MB Compression

[tptman]

I own a few of the MB compressor plugs, and I find myself using them less and less these days. It seems like I can get the sound I need from something simpler most of the time.

Is anyone using MB compression regularly for anything?

Do you think MB compression is a bit of a fad, or is it a tool that'll stand the test of time?

[inaudio]

What's MB?

[tptman]

Muti Band (waves C4, Ren MB, etc).

A quick google search turned up this primer:

SOS article on MB Compression

[MASSIVE Master]

Originally posted by tptman
Do you think MB compression is a bit of a fad, or is it a tool that'll stand the test of time?

I think it already has stood the test of time - It's just that lately, I find it being abused as a volume smasher as opposed to what it was designed for.

[inaudio]

Oh. I thought it was a new brand I hadn't heard of!

I use them (Waves C4 sometimes but mainly Linear MB) for remastering live stereo board mixes. It is often better to use one plug, in linear phase, to boost bass, compress vocals and midrange, De-ess, level peaks and dither rather than using five plugs each with their processing quirks.

But I don't use them on mixes as a rule, especially if they will get mastered by someone else. And if I am mastering my own work myself, I'll save it for the last step and then only as needed.

But no, not reall often here.

<L>

[007]

I've experimented with them before, mostly the Waves C4, but I quickly realized that unless you really know what the f*** you're doing, you're inflicting more pain and agony on the mix than if just leaving it alone. Nowadays, I may put a RenComp 'opto' on the MF just to gel things up a little, but no more multiband.

[NeoVXR]

great tool, if it is used as a swiss knife, e.g. to repair problems in a live recording (voice too loud and boomy, irregular bass dynamics..)
also C4 for _some_ voices, to keep them upfront while not shouting but keeping power in the low mids, and to bring up the modern "breathy" sounds. but there are other tricks that can do it too..

[dharma one]

also recommended - final mix from mackie/ acuma labs

[zemlin]

The Multiband I use is the Ultrafunk/Cakewalk Sonitus:FX. I love the UI, and it sounds good to my ears.

[tptman]

So is anyone using it as more than a good repair tool? Any creative uses you'd like to share?

[dharma one]

been using it on drums mix bus recently.. can be very nice

sometimes even vocals..not very often though unless there is something wrong with the sound in the first place & cant re record

[Lee Knight]

I use Waves Linear MB and it works very well. The more frequently I use it, the less drastically I use it. Never on the master buss for me. Only post in Sound Forge. I'll print a discrete file appending the name with an "MB". This helps me keep track of the different stages of my masters. This way I can always go back to the "unsoiled, virginal" version if I need to.

dfegad

[inaudio]

RE: So is anyone using it as more than a good repair tool? Any creative uses you'd like to share?

As I mentioned earlier, I did a live board recording of a 9 piece western swing band and they were so extremeely happy with the performance that they wanted to fix it up to release as an interim CD to sell at gigs, until they can get into studio for a final one. I did a bunch of work on it, and it just wasn't quite up to snuff but he wanted me to take one more go at it, so I used Waves LinMB:

I wanted to boost and richen the bass a little, do some de-essing only on some vocals, and remove as much as possible of low-mid monitor resonance, which was not a problem during instrumentals but muddied up the vocals, so I didn't want to just EQ it out. By carefully choosing crossover freqs and setting thresholds and band gains I was able to do all the above. The drummer (a student of Gene Krupa and fabulous) had a nice jazzy soft kick, and the bass was deep and full, so I was able to tame the bass without affecting the kick. And the female vocalist has a wonderful rich alto, but the male vocalist was a kinda wimpy tenor, and I was able to balance them nicely without mangling their dynamics.

It was just a lot easier to do all the above with one plug, and keeping it linear phase made a huge difference in clarity.
Does that help?

<L>

[tptman]

Yes, very clear, thanks. It sounds like you're using it like it was originally intended to be used - subtly but powerfully.