How many compressions for a huge...

[Poniiboi]

...drum sound?

I've been told, compress on the individual track, group the drums, compress them again on an efx, chain, then a third time in the final mix.

Myself, I have not been able to do this without the final sound being breathy.

I just wanted to know as a matter of form, does anybody actually do this, or do you just find drum samples that have already been compressed?

[The-iMortal]

At 5/26/12 11:35 PM, SenatorJohnDean wrote: I just wanted to know as a matter of form, does anybody actually do this, or do you just find drum samples that have already been compressed?

I use Vengeance drum samples (far out, they're good). I'm pretty sure they are already compressed.

[The-iMortal]

At 5/26/12 11:47 PM, The-iMortal wrote: I use Vengeance drum samples (far out, they're good). I'm pretty sure they are already compressed.

Oh yeah, and I lightly compress them with a multiband compressor.

[Breed]

I've been hearing a good amount about using multiple compressors on any source, but you do have to be careful not to hypercompress in that fashion.

With my experience with drums, I tend to only compress the kick, the snare(or clap or both), and the master. Seems to me that adding an additional compressor on the sub buss is a bit over the top but if you can pull it off then more power to you. A lot of the popular drum packs are already compressed, but depending on the genre of music an additional compressor may benefit the sound even more, especially if youre going for that gain pumping sound that EDM utilizes.

Overall it's a matter of taste. If you work with enough compressors and drum samples you'll get a feel for what really needs it and what doesnt. Take it to the next level with some intelligent multiband compression and you can turn some kicks into golden powerpunches.

On a completely related note: There is so much little details and stuff to talk about in regards to compressors its easily overwhelming.

[Rampant]

At 5/26/12 11:35 PM, SenatorJohnDean wrote: ...drum sound?

I've been told, compress on the individual track, group the drums, compress them again on an efx, chain, then a third time in the final mix.

A great way of getting a nicer punch is to sidechain the kick drum and the bass.

You could also layer multiple different kick drums, and EQ them. So, if you like the 'snap' of a TR909 and the boom of a TR808, you could boost around 150hz (I think that's about right) and add a shelf cut below 70hz on the TR909, and then boost the low end and slightly cut the volume of mid and upper-range frequencies on the 808. Obviously, I've just guessed at these numbers - you'll be able to get much better results through experimentation and layering more than just two kicks.

(In "Professor Swag," for example, I have two different kicks, three snares [two, technically, but the 808 is double-tracked and panned hard left and right], and claps.)

Another thing if you want some huge, sexy drums is to do some gating. (This was very popular in 80's metal lol.)

[midimachine]

At 5/26/12 11:35 PM, SenatorJohnDean wrote: I've been told, compress on the individual track, group the drums, compress them again on an efx, chain, then a third time in the final mix.

my rule of thumb for multiple stages of compression is that each time the compression should be lighter, and with a different compressor if need be. your master compressor should never be too reactive anyway, imo.

[Phyrnna]

At 5/26/12 11:35 PM, SenatorJohnDean wrote:

I've been told, compress on the individual track, group the drums, compress them again on an efx, chain, then a third time in the final mix.

This sounds like a recipe for overcompression to me. It can work, and I suppose it's a matter of personal preference. I'd say a (possibly better) way to get "huge" drums is to look elsewhere. Adding a delay offset by milliseconds can also get you a "big" sound to your instruments. In addition, one trick I use during compressing drums is to leave the mid alone, and boost the bass and treble.

That's just my suggestion. Ultimately it's whatever works best for you and sounds like what you want.

[Breed]

At 5/27/12 07:04 AM, HalcyonicFalconX wrote: Adding a delay offset by milliseconds can also get you a "big" sound to your instruments.

Just a bit of a expansion on that. Usually thats called fattening. It's when you have a single delay between 1-25ish ms. Anymore then about 25ms and it starts to sound like two sounds. Usually panning is used a bit here as well, having the original panned a bit one direction and the delayed the other.

Kind of like a basic ADT. And that can be pretty useful! Although personally I wouldnt use it for EDM drums except maybe a snare/clap.

[Poniiboi]

Good stuff, folks. Rampant, that sound in your song was quite big, by the way. Excellent work.

Lots of good ideas here. I will be experimenting for quite some time to get my production back on its A-game. Thanks to you all.