I would be interested in your opinion: how would you set the compression for the bass in this song? You can find the song and only the bass linked as well. What settings would you suggest for this? I am especially interested in the attack/release, because I am always uncertain about that. Here is my recent setting, but it is mostly the default, except for the threshold (the compressor is off in the samples though):



Here are the samples:

 

I would use a soft clipper LOL
Also. if you're struggling with compression, watch this:

These videos mention simple basic excercises that let you learn to hear how compression sounds. You'll have way less guesswork afterwards.

 

My aim would be to achieve something like this:

At the moment, in my song from which the sample I posted in the starting post, the problem is the bass is too uneven. It is booming sometimes, other times it is silent. This one that I linked here has a much more even bass. There are no outstanding parts, where the volume suddenly increases. I wonder which settings helps achieving something like this?

 

Aight. I'll assume you use that Logic compressor on your screenshot. Turn off the limiter.

First, find the lowest sustained loudness of your bass track.

Second, set the threshold to this loudness or even a bit lower. Turn off autogain to hear what it's doing.

Third, increase ratio until it sounds even.

Fourth, make attack faster until you hear distortion, then roll it back a little bit so that distortion disappears.
You don't need transients with this bass, so the fastest clean attack is what you're aiming at. Might be all the way down to the fastest, why not. If you somehow want the transient, then make the attack slower.

Fifth, make release faster until you hear pumping, then roll it back until the pumping disappears and turn on auto release.
If auto makes things too quiet or reintroduces pumping, turn it off.

Finally, enable all the other instruments and increase make-up until the bass sounds loud enough.

If the bass is still not even, turn on the limiter and set its threshold to the new lowest sustained loudness.

Play around with compression styles (the upper row of switches), some of them might unexpectedly sound better to you.

AND WATCH THE VIDEOS

 

Maybe you can keep it simple with just some EQ, LA2A-style compression (slower opto compression) and saturation?

 

Last edited: Feb 28, 2024

Yeah, using an opto compressor with two knobs will do the trick, but it won't let you learn how attack and release are working. So do what Baxter says when you need results, and do what I said (namely WATCH THE VIDEOS) when you feel like learning.
Or maybe you'll find that two-knob opto covers all your compression needs and decide that you don't need learning. In this case, I will recommend an often overlooked Korvpressor by Klevgrand.

 

If I use the Logic compressor, I usually will switch it to graph display. It doesn't get much easier to dial in your settings.

Maybe you might find this helpful: https://soundclass.dk/centerforlydt...pro-x-compressor-circuit-type-cheat-sheet.pdf

 

I have checked the videos. Lots of new and useful information indeed, but still some questions remained open. He tells useful tricks, but at some places I still still don't understand the technical (or physical) background behind those. But at least I could hear some tricks I can implement. Like that threshold/ratio setting depending on the mix type. that's kind of a new level for me.

Back to what you suggested, excuse me if I am annoying, but what do you mean by the lowest sustained loudness? You mean the quietest booming part? If yes, should I rely on my ear to find it or I should check in on the graph in the editor?

 

Well, I am not quite sure that is the method I want to do now. I did not have good results with LA-2A pedals with my guitars, nor with the Opto feature in the Logic compressor, and the example you posted also sounds a but uneven to me. Should try in the mix however. What worked for me the best is putting Korvpressor on the master, and not compressing the bass individually. Quite much the same as I intend to achieve. Bass-wise. But the problem with Korvpressor on the Master is that it amplifies certain things that shouldn't be, or not that much. Maybe I can tweak that by decreasing the track faders, don't know yet. I just wondered: could the same be achieved when compressing the bass track itself? When I put Korvpressor on it alone, it was not that good. When compressing the bass track on its own, the Logic compressor on the Studio FET option sounded much better for me.

 

The quietest note. The lowest loudness that isn't just a dip into silence or a break between the notes played.

Your compressor has meters. You can find the quietest note in the audio, and see how loud it is on the meter. Then put threshold to that loudness or a bit below.

Which ones? Maybe I'll be able to elaborate.

Also I see that you're a bit ahead of me on this whole Korvpressor thing :D
Anyways, another thing you can also try, and what I would've done, is use a clipper instead.
Get a StandardCLIP, set a threshold the same way you would with a compressor, soften the knee and compensate the loudness. Attenuate highs afterwards if necessary. Additional harmonics for better discernability as a bonus.

 

UA/Teletronix LA-2A isn't a pedal per se, and doesn't really work that great with guitar either.
Yes, you usually compress the bass individually from everything else.

I thought it still needed some dynamics (in the file I uploaded) so that it had the expressiveness and attack left (the saturation also compresses it a bit though). You can throw the wav file into your project and duck it a little (with a compressor, fastest attack and semi-fast release) with the kickdrum on the sidechain input. Duck it 2-3dB so that it doesn't mask/overlap too much with the kickdrum. Try it!

 

Last edited: Feb 28, 2024

when in doubt adjust until you like it.

 

Last edited: Feb 28, 2024

never heard of LA-2A pedals before. had to look it up haha

the look is pretty sick

 

Maybe try with BBC Mach 3 Bass and Loudness maximizer or StillWell Event Horizon.. ?

 

I tried this, here is what happened: -you can also see this on the screenshot below - the compressor's meter reports about -24 as loudness for the selected note. You can see on the far left, bottom corner, that the track meter is reporting about the same. However, when I set the Threshold anything below -10, the Threshold meter starts "dancing". I guess what I should do is find that minimum level, where the meter still does not move, shouldn't I? But maybe I am wrong. Anyhow, that minimum level is -10. Is that the correct setting you wanted me to find, or I should not care about the meter dancing, and set the Threshold to the metered -24?

Notice however that the track fader has also been lowered a bit previously from the default mark, I wonder if that disturbs the metering results, and whether it should be set to the default before starting to set the compressor?

Let us discuss that later. First I want to clarify your setting method. I had a clue one needs to adjust the threshold compared to the meters, but I never understood how to do that, I want to learn it.

 

I did not clarify the target character I want to reach with compressing this particular bass, I posted that in the 3rd post, this is what I want to achieve:
How to set the compressor for this bass?

There are compressor pedals that were designed according to the LA-2A circuit, like the Gurus Optivalve, that I also have. And I also tried the Opto variant in the Logic compressor, but my problem is that it leaves too much dynamic variation. I think it is not good for the purpose that I want. If you listen to this sample I linked, there the bass is more like a disco bass, stays in the front, stays even, steady. I could not set the Opto to be like that. I think that kind of compressor is better for situations when you want to keep some kind of dynamic character for the signal, but maybe I am wrong. I would use it more for my clean guitar tone. For example the Carl Martin Opto Compressor pedal creates very nice tone for the guitar (the only problem the settings are very chaotic on that one, the breathing and pumping is difficult to sort out).

 

1. As already stated, your bass is too inconsistent.
2. Especially compared to your example in post #3 it has way too much low end.

So this is my suggestion how to embed a problematic bass into a song.
These are the steps I took, all three tracks have ~ the same LUFSi:


At first I reduced the low end. Since shelving didn't sound sufficient, I added a low cut. TDR Nova because it's free
Output set manually to maintain LUFSi.

Then I had the feeling that some of the low end information is missing, so I added saturation before the EQ. Klanghelm IVGI because it's free

Trim adjusted to meter, Drive to taste, Response to LF+ because that's what I wanted, tiny bit of Output adjustment for LUFSi.

Since your bass was still too dull, I added another instance of IVGI after the EQ

Trim, Drive, Response to neutral.

As you can see in the pic above (Track 2) this is already way more even and sounds like this

Final step, clean compression because we already have lots of saturation/harmonics. This time I went for TrackComp (I could've used ReaComp aswell but TrackComp looks nicer, right? )

Have a look at Threshold (this is ~ the actual (and maintained) LUFSi), ratio, attack and knee. I used Output adjustment, not Makeup because this is pulled down and it can be confusing to look at.

Looks like Track 3 (in the pic above), sounds like:

Fun fact, if this sounds too treated, you can easily use the unprocessed bass in parallel to get back a bit of low end and dynamics. Tried, worked.

Even if this approach is more laborious that @Baxter's, which works fine BTW, this way you have a lot more control over the separate steps.

 

Wooo, this is to big of a chunk from the audio world at once for me. But I will study it and experiment with it. This is a different kind of approach to equalize this bass than I tried to do it so far. But it may work. The question is how it would fit into the mix. Can you run the whole bass track through this process, I would like to hear how it sounds? Here is it attached:

 

Nah, saturation, EQ, saturation, clean compression. I used free pluggies (apart from TrackComp, obviously) so you can reproduce it.

That much is true, try yourself

 

You mean the pointer at the center? This is gain reduction meter, not a threshold meter LOL
It shows you how much compression is happening. It's supposed to dance when the compresor is working, as it indicates that work's being done. Switch to graph if it's too distracting.

Doesn't matter, your compressor insert is pre-fader.

Threshold is the loudness at which the compressor starts working. So to even the performance out you set it around the dynamics you want your whole signal to be close to, or a little lower. In case of downwards compression (this case and most usual compressors), this would be the lowest sustained loudness, the softest note.

The big dancey arrow indicates how much compression is happening at any given time. It's subject to inertia, which is a hardware limitation thoughtlessly implemented in software. I mean, it's useful when monitoring *loudness*, cause it reacts closer to how our ear processes loudness, but when ot comes to gain reduction, it just adds lag to perception. In any case, it just shows you how much the loudness is reduced when it overshoots the threshold. Some compressors start gradually working in advance, this is called "soft knee", cause the transfer curve looks less like an angle and more like, well, a curve. Dan Worall explains it, I belive.
The higher your compression ratio is, the more compression takes place *when* it takes place. Again, the pointy arrow is supposed to move if a compressor is doing anything. Just switch to a graph and it will show you, well, a graph of gain reduction.

Output meter shows the output signal. Bet you couldn't predict that! By default (if you turn off auto gain), it would be quieter than the input, but also more even. You can bring up the volume to your desired level with make-up gain. For example, you can increase make-up gain until the *loudest* sustained volume of input and output match.

 

Last edited: Feb 29, 2024