. (unless the drummer is really inconsistent with his strike, i suppose)

I never compress drums to tape. Sometimes, while mixing, I'll do very light compression on the snare if the drummer is inconsistent. 3:1 ratio, threshold barely touched. I like the Toms to really hit (be hit) hard in the compressed (crushed) drum mix. I usually blend in the parrallel compression at low volumes. Just enough to feel it. I recently fell in love with the Joemeek Sc4 for drum mix compression. I really like what it does. It also has the option to do M/S compression, which can be a cool effect.

[lowfreq33]

I track in good studios and mix at home, so I always compress and eq to tape, mainly to take advantage of all the good analog gear that's not available to me when I mix. Not for the faint of heart though.

When mixing, I often get my drums sounding good, using whatever compression and eq I deem appropriate, and then I'll parallel compress a group if I feel it needs some glue or extra punch. Really there are no rules, just do whatever sounds good.