Doesnt make any sense at all. You said "Usually I just fuck around with the settings until it sounds good." so you dont know what exactly they do. Otherwise you would know how and when to use them.

@No Avenger

"Where's the faceplam emoji when you need it? Ah, here, "

What excactly is your problem, explain it to me?
If he would know what they do (technically & sound wise) he would know when to use them.

 

Last edited: May 14, 2023

I almost always process the snare, kick, and overheads separately. Almost all of it, then a Bus compressor to glue it together. I am not afraid of using multiple compressors in Serial (if needed) to avoid over-working any individual instance and creating nasty artifacts.

I bookmarked these cheat sheets quite awhile ago, but I think you could benefit from reading them in reference to your original question:

https://audiospectra.net/kick-drum-compression-settings-including-cheat-sheet/

https://audiospectra.net/snare-compression-settings/


None of these guides will ever be completely cookie-cutter perfect. These are pretty methodical and written with no big, glaring errors.

 

Ah, that maybe got lost in my translation. What I wanted to say is, asking is absolutely ok, his reply was not.

 

The problem is absolutely obvious. Your post wasn't helpful at all, it was basically off-topic. He asked to learn something and you told him not to ask to learn something and this doesn't make sense at all.

Asking questions to gather facts or experiences of others is one of THE reasons this forum exists.

If this is not your way of learning, it's ok, honestly. And if you don't like when people ask questions, it's ok too. But then please just move on and don't tell people how they should learn - especially when their post is within the rules and your post is not.

 

Metal eh! Havnt knowingly come across somebody enginneering metal.
My opinion is this, if you can program/mix/engineer/sound design your own work where DnB is concerned you can pretty much apply the knowledge to all genres simply because its arguablly the most technically advanced genre to attempt , obviously if one has no skill then its irrelevant, but in my mind metal n dnb arent that disimilar!
Im happy for you to PM me if you wanna go in depth with stuff, im really quite happy to help you out!!!

 

My answer may be kind of unhelpful, but it's the way I do it. Those of you who know me a bit know that I'm a lazy dude. I hate fiddling with setting to the tenth of a decibel. That said, this is how I approach limiting:

• My go to compressor is Softube S73. Instead of controls, it offers "vibe settings". It's supposed to be a mastering compressor, but I use it in every track that needs compressor. I insert it, choose the "mode" for the sound, and once I like one mode, I push it just until before it clips. The downside of this compressor is that it goes into the red really fast, but it is a good way not to abuse it. If I like the sound of it going into red, I need to put a limiter next.
• The other compressor I use is any LA2A plugin, usually the UAD version, but any one will do. I generally like it for tracking. It is a mild kind of compressor with just two knobs. Easy piesey.
• My limiter is Slate FG-X, and I use it just to avoid going into the red. I use it also to add 2 or 3 dB of gain without any artifacts. It's the plugin I use for gain staging. It is really lightweight on the CPU and it keeps my tracks on check from going into the red, even if I'm on 32-bit floating resolution. It's just force of habit.
• I don't use compression on the mix bus anymore. I'm on a mindset of getting it right before the master, but if I want to send a quasi-mastered version to a client, I use Sonible Smart Limiter.

In other words, I don't mess with settings a lot. These compressors/limiters let me use my ears more.