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Post by Bob Olhsson on Apr 25, 2016 22:27:09 GMT -6
I just did a mix today where not a single DB of compression was used on the drums and it sounded great. If you have a great player it can be done. And if you don't have a great player you're screwed anyway!
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Post by Randge on Apr 26, 2016 9:37:12 GMT -6
Follow up pics! The Royer up top was for his fiddle.
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Post by Ward on Apr 26, 2016 9:52:02 GMT -6
Not according to CLA who uses the Waves Studer 800 plugin on every track to get rid of the nasty space-invading transients...
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Apr 26, 2016 13:59:11 GMT -6
A compressor that often confuses the hell out people is the Aphex Compellor. We have a 320A across our mix buss and for the $$ it is hard to beat. IMO it's one of the few analog compressors that can glue a mix together without destroying the transients or making the mix sound squished. It's one of the most transparent compressors on the planet which is why some seem to give it a bad rap. ie. It has very little 'tone'. I had one of those. I wish I still had it. Amazingly transparent. Uncanny really. I say I say you want transfer any son? why send one of them to JW!!
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Post by jimwilliams on Apr 26, 2016 14:21:31 GMT -6
Ha, yea, I do those.
I remember back in the 1970's you were lucky to have more than a couple of them in the gear rack. Maybe a Urei and a dbx 160. Usually they were used for vocals and lead instruments as you had to make hard choices.
SSL's offered more than you could use for the first time. I "recall" mixes that went "splat" using those things. Pretty ugly stuff as I remember. But you know, boys with their new toys.
Once I rebuilt an SSL master section in a Guadalupe studio. I did one side first as the owner needed "proof" it would make a difference. The Titanic theme was played and a bell tree popped out of the modified side. He looks up and asks, "what's that?".
I told him that is the food your console has been chewing for you.
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Post by Randge on Apr 26, 2016 14:54:11 GMT -6
And probably why I don't really care for his style of mixing personally. I don't treat every song the same way like that method does.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Apr 26, 2016 16:59:14 GMT -6
I don't quite understand the thinking of a CLA mix. I respect the knowledge he has, but in a way, the results sound like the throttle was floored on every instrument, and then all sorts various EQ, delay, distortion and transient tricks were performed to give every instrument its own space.
Am I wrong?
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Post by rowmat on Apr 26, 2016 17:49:26 GMT -6
Careful limiting is usually a better choice for me. If you must squash, a slow attack can leave some transient crumbs left over, as long as the release time doesn't get them too. Heavy compression doesn't sound natural. If you heard that much at a live show you would think something's wrong. We have a few 651 Expressors (one of which has been modified by yourself). I mainly use them for a little peak limiting when tracking. They're particularly good for limiting acoustic instrument transients when used in conjunction with the HFX control to avoid dulling transients that exceed the threshold. I also tend to use limiting more than compression. I mainly reserve compression for vocals and bass. Drums and acoustic instruments generally get a little peak limiting mainly to even out the peaks followed by some normalising if required although I usually do this manually in a wave editor so I can see what is going on rather than using a plug in.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2016 17:42:34 GMT -6
I just did a mix today where not a single DB of compression was used on the drums and it sounded great. If you have a great player it can be done. And if you don't have a great player you're screwed anyway! Only the meek get pinched
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2016 17:44:52 GMT -6
I don't quite understand the thinking of a CLA mix. I respect the knowledge he has, but in a way, the results sound like the throttle was floored on every instrument, and then all sorts various EQ, delay, distortion and transient tricks were performed to give every instrument its own space. Am I wrong? Way less compression than you think, after watching all the Mix With The Masters and Audio Legends stuff, he's really not doing nearly as much compression as you might think. His thing is using the desk as a brightening tool, find the brightest spot on everything, crank it, drive the faders into the Red 3 on the bus and done. That's his workflow in a nutshell.
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Post by Ward on Apr 27, 2016 20:02:46 GMT -6
Only the meek get pinched Nice.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Apr 27, 2016 21:01:19 GMT -6
I do remember feeling like my ears were being pinned to the wall when CLA played back his mix when he was in the Slate/Ocean Way room at AES in 2012. Maybe it was just volume and not so much compression.
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Post by EmRR on Apr 27, 2016 21:32:23 GMT -6
too compressed can sound too loud even when very quiet. like a garlic laden drunk uncle at christmas.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2016 23:19:37 GMT -6
I do remember feeling like my ears were being pinned to the wall when CLA played back his mix when he was in the Slate/Ocean Way room at AES in 2012. Maybe it was just volume and not so much compression. The amount of top he adds is nothing short of insane. He cuts nothing, in one of the vids he actually sends the kick and snare to another fader on the desk and adds more 8k on top of the maxed out channels. It's funny how those frequencies can really bring out the smack of a drum without really compressing it much.
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Post by Ward on Apr 28, 2016 8:19:45 GMT -6
He hits comps AFTER EQing. Think about that. The EQs some more. Then comps again. Then Buss comps. Then comps the 2-buss. Think about ALL that.
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Post by noah shain on Apr 28, 2016 11:33:28 GMT -6
I do remember feeling like my ears were being pinned to the wall when CLA played back his mix when he was in the Slate/Ocean Way room at AES in 2012. Maybe it was just volume and not so much compression. The amount of top he adds is nothing short of insane. He cuts nothing, in one of the vids he actually sends the kick and snare to another fader on the desk and adds more 8k on top of the maxed out channels. It's funny how those frequencies can really bring out the smack of a drum without really compressing it much. The CLA presets on the waves Ssl channel always make me laugh out loud. 10k and 2k and 50hz cranked on everything!! How in gods name does he DO that?!?! But they really do sound like him.
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Post by noah shain on Apr 28, 2016 11:34:25 GMT -6
And the 1176 presets are really extreme too. I don't know if he's trolling or what but they're wild.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2016 13:05:03 GMT -6
And the 1176 presets are really extreme too. I don't know if he's trolling or what but they're wild. Attack on 3 release on 7 for vocals, 10db of reduction on the silverface, same time settings and 3db on the blackface for bass. I still think the guys mixes are insane.
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Post by popmann on Apr 28, 2016 15:04:45 GMT -6
Can I point out again that there's no such thing as an extreme compressin preset, because for all intents and purposes, the threshold CANT be preset. Obviously they pick a number because they're too pussy to set it to 0 like it should be. It's ALL relative to input. So, you can have super fast....slow....easy to pump....but, end of the day, this is why presets for transformation (insert) plug ins are useless.
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Post by gouge on Apr 28, 2016 16:27:04 GMT -6
The amount of top he adds is nothing short of insane. He cuts nothing, in one of the vids he actually sends the kick and snare to another fader on the desk and adds more 8k on top of the maxed out channels. It's funny how those frequencies can really bring out the smack of a drum without really compressing it much. The CLA presets on the waves Ssl channel always make me laugh out loud. 10k and 2k and 50hz cranked on everything!! How in gods name does he DO that?!?! But they really do sound like him. +50hz, -200hz, +2k +10k That's where all the fun is...
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Post by rowmat on Apr 28, 2016 17:14:22 GMT -6
Have you heard about CLA's new NBICF plugin?
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Post by tonycamphd on Apr 28, 2016 18:14:17 GMT -6
The CLA presets on the waves Ssl channel always make me laugh out loud. 10k and 2k and 50hz cranked on everything!! How in gods name does he DO that?!?! But they really do sound like him. +50hz, -200hz, +2k +10k That's where all the fun is... you musta been havin lots of fun with these guys, haven't seen you in forever! welcome back man!
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Post by gouge on Apr 29, 2016 3:04:00 GMT -6
cheers tony,
have been swinging by to read the knowledge but not contributing. time poor, since I started a new job before xmas. life is real good though... :-)
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