I am a new producer I feel. I started a little over 2 years ago was able to get a good work flow where I am happy with my mix downs, now I am trying to expand my writing of my tracks.

However I have had mixed feelings about compression.

I myself use Ableton 10 as my DAW, and I use compression on just about everything. I use it to sidechain, on my kick. I use an RMS compressor, than an expand compressor and finally a glue compressor.

Is too much compression bad?

I am really close I feel to the quality of professional tracks of my genre, but I wan't to know your all's opinion. I have been watching lots of tutorials on my genre (psytrance) and there is lots of compression used. Opinions

 

It's good if it sounds good. It's easy to accidentally make it sound shitty with too much compression. But if you didn't exceed that boundary, then no one can lecture you about using too much, even if you used a lot. It may have been a lot, but it was right for the situation and sounded good, so you're in the right.

Compression squeezes a sound like it was an orange or lemon, and so at first a lot of extra zest comes out and it's delicious to the ear. It basically gives you a super-hero hearing experience, so we all like that feel, it's powerful. But if you keep squeezing it deforms the orange forever and after some more compression it looks like a formless pulp, can't even tell it was an orange to begin with. Superhero hearing illusion is gone and the sound is so exaggeratedly fake it hurts your ears.

When you add too much compression the sound starts getting too in-yo-face all of the time, it has the same sickening kinda feel to it as nasty processed food like fat chick cakes from the supermarket, laden with chemicals. It's got a strong taste but doesn't taste anything like grandma's homemade, real cake so you (the listerner) go "yuck" and don't want to eat it. Or maybe you gobble it down without thinking because you're the fat chick those cheap artificial cakes are made for.

As long as you stay away from that cheap artificial taste level of compression, knock yourself out and use as much as you feel is good for your purposes.

 

Last edited: Mar 5, 2018

There are not rules anyway compressing everything is a non-sense. Not every audio source need it 'cause automation sometimes is enough. I use compression, even if basically useless, when I want apply some tricks (ie The Dr. Pepper Trick using 1176 - Bobby Owsinsky)

 

Last edited: Mar 5, 2018

I really love the stock Ableton compressor, it does the job I wan't while leaving dynamic range. I don't use it, if it doesn't sound good or if it doesn't need it.

 

Open your project. Look at your compressors and ask yourself "Why I did this?". If you have a good answer, then keep doing it.

 

Good words

 

Reason I ask, is that my friend who makes the same genre. Uses no compression at all, sidechains with LFO Tool (which I don't really feel gives me the sound I want) and uses EQ for everything. It amazes me how many different ways to achieve the same sound.

 

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that depend on how deep you understood the genre(psytrance), psytrance need much compression(not too much), but how much? based on your monitoring devices(and your brain and ears) and playing back places

 

Over compression is a novice mistake I think.When I started to make music I did that too.
If I can say something,in first time don't focus on mix aspect but more on music theory,learning your instruments and creative FXs(although compression can be it...).
I only compress when I feel it needs it.When a synth line volume is too swinging for example,or to improve/decrease the attack/sustain of the drums, or to glue a bus...Or Sidechain too...If you're not sure the less you use it the better it is.

 

It really doesn't matter HOW you get the desired sound, only that you get it!

As for my view on compression. Never use it just because you have a pile of compressors sitting there, and you think you ought to use them. If you need to bring out one or two sounds that are getting swallowed up inthe mix, then yes absolutely, just remember with great compression comes greater risk of *ucking it all up!

Is that how the saying goes? It doesn't sound right to me!


@Satai I love your food reference analogies.