Hi Guys
I New Boy .. School Boy Really
But i Want To Know The In Master Comperssion If I Set BUS Compersor In Master Channel. Its Need To Set Or Use Compressor In Another Channels Like Kick Drum Or Vocal ???
Or Not Just Set Comperssor In Mater Channel !!!
That My Question !!!
Thanks Guys And Have Good Weekend

 

The answer, unfortunately, is yes and no. Let me expand.

Compressors used for instrument tracks like drums and vocals have a different use than master bus compressors. Understanding this will help you decide if you want to use a compressor (or several) on your two-bus fader.

When you use a compressor on individual tracks, you want to use the compressor to shape such tracks by varying their attack and release and give them a more forward or backward vibe against the rest of the mix. Some compressors will saturate nicely, others will make a track pump, yet others will mess the whole thing and trash your tracks. A master bus compressor, on the other hand, is usually intended to add "glue" to your tracks, giving them some sonic cohesion and a more polished (a.k.a. like a record) sound. The thing is that if you are inexperienced in the use of master bus compressors, you'll juice it up too much and squash the hell out of your song. The trick is the moderate use of parameters, and learning to decide how much is too much comes with mixing mileage (This is true for any processor on the two-bus). BTW, compression on the two bus is the realm of mastering, which is why a lot of people feel that it should be left to be done by the pros.

However, if you want to use a master-bus compressor, just keep a few pointers in mind:

1. Choose a VCA type.
2. Set the ratio to 1.5:1 or 2:1.
3. Set the attack to slow.
4. Set the release to meduim to fast.
5. If there's knee choose soft.
6. Set the input gain so that the needle/LED indicator moves no more than -3 dB. A lot of times it will barely move.
7. Set the output gain so that it matches the loudness of the bypassed plugin.

These are hard and fast rules, and nothing is actually black and white, but it is a good starting point-- at least for me. The goal is to cause the tracks to gel together, not to alter the sonics of the mix. BTW, there are threads here that explain the use of compressors very thoroughly. Do your search and you'll be busy for days.

Peace.

 

Just cause it has the word MASTER in it does not mean its something really cool. It just refers to what the main output channel was called back in the day, because it controlled the output power of a mixer it was the fader that ruled them all, hence the Master fader, or Main fader nomenclature.

Also, bear in mind relative levels, no need to slam a compressor on your main output channel, but like everything else in audio, if it sounds good to you, then by all means, carry on.

 

It all depends on what you're trying to achieve and that is the most important thing when it comes to using anything like EQ, compression etc...
You need to ask yourself WHY do you want to use a compressor on the master, or a kick drum, or vocal or anything else.

So I'll try to explain this as simply as possible.

You need to use compression wherever it's needed. Even if you have a compressor on the master, your vocals might still need compression.

So let's say you're producing a track and the vocals are too dynamic and have the singer sings some words that are louder than everything else. then you need to compress that vocal. I would use two compressors in this. The first one would be to catch those quick, loud words, and the second one would be to smooth the entire vocal out after those words are taken care of. Each of these compressors would need different settings.

To catch the quick words (compressor 1), you would need a fast attack time (4-10ms), and fast release time (20-40ms), a ratio somewhere between 3 and 4 and a hard knee. Then pull the threshold down until the loud words don't poke out anymore.

To smooth out the entire vocal (compressor 2) I would use soft knee, medium attack (10-20ms), medium/slow release (~100ms), and a ratio of 2-3. Then pull the threshold down until you here the vocal kind of glue together, it becomes smoother and more cohesive.

It's all about using your ears, these settings are only guidelines.

Then, let's say you want to use a compressor on the master channel. Again, ask yourself why? What are you trying to achieve? Do you want the track loud? Do you want to glue everything together and make it sound more cohesive? Both? Then it's pretty much the same concept as with the vocals except now you have to listen to ALL of the elements in your track and not only the vocals.

Does that make things a little easier to understand?