Hey John, I am glad to see the addition of your little corner of the universe here. I am sure plenty of knowledge will be thrown about here and hopefully we can all learn a little from each others different experiences.

My question pertains to multi-band compressors and their attack and release times. I currently have a three band stereo comp and I am always at a bit of a loss on where to start with these settings. Somehow it just seems so much more "voodooish" than a full frequency comp. Maybe I am making too much of it but is there a general starting point with these animals? My intuition tells me that the low end stuff probably needs slower attack and release times with it getting faster in the mids and highs, but what do I know? I am just another one of those guys who sometimes has to do his own mastering, much to my chagrin. In general I have been fairly pleased with the results I have achieved but I can always use some more wisdom if you will.

Crash

I'd say a general rule of thumb would be that with attack times, lower is slower (Hey! That rhymes!).

In general, I try to avoid multiband unless it's really necessary for more problematic mixes. Too much flava' in most of them for me, but they do have their place...

HOWEVER - If you haven't tried the Voxengo Soniformer 2, grab it. Again, I'm not a big fan of MBC in general, but that little plug has saved my butt on several occasions. It's a completely variable multi-band with a graphic interface. It's really one-of-a-kind. Too much to explain here - If there's a demo, go grab it. You'll cough up the (dunno, $50?) for it in a heartbeat.

I first dug it out on a tune that had this horrible overtone on the bass on just one note. If I notched it out with the parametric, the whole mix sounded like crap. This thing let me clamp down on just that one frequency ONLY during the hit of the overtone. It's like a "side-chained parametric compressor" as an INSERT.

And, it makes a nice MBC, too...

Well since this is starting to look like a call in show, I'll join the fun.

"Hi John, long time idiot-first time poster. Say, maybe you could go through a quick overview on multiband compression. I get the concept (name kinda says most of it), but if you could give a resource (link-book-magazine article) or maybe just a quick rundown and some tips, (insert cheesy scottish accent here for comical effect) that'd be great."

Multiband can sometimes make a pretty good emergency de-esser too.


Jason A.

Thanks for the info. John. I am actually doing all of my mixes on a d8b and use the Final mix plug along with a Massenberg stereo parametric strapped across the stero buss. I have been pretty happy with the results, The Final Mix plug is fairly potent with six pre comp and six post comp parametric EQ points for a total of twelve. You have control of attack and release on each comp band and can draw the knee and threshold for each band as well, not to mention being able to move the crossover points. I am sure it is similar to the one you mentioned for me to check out in terms of features. It has a ton of presets, each with an A/B setting and of course you can cook your own recipes as well. I just tend to get lost in all the options. It is hard not to let your ear get accustomed to something quickly that sounds good at the moment but later sounds like a bucket full of ass. I have a few tweaked presets, that have translated well on many other systems, as my starting point and then I work my way around from there usually.

When it really counts, I take my projects to a guy named Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova in Austin TX. Nothing beats a different set of ears that does this full time. It is just a different skill to me that, while I enjoy hacking away at, I will leave to those that are pros.

Thanks again for your insight. I look forward to learning new stuff on this portion of the forum.

While I have you here, what is your usual mastering chain or is it something that differs from project to project?

Crash

I don't even think of a chain until I'm listening to the mix. For the most part, I try not to make too many settings during a run - I want to stay as unfamiliar with the tune as possible. Once I start tapping my foot to it, I can't be objective anymore.

So, I'll play the first minute or so and just listen. During that time, I try to visualize what the final version will sound like. Then I stop playback, hook up whatever it needs for the shaping pass (normally limited to EQ and compression of various types), dial in the settings that I *think* will work, start playback again, A/B and tweak. Get it to the DAW, surgical tweaks, imaging adjustments, yada, yada.

Takin' a call from the Grungelord...

If I'm using a Finalizer or similar (I don't have a Finalizer anymore though...), I'd normally just open up a preset that sounds "close" and just tweak away.

I can't think of a preset with MBC plugs that's worth powder... The only one I reach for "normally" has a graphic interface that's desperately simple (a line at a 45 degree angle that you can add points to).

Maybe I'll start out putting a point on the lows at -40 and push it up 8dB, mids -35 and push it 5dB, highs -35 and push it 3dB. Just a straight lift from underneath. I'll work curves as everything progresses if they're needed.

This works out fairly well on some stuff, as it's really only pushing the quieter material in a linear fashion - The louder it gets, the more the MBC gets out of the way.

John,
Have you found multiband compression to be a useful tool for very subtle eq purposes?

The reason I don't reach for a MBC too often is the relative lack of subtlty...

Sometimes if I get in an "anemic" sounding mix that's otherwise pretty good, I'll use an MBC instead of EQ, though. Actually just did that moments ago... I was messing with my EQ for 15 minutes trying to get something decent and it just wasn't going to happen.

It's giving it sort of an FM radio-like quality, but that's more or less the potential of the recording (which surprises me from this artist/label). I'm hoping they'll give me a remix.