5 Uses for Multiband Compression (Without Ruining your Mix)

Jeff Romejko — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 16:22:17 +0000

How it Starts

Every multiband compression tutorial starts the same way. “The first time I tried multiband compression, it completely ruined my mix. It sounded awful!”

They don’t even tell you what was bad about it. The message is simply: beware of multiband compression, the great mix killer.

You know, as opposed to all those other audio tools that only make your mix better. Take a saturation plugin for example. Slap it on your mix buss, turn the distortion to 11 and viola! You definitely did not just ruin your mix. Had you tried that with multiband compression, all your hard work would be in shambles.

Okay so here’s what I’m saying. Multiband compression is an audio tool, just like all the other audio tools. Which is to say there’s a time and place to use it. If you don’t need it, don’t use it.

But if you do need it and you don’t use it because you’re intimidated by it? Well then you’re not doing yourself any favors.

So when does multiband compression come in handy? Let’s see a few examples.

When to Use Multiband Compression

Example 1 – De-Essing Sibilant Vocals

I’m not even going to explain this because you already know how valuable a vocal de-esser can be. And yes a de-esser is an example of multiband compression. Because it only compresses select frequencies rather than the whole signal. So multiband is already less evil than we thought!

Example 2 – Scooping mud out of a flabby bass sound

Synth bass patches are notorious for too much sauce in the low mids. They muddy up the whole mix. Using multiband compression, you can rebalance the sound a bit.

Maybe the signal under 100hz is inconsistent, so smoothing out the subs and boosting them a couple dB will give it a more proper weight. Maybe in the 800-1200 range there’s a big drop off in signal. But if you can pull that up a little bit, there’s suddenly more clarity. Instead of having a big hump in the frequency spectrum around 250hz, the sound is more balanced now. And will hopefully sit better in the mix. That’s the goal after all.

Example 3 – Slap bass that POPS

Compressing slap bass is tricky. Similar to the previous example, there’s important frequencies far apart in the spectrum.

The low thump is vital to preserve, and the high pops equally so. And in this case especially, you want don’t want to lose the dynamics of the performance. So say you dial in a regular compressor to accentuate the hi popping notes. You find that as a result, you’ve completely squashed the low notes. They were louder after all, and were more greatly affected by the compressor. If only there was a way to have separate compressor settings – one set appropriate for the high notes, and another appropriate for the low notes. Oh right, that’s the very definition of multiband compression.

Example 4 – Unruly Multi-Layer Synth Patches

Imagine a layered, full spectrum synth patch. The kind that sounds like a whole song in one note. These often don’t need any compression at all. But lets say there’s a high fluttering layer with a nice twinkle. But whenever it gets to a certain note, a resonant peak jumps out and pierces your ears. Meanwhile, you don’t have a bass line in this song. It’s an ambient track and you were hoping the low layer of this synth patch would suffice for the bass. But now it’s sounding weak in the mix.

Multiband compression time. Treat the piercing highs with a similar approach you would for de-essing. Narrow in on the problem frequency. Set the compressor threshold so it turns that down without affecting the rest of the sound. Use the compressor’s low band to squeeze and raise the bass frequencies, filling in the hole you noticed in the mix.

Example 5 – An underweight kick drum sample

Okay, usually for this I would just layer in another kick sample with more sub frequencies. But lets say that’s not an option. Using a multiband compressor, you can access those sub bass frequencies and thicken them up. Just like in the previous examples.

Bonus tip!

Now you have a bass heavy electronic song. There’s a monumental bass riff and 10 ton kick drum to boot. Here’s a classic case for side chain compression on the bass, lowering it’s volume whenever the kick hits. But this bass riff is monumental! Full spectrum, the meat of the song! We don’t want to hear the high frequencies being sucked out by the kick drum. The riff is supposed to be tearing our faces off, not hiding from every down beat.

Enter Multiband Side-Chain Compression. You’re goddamn right I went there.

Put the multiband compressor on the bass. Side chain the kick to the low frequency band only. Now only the sub frequencies of the bass duck out for the kick drum. This fixes the problem and leaves the rest alone. A much more transparent solution than the usual alternative.

Ps. If you don’t know how to use a compressor and you try to use a multiband compressor, you will multiply your mistakes. Don’t ruin your mix!

But really, don’t be afraid to practice and improve your skills. The only way to make a great mix is to make many many bad ones first.

The post 5 Uses for Multiband Compression (Without Ruining your Mix) appeared first on Jeff Romejko.

How Loud Should My Song Be?

Jeff Romejko — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 17:41:27 +0000

A Look at Reference Data from 10+ Classic Electronic Albums

Do you ever wonder, “how loud should my master be?” Or, “how compressed is my track compared to the pros?”

Well, I have news for you. There is no right answer.

But you already knew that. So let me tell you something you don’t already know. And it’ll be up to you to use it wisely.

The overall loudness of ROYGBIV is -13.4 LUFS and it’s loudness range is 10.7 LU.

What?… That didn’t answer your question?

Reference tracks are everything. They are the answer key. You just have to do a little reverse engineering. But you’re right, looking at a couple stats from one song isn’t going to help you much. Even if it is one of the best sounding songs out there. Love you ROYGBIV.

Every song has a unique purpose and context within it’s album as a whole. Looking at data from one random song is insufficient. No, worse. It’s misleading. Because then you’ll be trying to model every song you make to that one reference, whether it is a relevant comparison or not. What a disaster!

But what if we looked at data for an entire album? Or a bunch of albums? Wouldn’t that be more informative?

So check it out: here’s a couple EPs worth of data just to start. Notice the Integrated LUFS, that’s how loud the song is overall. The closer the value is to zero, the louder it is. Then look at Dynamic Range. A lower value here indicates more compression. Lastly, the Loudness Range is the difference between the loudest parts of the song and the softest.

See you on the other side.

Trickfinger

She Smiles Because She Presses the Button

Aphex Twin

Collapse

01 AMB

Integrated LUFS: -14.6 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -11.6 LUFS

True Peak: -0.1 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 11.4 DR

Loudness Range: 5.2 LU

02 BRISE

Integrated LUFS: -12.2 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -10.1 LUFS

True Peak: -0.2 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 9.9 DR

Loudness Range: 4.0 LU

03 NOICE

Integrated LUFS: -14.8 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -11.3 LUFS

True Peak: -0.2 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 11.1 DR

Loudness Range: 17.1 LU

04 PLANE

Integrated LUFS: -15.6 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -13.8 LUFS

True Peak: -0.2 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 13.6 DR

Loudness Range: 2.0 LU

05 RHYME FOUR

Integrated LUFS: -13.4 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -10.2 LUFS

True Peak: -0.2 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 9.6 DR

Loudness Range: 18.7 LU

06 SEA YXS

Integrated LUFS: -13.0 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -9.7 LUFS

True Peak: 0.1 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 9.5 DR

Loudness Range: 6.3 LU

1 – T69 COLLAPSE

Integrated LUFS: -9.6 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -6.9 LUFS

True Peak: 0.7 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 6.7 DR

Loudness Range: 4.3 LU

2 – 1ST 44

Integrated LUFS: -10.4 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -8.3 LUFS

True Peak: 1.5 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 8.1 DR

Loudness Range: 5.4 LU

3 – MT1 T29R2

Integrated LUFS: -11.0 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -7.9 LUFS

True Peak: 1.2 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 7.7 DR

Loudness Range: 5.6 LU

4 – ABUNDANCE10EDIT[2 R8’S, FZ20M & A 909]

Integrated LUFS: -10.8 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -7.3 LUFS

True Peak: 1.0 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 7.1 DR

Loudness Range: 7.0 LU

5 – PTHEX

Integrated LUFS: -11.7 LUFS

Short Term LUFS: -9.2 LUFS

True Peak: 0.8 dBTP

Peak: -0.2 dB

Dynamic Range: 9.0 DR

Loudness Range: 7.9 LU

Hello again. So, as you saw, T69 Collapse is the loudest song out of the 11 listed. It also has the smallest Dynamic Range. These tend to go hand in hand. But Brise has the smallest Loudness Range. Meaning that once the song starts, it’s pretty much the same volume until it ends. Not much volume variation between the sections. Conversely, you can expect some parts in Rhyme Four to be dramatically louder than others.

Now that you know how to read the tables, I have even more for you. Click here for data from 10+ more albums by

Aphex Twin
Boards of Canada
Four Tet
John Frusciante
Trickfinger
Skee Mask
Ochre

But don’t forget my warning. This is still a very small sample size. Ten albums out of, well, all albums in existence. I picked these albums because I like them. I like the way they sound. And they are a similar style to the music I make. So it’s good reference material for my purposes. It may not have the same value to you. Take what I’ve started here and tailor it to your own pursuits. That’s where the real value begins.

The post How Loud Should My Song Be? appeared first on Jeff Romejko.

Production Tips Archives - Jeff Romejko

5 Uses for Multiband Compression (Without Ruining your Mix)

How it Starts

When to Use Multiband Compression

Example 1 – De-Essing Sibilant Vocals

Example 2 – Scooping mud out of a flabby bass sound

Example 3 – Slap bass that POPS

Example 4 – Unruly Multi-Layer Synth Patches

Example 5 – An underweight kick drum sample

Bonus tip!

How Loud Should My Song Be?

A Look at Reference Data from 10+ Classic Electronic Albums

Trickfinger

She Smiles Because She Presses the Button

Aphex Twin

Collapse