so lets say there are some guitars playing

i make another track for parallel compression, send all the guitars in
with infinite ratio

and i blend this signal with the original guitars


can you please tell me the advantages and disadvantages of this process

thanks!


apart of less control and less cpu usage

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 14, 2021

Parallel compression is just another paintbrush. There are no advantages and disadvantages. Just experiment. Do it enough times, get a feel of how it sounds like, and use it to taste for achieving your desired effect.

 

advantage is the blend between original and compressed signal,
disadvantage may be phase shifts between those two signals

 

Why not use a compressor with built in parallel compression so that you won't have any phase shift (as tzzsmk mentioned, as long as there is no phase shift to start with on multiple miced instruments) . There are tons out there. I would (if necessary) compress individual tracks before sending them en mass to a limiter, what I believe you are naming as an infinite ratio compressor (if I would do that at all).

 

My Tip is the:

Sonnox Oxford - Inflator Native

- Allows for higher loudness without the artifacts of conventional
compressors and loss of dynamic ratios in the mix

- Supplements virtual headroom, signal presence and tube-like saturation effects

https://www.sonnox.com/plugin/oxford-inflator-v3

 

Parallel compression is great if you want to go overboard with your compression, using just a regular compressor as an insert to do the job would probably create some undesired pumping effect or enphasize too much of the transients making it harder to fit the track in the mix, there's where parallel compression can help. Think about it like any other parallel effect, you take the original sound and the extremely processed sound and blend both till you have your desired effect without undesired artifacts.

Hope this perspective helps you to feel more confident on how to approach parallel effects in general.

Yeah, parallel compression is more suited to "make the source better" than to "solve mix problems", so, solve problems first and polish things later. Great tip as well.

 

Another option to add to the good approaches mentioned already is, using a folder track that can act as a Bus. Reaper, Samplitude, and the most recent version of Pro Tools are some DAWs that have this feature. This will allow processing just for the tracks under that folder/bus with a compressor that has a mix blend or, separate dry & wet controls.

Studio One Approach:
Killer Guitar Mixing Trick - Adding Focus With Parallel Compression.

From iZotope:
6 Parallel Compression Mistakes in Mixing

 

Last edited: Apr 14, 2021

It's a saturator, not a compressor, different result.

 

But then you need to rearrange the track order.

 

ATME, not with Reaper (that's why you installed it recently? ).

 

Even some of the best natural compression bassists I have seen waveforms of, still need a compressor, even if it is only for minor gain differences. Considering parallel compression is a mixing of signals, I always found it quicker to duplicate a track and add the compression to the duplicate. No phasing issues as it's an exact duplicate unless that comes from the compressor. It's still pretty much the same thing. If I do not like it I simply delete or disable the duplicate. Made sense to me at the time...

 

Inflator The Loudness Monster

 

it doesnt have to look bad

 

But then you need one compressor for one duplicate. With parallel compression you can send several sources to it, even to different amount (send level) that's why OP wrote

Or you make a bunch of copies and put them in a folder.

 

Says the Ableton user???

 

I get that but it means settling on a "one-size-fits-all" - and while I respect the OP's choice to minimise overhead, it rarely fits all.

 

using a comp as send or in this case return track in live isnt parallel compression , maybe im wrong
and building in effect rack sounds bit other than bus 2 tracks for ny compression , i think