Drum Compression Basics: Creating Punchy Drums with Hannes Bieger

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***Learn the rules of compressing drums and setting your attack and release properly in this tutorial from Hannes Bieger. Read more here: djtechtools.com/2015/10/06/dru...

[@CyberWallX]

Emotionless and straight to the point. Exactly what I expected from a fellow German musician and exactly what I was hoping for. (Not joking, Im a little bit fed up with all these ADHD "producer" tutorials) Thx m8!

[@markfabricius1361]

Machine Like Precision.

[@danielhughes5250]

He just relaxed. You up-tight Americans would not be used to this 😅

[@CyberWallX]

@@crowmagnon yes, that is precisely what I intended to express

[@EltronOfficial]

I could listen to German sound engineers talk about this kind of stuff all day.

[@Guilherme-md7vw]

lol their accent make them sound like they know their shit

[@rishibawa]

Elliot Noteware - seriously

[@mkonich]

Elliot Noteworthy yeah but I keep waiting for him to reveal that there's actually a bomb in the mix that will detonate if Bruce Willis can't get those transients to shine through!

[@mixedbydk]

i'm german and to me its pretty annoying listening to him lol

[@sportsfreundberlin]

Zis is what most of us do all day here in Germany

[@YuhMovies]

Me not hearing the difference: Ah yes compression.

[@leeontos]

You'll hear clearly the dif just when the threshold is extreme and fast attack at 5:16 - btw to hear it you need good bass speakers or headphones cause the transient of the kick is being cut.

[@MarcadamiaNut]

This is the most German production video I've ever seen. So straightforward about the envelope. A lot of information on the subtleties of balanced compression. Love the poppy punch!

[@lavishdeluna6099]

I've been going about this all wrong. Seems obvious, now, that you'd want a long attack to leave the transients. Probably the most important video that I've ever watched on compression.

[@ards5161]

theres no right or wrong, it depends on what you want to achieve.

[@yuli8897]

It's not always a good idea to have long attack on drums, in this case it's a nice touch because it's house music you need your track to bounce, but for example in rock music or hiphop or pop it's more often to use a fast attack with an intermedium release so you keep the attack of your drums more balance to be able to sit your vocals on the mix in proper way without having a fast attack your snare and kick drum will interfere with the rest of your sounds, so it's something more about taste.

[@inf0tr8r]

same, glad I stumbled on this video

[@wyattalexander4041]

That curve bender though.... this guy has everything you’d ever need in that room wow.....

[@MattGreerMusic]

We wants the money, Lebowski. No funny stuffs.

[@bluntobjct]

fucking amateurs

[@rhcp357]

nothing is fucked dude

[@MattGreerMusic]

We believe in nussing, Lebowski. Nussing.

[@bluntobjct]

Fucking nihilists...

[@rishibawa]

reading these was the perfect end to a great day. Thank you all

[@Cyribro]

FFS, please do more videos on drum compression! That right there was probably the most informative video on drums I've seen in the two years I have taken producing seriously... How many times throughout these 5 years I have been following you guys can I say I appreciate the things you guys do for the music community!

[@GlennJamison]

I thought this was a great tutorial. Easy to understand and simple, direct communication. Also, I could clearly hear the effects of what he was doing. That kick really pops when you increase the attack. Love the sound of that 2500.

[@That1Guy]

What a great explanation! I’ve been playing and recording music my whole life and compression is still so confusing to me this really makes sense thank you

[@the_other_dude]

DJTT raising the bar, yet, again. Great upload! Thank you. _Cheers_

[@sanchezproductions87]

Crazy how he put to words how I visualized this in my head. Idk if any of you guys have ever watched or been in a concert/symphonic band but the way I picture compression is just like when you see a bass drummer sometimes place their hand back on the drum after striking it with the mallet. They have control of the resonance there but to me the "Attack" is the time from when it's struck to when they place their hand on it and the "Release" is how long they leave it on there..

[@rishibawa]

sanchezproductions87 excellent explanation and that too as I'm watching a lot of classical music :)

[@drumken]

Wow! I'll keept this in mind.

[@trentoproduccento]

exactly

[@TheRobZet]

Compressor starts compressing as soon as signal goes above the threshold. It doesn't wait for anything. Attack is only a smoothing filter which shapes the envelope of gain reduction based on the incoming signal. Depending on how the compressor is built it can also start taking the information even before the threshold's been exceeded. Just my 3 cents.

[@saardean4481]

Thats more like your 50cent :-) . Nice info. Good to know

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

Agreed !! At least 27 cents worth 😎

[@asura6733]

Hannes, if you're reading this, please do the next one on Kick and Bass eq/comp. Thanks

[@gabejames3304]

asura673 i

[@snoolee7950]

Wow what a coincidence. I just bought knobs from DJTT. Great shop, best !! Real stand out bright light. Thank you, DJTT !!

[@Beethovan]

Best video on drum bus compression I have heard. Thank you.

[@ELLIOT8209]

Not really. He kept adjusting the threshold everytime he changed the attack settings. Half baked info

[@AudioReplica2023]

I always hear good stuffs about this compressor. To me this is the more defined punchier compressor out there. Punchy ,focused and clean.

[@bassfakira]

thank you so much DJTT for this video..

[@swaggington]

Yes! More production videos!

[@somthin]

Best compression tutorial I've seen so far

[@YouTubeSupportTeams]

Welcome to your first day on youtube

[@shufflephunk]

@@KZbinSupportTeams I love how you are correcting one of the most influential and relevant mixing engineers in the world right now. Do some research on his work history and come back to us and while you are at it, let's us see and hear yours.

[@3ATTR1X]

Been reading the comments of those who said the difference was inaudible. In my listening environment which is not that well setup through dynaudio acoustics 8" and 12" sub routing through UA2192. I could hear more of the beater which added more clarity to the kick or shift of focus from a woof sound to a more punch/smack. My point is about the shift of focus if the beater was already there, there may not even needed any compression as the drum loop sounds like it is already altered with compression.

[@jpdalpozzo]

Muchas gracias! Saludos from Chile

[@Stacity]

Thank you Hannes I really enjoyed the video .

[@curefan28]

Most of this video you are discussing attack time, but how you described it is incorrect. The compressor does not wait the attack time to start compressing. All compressors begin attacking immediately once a signal is over a threshold. The attack time is the amount of time it spends getting to the final attenuation level. It's a ramp Steeper ramp with fast attack, shallower ramp with slower attack so more transients get through.

[@dirtygirl5698]

I love how you are correcting one of the most influential and relevant mixing engineers in the world right now. Do some research on his work history and come back to us and while you are at it, let's see and hear yours.

[@curefan28]

@@dirtygirl5698 I'm sure his credentials far outweigh mine but what he says about attack in this video is wrong. Thou shalt never correct a person with "credentials"?

[@dirtygirl5698]

@@curefan28 ​ Just so you know, those of us who have tons of respect and been following Hannes Bieger for years know that he loves debunking rules in the studio, he is known for that, but of course you wouldn't know that..... This guy knows the rules and then breaks them as he pleases, and It does not mean he is not "Correct" as you have stated, he is just pushing boundaries as pioneers have always done.

[@curefan28]

@@dirtygirl5698 It's not a rule, it's a fact. Read my explanation again and look up the definition of compressor attack. He is perpetuating a common misconception about compressors. I guess you don't know how they work either.

[@dirtygirl5698]

@@curefan28 Fact? well, crystallography, once was a fact! where it was once thought that crystalline solids could only be composed of repeating blocks (unit cells) that could be used to tile all of space. This was upended with the discovery of Quasicrystals, but I guess you don't know about Quasicrystals

[@carloszampieri9844]

great tutorial, i use a HD25-1II and hear a big difference. thanksss

[@projectz975]

Is it just me or did the kick already sound really compressed before he turned on the compressor?

[@val058]

not just you. A compressed mess to begin with.

[@danielmb93]

!

[@VIIlncent]

with this kind of compression he increased the transients. This way it is sounding less flat and less compressed.

[@YouTubeSupportTeams]

what he achieved was so subtle it never even needed to be done.

[@zeelevel]

KZbin Support imagine the amount of money he spend to get this subtle effect

[@Makebelieve123]

Really enjoyed this thanks @hannes Bieger . If one is on a tighter budget which outboard compressor would you recommend for drums? or would i be better off using a plugin. I have mostly analogue instruments so keen on using outboard eq and compression before going in. Thank you !

[@kuribohalado2448]

Nice tutorial mate! Really easy to undesrtand thanks! =D

[@MrSolaris1982]

- you would like that little extra German punch on kick :) Amazing guy!

[@ToniJXN]

HELPED ME A LOT THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@thematteblack6606]

i wish there was a on off comparison without any dialog. difficult to hear the difference on my setup with talking over it. great video though very helpful!

[@frydac]

Yeay, this is something I discovered myself. Nice to see it confirmed by a professional.

[@benfactor]

90 eurodance has some of the most impressive punchy kicks. Ace Of Base, Dr. Alban, Corona... as well as top class mastering on these high profile eurodance artists. Give it a listen again on proper gear you'd be amazed how immaculate the kicks and mastering on these songs is.

[@iam-music]

Vielen Dank Herr Bieger! Im not sure of the comments about not hearing any difference...are you kidding? I am playing this through my references (ATC, HS5 and Aurasphere Focus)...clear as day. Even through the low fi ref...not as much but the higher harmonics are definitely sound more solid. Greets from Sydney...ähnlich von Hamburg :-)

[@playac1712]

Finally a tutorial that actually explains why we are using the certain settings rather than throwing settings on my plate and saying see ya.

[@theDeskBangahz]

This video was very helpful.

[@davidgoode7416]

Great video, thanks

[@ashleymason8917]

I learned a lot from this. I'd also love to know what the intro song is. SoundHound won't clock it. Any ideas?

[@StopchangingMyHandlePunk]

Dope studio and skills

[@djdonovan]

Hannes! Please do a video on EQing the 909 and what 500 series EQ you would recommend. I'm assuming you like the 550 :D

[@SAVMONEY97]

You need an award 🥇

[@michaelwills1818]

Legend video! I take it if its on the drum bus the gain reduction is ever so slightly applied to the signal during the release but this seems to be a nice effect

[@estinex9540]

Good video!

[@michaelanderwald4179]

Cool video, but the attack time is not the time it takes the compressor to start compressing. It's the time it takes the compression to go from a 1:1 ratio to the specified ratio of gain reduction. It compresses virtually right away. There are definitions where the attack is defined as the time the gain reduction reaches a certain fraction of the full ratio, but they always start to reduce gain immediately after the detector registers a level above the threshold.

[@jhummelgaard9310]

All of them sounds great! Personally I'd use all, just program the compressor to change during the track. But I'm classically trained. Want to do cinematic.

[@guillermoserrano660]

Super helpful video

[@brentstuart1263]

Nice outboard gear. Big $.

[@vinylbeatz]

Hey do you apply compression to each individual drum hit before treating them all on a bus? Also, is there any chance you can make a short vid explaining the difference between limiting and compression? Out of all the things in music production, they are the two things that I find hard to know how and when to apply it.

[@DJDouglasWarden]

Compression is generally used to balance the overall level of a track if there is too much dynamics. A compressor can be used to do cool tricks that it was not originally intended for. A limiter will keep your track from peaking. Mostly used on the master bus.

[@AudioReplica2023]

Comp is basically what the word means. It compresses the unwanted peaks. Lets say an automatic volume control. Example; a kick drum sometimes sounds kinda hard and sometimes kinda soft? you can gradually adjust the volume between them so theres not too much difference in amplitude. But hey..I said "kinda" when describing volume differences. If happens that you have a kick peaking too low and another one way too high...you better record those drums again. Theres no compression or eq that can fix a bad recording. Compression is to control peaks , limiter is to put a limit to those peaks. To really understand compression is better to get out of youtube and get a book dedicated to mixing and recording. And then practice , practice and practice all that you already learned.

[@MM4F]

5-years late, but thought I'd add it in case someone else want's to know.. Yeah, you go individually if you chose, no real rules. But normally a good 'glue compression' is used to bring them all together on the bus.

[@10010011001100110101]

Best vid ive seen

[@elithefunkymonkey]

when he turns the attack really fast, he sounds genuinely hurt by the bad sound. thanks for this, useful video!

[@GuardateDJ]

nice tut! what's that mixer? looking sick

[@Kwipper]

I am using Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones. When he was making the changes on his compressor, I could not hear any difference on his kick drum. :(

[@arana0908]

+Kwipper Ursus same

[@DJSkunkieButt]

You really have to be a super criticial/OCD audiophile to hear it. I heard it through my shitty cellphone speakers lol

[@PaperKhaos]

+Kwipper Ursus Did you watch it in HD? Typically the sound quality on the lower res videos is too bad to hear these small differences.

[@marcelwambsgan3697]

I heard the difference, too - on my phone speakers :) With time and experience you learn what to listen for.

[@jeffreysousa1104]

+Kwipper Ursus Same on Audio-Technica ATH-M30x.

[@Shawkdogger]

Thank you!!!

[@christiendykstra5691]

does anyone know what a good compression ratio would be for this? i got attack and release down, but i wanna know how squished it should be when it kicks in.

[@MrAde101]

Hello I will like to ask a truly beginner level question. I double as the sound engineer of a small and growing church.. We currently have just a mixer, acoustic drum, equalizer and an Amplifier. I want our drum output to be significantly enhanced . I am looking at getting a "live hillsong" type of production for our drums what this means essentially is I want to get a "boomy" woofer like bass sound from my drums.. We currently have full range and mid-range speaker. I am trying to decide on the most cost effective path towards this. Will just buying a compressor and a sub woofer speaker (my equalizer has an inbuilt crossover output so I feel an external audio crossover is not needed) help us towards ou goal. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks

[@Rainer01]

super infos danke

[@stephendelacruzone]

Neat tips! Danke! #PunchyDrums

[@mindus5760]

Ist this compression used in the drum Bus? I mean wouldnt it make sense to compress all Drums on their own for more specific compression?

[@yevgeniis.9620]

Strait to the point ! Thank you !

[@Beatsbasteln]

i really loved when the compressor was turned up to the max. it would have been the perfect future bass kick, but i know this is more of a house example

[@cecilharveypage]

Brilliant. The attack is the back.

[@drexelmoliere11]

well said Mr.Hannes

[@coleslife]

Do i group all the drum parts together when using this compressor?

[@MoakThe7th]

What should I think about when it comes to release time?

[@stefanoskollias]

I wonder what sort of approach is needed in case of breakbeat pattern with rolling kicks like old school electro funk.

[@KaceyBakerFilms]

"It seems to work every time Im using it"..... it should for a $7000 compressor LOL

[@gothfrog69]

buy the UAD much cheaper

[@nundale7273]

$3000...

[@damiansalza7297]

That kick was too compressed to begin with, not really a great example to hear a proper change in transients in my opinion but at least his philosophy made sense. I think this video was more about looking at his crazy gear!

[@SuperNicola123456789]

bit late to the party but I'm fairly certain youtube's compression itself makes it kinda hard to hear what really was going on.

[@lucmermans37]

There was a massive difference, you need the right equipment to hear it and also trained ears.

[@THEBRAINNN]

Does this mean he included the kick in his drum since he spoke on how this compressor effected the shape of the kick?

[@jdsc100]

Is it better to buss the kick with the drums or the kick with bass?

[@Datacustic]

the sickest gear possible and what is the monitor choice? Genelecs :D

[@user-xb3xu4bd6z]

Do you think it is possible to make the best ever ( kind of ) depp techno hit, without analog equipment. But with lots of effort and UAD plugins for example, taste? Or you really recommend to buy great analog compressor, or anything else.

[@YouTubeSupportTeams]

Of course you can. you must be new to the hobby

[@arpet983]

I really wanted to see the compression used on all drums, not only kick. I find it hard to combine the use of compression within all drums and percussions, especially when I want even the smallest sound to pop-out and keep the beat pumping. Also, I use a lot of side chaining but that does not seem to be helping much, when on the top of that I have 10-15 instruments playing and filling all the frequency spectrum. Please help!

[@jochemherz]

+Arturas Petraitis this was on everything, but since the kick has the loudest transient, that is the reference he took to listen to how to compress

[@ncshuriken]

+Arturas Petraitis Just keep messing with compressor and (this may be more causing your problem) mixing, eventually you'll get it sounding phat & double krisp. Thats how I learn't anyway, just by f*cking with controls! Try compressing your hi-hats, BD, SN/Clap seperately (to give them "individual punch"). Get them sounding as tight/punchy/clean as you can first, then do some group compression if needed, to phatten it all up. Yea it sounds like you probably have a lot of different elements fighting for the same frequency zones. Some careful EQ'ing (and a good bit of Lo-cutting, usually everywhere except the bassline) should fix that more than a compressor. I'd do the compression afterwards. Sidechaining can help with fighting freqs, but only in certain situations. Sometimes having too much going on at once can sound too "dense", maybe thats the cause? I can imagine how that'd kinda "mud up" the punchiness of the track, unless maybe you lowered the volume of everything except the drums, so they always stood out, but then the rest of the track might seem too quiet. Good EQ'ing would fix that too, but I think less is more, especially with certain kinds of music (anything bass heavy, like Reggae/Dub, Hip-Hop, Garage, Jungle, Footwork/Juke etc etc). Try out this stuff man, hopefully it'll help!

[@DontBeAScab314]

Funny how on these videos I hear little difference even with my studio head phones but when I apply these techniques in the studio on my own stuff it’s makes plenty of difference.

[@NunyaB1s]

It's because of what your ears are attuned to, or what's "normal" for your day-to-day use.

[@BrooseWayniac]

more h.bieger stuff please and maybe some a.henneberg too... thanx

[@BNPSOUNDWAVE]

Can you help me, by naming some of the basic analog systems you’re using?

[@Chpimpas]

And what’s the best setting of the ratio for a kick drum?

[@dennishagstrom]

Did you find an answer to this question?

[@Chpimpas]

@@dennishagstrom no

[@DRelTaylor]

Thank u for that valuable information, I will be following u now, everybody doesn’t explain well, great job 🫡🫡👍🏽

[@laxer1207]

what about when ur compressing only your kick and not your whole drum bus?

[@Phoneticbeats]

Some nice gear in there

[@dhruvshah9155]

thsnkd buddy

[@Booliens]

does the api have a ratio setting? what was it?

[@jeromeleplace3571]

When a socially-awkward producer encounters an equally-socially-awkward cameraman.

[@Broadcast6136]

thank u

[@systematic-sound]

What he doesn't say: when transients get thru then the unit might got into distortion what brings the hole thing upfront too. When i started i messed with software compressors an never got the result cause i didn't understand the importance of distortion/saturation in conjunction :)

[@mirkomarkovic3438]

Yeah the circuit alone does something, i'll often use mine just going through the transformers and opamps. No compression.

[@MaddDrEw]

i'm sitting here watching this going, yep i do this, yep i do this, yep i do this, yep i do this, yep i do this... you don't need his studio or any high end studio to do this. it's just knowing how to do it and knowing what you're working with.

[@urbannpa]

Nice stuff...I wished I had stayed in Germany after I left the service.

[@billarsangma9704]

Howany release did you put for compression

[@dianemckimmy5701]

If you can do 130 BPM Kick Drum as an extended loopable Loop or backing track

[@djzerot4525]

the Attack is 30 , how about the sustain , decay and release?

[@svendtveskg5719]

Punchy drumMACHINE!

[@chalerhingo1310]

changes are subtle but you can hear the difference in the kick in context with the music im sure.

[@jerrardsmithofficial]

"Hi my name is Hamburger" xD Great work, I am just immature.

[@fidelfolozanoiii4499]

Hah

[@markjhorsley]

Classic case of all the gear no idea!

[@shufflephunk]

I love how you are correcting one of the most influential and relevant mixing engineers in the world right now. Do some research on his work history and come back to us and while you are at it, let's us see and hear yours.

[@ZachHixsonTutorials]

I wish he would stop talking as he is changing the sounds. the changes are subtle enough, and without being able to hear the direct change its very difficult to hear what he is talking about

[@Gabisu93]

Word!

[@rurens2]

+Zach Hixson you'll notice the minute differences when you're using high range studio quality headphones.

[@giuseppearcieri1944]

we all wish something

[@_ls6772]

agreed. on my home monitors, I couldn't hear a difference, but when I brought this into the studio, it was night and day

[@dreamyrhodes]

Yeah I totally don't hear a difference when he turns the compressor on or off. Sometimes it sounds louder but that could be done with the channel fader as well so why compression?

[@Pruemedia]

What kind of board is that?

[@daendelocht1607]

What is the intro song? :)

[@Wizardofgosz]

I liked it better with a little shorter attack. Maybe the 10ms that you swept through really quickly. Maybe even the 3.

[@Fwuzeem]

The attack time is actually how long it takes to reach the highest amount of compression, not when it starts working

[@ryanshook8284]

Say that again in another way? Trying to understand

[@Fwuzeem]

@@ryanshook8284 sure. Think of it as the amount of time something takes to reach top speed, so acceleration, rather than delay in how long it takes to start accelerating towards its destination

[@ryanshook8284]

@@Fwuzeem There is still a delay in clamping down though, right? Or am I still misunderstanding. Thanks for your time!

[@Fwuzeem]

@@ryanshook8284 there is no delay, just a slowness is getting to the maximum amount of compression

[@ZihKingMusic]

Smh... I see people repeating this to sound technically smart. When in reality, even though this is what's happening, it's not incorrect to abstract the attack time as when the compressor begin. Why? That ramp that determines how long it takes for the compressor to reach its maximum effect, starts from a point where compression is negligible, hence the reason people say it controls when the compressor starts.

[@JakobDeWittig]

Anyone knows the ID of the track in the start ?

[@AudioReplica2023]

I like the mixer controller.