Mixing

VST Compressors – Free to Whoah There

Free:

Kjaerhaus Audio: Classic Compressor, link
Classic Compressor is a classic analog style VST Compressor Plugin with a lot of warmth and punch. Special designed to use on individual Instruments and Vocal, but also useable on your final mixes.

 Smooth Compression
Ajustable ratio up to limiting
Ajustable attack and release times
Ajustable knee (hard to soft)
Gain reduction LED
Presets
Ultra low CPU usage
Supports all sampling rates
Full VST automation

1. Split your vocal track into two sub-groups or tracks, depending on your software. Insert a Classic Compressor on both, loading one with the factory preset “Vocal” and the other with “Vocal Definition”. Boost 100Hz and 10kHz about 10dB shelving on the second group or track. Now mix the two together for a very fat and energetic vocal track.

2. Use our Classic Limiter right after the Classic Compressor to catch the peaks during mix down.

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Endorphin – dual-band stereo compressor – link

Two independent frequency bands (low and high frequency processing)

Switchable stereo or M/S mode operation.

Two basic compressor designs:

1. modern vca mode with soft-knee characteristics and manual time constants. This mode provides an instant response behaviour and deep compression, using a feed-forward circuit.

2. Vintage-style opto (photo resistor) mode, modelled after ancient opto-electrical compressors. The time constants stay manually set, but they are also affected by the signal’s energy. This mode has the typical opto-style ‘overshoot’ on quick transients, this is one of the most gentle compressors you may find. Classical feed-back detector circuit.

Adjustable high-level output stage with analog-style saturation.

While you at digitalfishphones.com check out their fish fillets package

This great package contains – (Blockfish)  Compressor, (Spitfish) De Esser and (Floorfish) a Gate/Expander Device.

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Budget:

Voxengo’s range of VST fx are really worth a look at an affordable price,

Prices range from $49.95 for The Crunchessor

- $69.95 for Elephant

- $89.95 for Marquis

Voxengo – Mix Compressors

Voxengo Compressors

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PSPaudioware:

is a collection of five high-resolution, high quality audio processors designed to improve the quality of your digital audio tracks and mixes (VST and RTAS for Windows; AudioUnit, VST and RTAS for MacOSX UniversalBinary). These processors were not modeled on specific hardware analog processors, but rather on the sound and features of many analog circuits, with the goal of designing processors that can assist you in taming the sterility and harshness that often plagues digitally recorded audio. Don’t let the name of this bundle fool you – while we worked hard to develop a plug-in pack that would help your mixes shine, these plug-ins are high enough quality to be at home in mastering or live tracking situations as well. All plug-ins utilize 64-bit double precision floating point algorithms throughout their entire signal path and support sample rates of up to 192kHz. The kit consists of: PSP MixBass2, PSP MixTreble2. PSP MixSaturator2, PSP MixPressor2 and PSP MixGate2

Check Out Mixpack2 – Priced at $199 it’s well worth a looksy

Related Reading:

Mixing – Using Compression – The Seedier Way

If like me you have trouble with your mixing and mastering stage then the following article sent to me by the scottish reprobate Seedy Dave should help,

OK so forgive the obvious but a quick once over basic compression first, lets say you’ve got a track recorded on acoustic geetar and it peaks at 0dB, but there are sections where the volume is only about -12dB……….when ya listen to it it sounds fine but the quiet sections are getting lost……
If you set the threshold of a compressor to say -4dB and the compression ratio to 4:1
what’ll happen is that when the track is above this level (-4dB) it will be affected by the compressor,
and the effect on the track will be this, for every 4dB the track is above the threshold  of  (-4dB) the compressor will reduce its volume to a quarter of what it was (4:1 = 1/4),
so  instead of having your geetar peaking at 0dB it’ll now be peaking at -3dB
(Try to think of the compression ratio 4:1 as 4dBs over the threshold will become 1dB over the threshold after compression………………..ditto 2:1 and 10:1 etc)
So now yer loud bits are quieter, and the quiet bits have not changed……….
so then you add your compressor make up gain which in effect brings the whole track back up to the 0dB mark again,
so the loud bits are back where they were and the quiet bits have been lifted by 4dB from -12dB to -8dB………..so basically what you’ve done is increase the average volume, so the track sounds louder and punchier at the same volume as before…..and there is less variance in the volume of the playing……..take the process to extremes and you’ve got the sound of the adverts.
The only other bits to get yer hied round are the attack and release times, so attack time first……..
Basically all you are doing with the attack time is deciding how long after the threshold is exceeded before the compressor kicks in…………..you’d think right away, but it ain’t that straight forward…………if yer acoustic track is a strummy thing, then the track will be getting driven along by yer playing,
so if you have a very quick attack time what’ll happen is that since the initial part of the strum is the loudest part (and therefore over yer threshold) the compressor will quieten that part and kill the groove by dimminishing the rhythmic impact of yer geetar………….so the trick is to set the attack time long enough to let the initial part of the strum through and then compressor can control the rest of the sound……..it’s the same for all instruments, you let the nose of the note through the compressor before you start squeezin’……..f** around with a snappy snare sample and it’ll make more sense.
Fortunately most Mix Bus compressors have automatic attack and release knobs that do it all for ya and they work fine.
The release time does what it says…….it sets how long after the sound drops below the threshold before it switches the compressor off………do it too quick and you can hear it cutting out, set it too long and the depending on the tempo of the track the next strum could take it back up over the threshold again. Basically you’re looking for a release time that is unobtrusive to the music and releases the compressor quickly enough for the next sound (strum) that comes along and exceeds the threshold.
Makin’sense?
So the Mix Bus thingy.
Why & How, from the SOS guide to Mix Bus Compression – taken from (Sound on Sound)
The whole idea behind this technique is that you are mixing through the compressor from the beginning of the mix process, you are carving your mix, dynamically speaking, through the compressor, and monitoring the compressor’s output.
The point is that the same set of fader settings will actually produce a different mix balance depending on whether you apply compression, and how much. Applying compression after the mix is complete will change the balance you have carefully set up, so unless you mixed into a compressor from the start, compressing the mix once the track is finnished is gonna upset all yer hard work.
When you mix without compression, the relative level of each element within the mix is entirely determined by the position of the faders. When you add a compressor over the mix bus, you’re adding another layer of dynamic management, one over which you have less control. It can feel as though your fader moves are ‘fighting’ the actions of the compressor.
Typically, the compressor will tend to react to the instruments that are already the loudest parts of your mix, such as lead vocals and drums, because these are the first and loudest signals to cross the compressor’s threshold.
Different compressor settings may tend to bring out different elements in the mix but, in general, you will find that the harder you hit the compressor, the less difference your fader movements seem to make to the predominant parts of the mix. Consider a lead vocal that was compressed during tracking and is also being compressed in real time during mixdown. If you are mixing this lead vocal, among other sounds,
through a bus compressor, the lead vocal itself will become even more compressed if it is the loudest part of the mix. So in absolute terms, mix compression will tend to make the lead vocal quieter, and you may need to compensate a bit more with positive fader values to achieve the loudness that you want from the lead vocal — but also consider that the louder you push the faders, the more you will compress the output! And,
of course, the gain reduction that is triggered by the lead vocal crossing the mix compressor’s threshold is applied to all elements of the mix at once, so the lead vocal’s apparent level relative to the other instruments may actually be increased by mix compression.
Typically, a stereo compressor setup with a low ratio such as 1.5:1 or 2:1, and a medium attack and medium release, is a great starting point for mix-bus compression. Begin by setting the threshold to give a minimal amount of gain reduction, perhaps -1 to -3 dB (Dats below yer loudest part of yer mix).
When you’re experimenting with bus compression for your mixes, set the make-up gain so that the level of the processed signal matches the level of the unprocessed signal as closely as possible. This way, when you are in the middle of a mix you can bypass the compressor and hear what the compression is doing to your mix.
Although having the right compressor settings for mix-bus compression is important, you don’t want to be adjusting the settings in the later parts of the mix. The best thing to do is to get a feel for what the mix is going to be about early on, set the bus compressor then, and leave it be. Any changes that you make to the compressor settings later will change the internal mix balances. - (taken from Sound on Sound)
Any decent sterio compressor can be used for the job…….set the attack, release and make up to automatic and drop the threshold down to 3dBs below yer loudest bit.
Most upmarket ***** use outboard gear but f** it enough is enough…………if ya gots any questions please read it again.
- Seedz.
Note to reader, please never feed the Seedy one after midnight, don;t ask why, just don’t.

Related Reading:

Computer Music Magazine

http://www.computermusic.co.uk/

New to computer aided recording this excellent magazine is crammed full features.

Reviews of software, samlples and equipment.

Thoughtful and intersting interviews.

Excellent tutorials – focussing on production, music creation, and software use.

The magazine also comes with a DVD crammed with nearly 9gb of stuff.

The DVD inculdes samples, pluigins and demo software.

A bonus of this is CMs own software collection – all the tools you need to create.

At £5.99 and available in USA/Canada it’s worth every penny.

Related Reading:

Compression – Useful Articles

Sound On Sound:

How & When To Use Mix Compression

Harmomy Central:

Compression/Limiting

Remixmag:

Tips On Compression Settings

Tweakheadz:

All About Compressors

Related Reading:

Eq – Useful Articles

Sound on Sound: www.soundonsound.com Sound On Sound: EQ: How and when to use it.

Home recording: www.homerecordingtips.co.uk Getting the best results from using EQ

Tweakheadz: www.tweakheadz.com Understanding EQ

Harmony Central: www.harmony-central.com Equalisation

Home Recording Connection: www.homerecordingconnection Effects and Signal Processing

Recording Eq: www.recordingeq.com Home Recording Primer 1 Home Recording Primer 2

Related Reading:

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