Magic Compressor Settings for BASS GUITAR

Get your bass guitar compression dialled in with these settings.
☛ Learn the go-to starting points for EQ and compression in heavy mixes with my FREE Mixing Cheatsheet: mixcheatsheet.com
Watch This Next: Magic Compressor Settings for KICK & SNARE • Magic Compressor Setti...
Music I’ve Worked On: open.spotify.com/playlist/6I7...
Website: hardcoremusicstudio.com
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MY FAVORITE GEAR:
Computer / Interface:
Mac M1 Studio Max sweetwater.sjv.io/anOMOo
Avid Carbon sweetwater.sjv.io/ZQ6M6g
Apogee Duet 3 sweetwater.sjv.io/y2qXqb
Monitors / Headphones:
Avantone CLA-10a sweetwater.sjv.io/WqyMyZ
Audio Technica ATH-M50 sweetwater.sjv.io/PyOMON
Microphones:
Shure SM57 sweetwater.sjv.io/daOMy7
AKG D112 sweetwater.sjv.io/Kj0MBy
Sennheiser e604 sweetwater.sjv.io/DKyvWa
Shure SM7b sweetwater.sjv.io/5g5vk3
AKG C451b sweetwater.sjv.io/jre9Rv
Shure SM81 sweetwater.sjv.io/eK1LnD
Audio Technica AT4050 sweetwater.sjv.io/JzKMqr
Preamps/Outboard:
API 3124 sweetwater.sjv.io/eK1LRD
EL8 Distressor sweetwater.sjv.io/XYmMd4
Favorite Plugins:
BSA Clipper blacksaltaudio.com/clipper
Escalator blacksaltaudio.com/escalator
Low Control blacksaltaudio.com/low-control
Silencer blacksaltaudio.com/silencer
DSR blacksaltaudio.com/dsr
Waves SSL Bundle waves.alzt.net/dMd4q
Waves CLA Compressors waves.alzt.net/0va0P
Waves Platinum waves.alzt.net/jxz2M
Slate Trigger 2 sweetwater.sjv.io/MmAM53
SoundToys Rack sweetwater.sjv.io/xkLgyd
Auto-tune Pro sweetwater.sjv.io/OreMYr
Vocalign Project sweetwater.sjv.io/xkLgyA
Cranesong Phoenix II sweetwater.sjv.io/PyOMrz
Instruments / Amps:
Ludwig Black Beauty Snare sweetwater.sjv.io/1r9vDR
Gibson Les Paul sweetwater.sjv.io/B0nvz1
Evertune Guitars sweetwater.sjv.io/WqyM6P
Fender Jazz Bass sweetwater.sjv.io/nLX5R6
Sansamp Bass Driver DI sweetwater.sjv.io/OreM9Q
EVH 5150 sweetwater.sjv.io/4PGvr9
Mesa 2x12 cab sweetwater.sjv.io/75avGA

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

Grab your free Mixing Cheatsheet to learn the go-to starting points for EQ and compression in heavy mixes: www.mixcheatsheet.com

[@keithrichards4296]

I didn't get about the "slower" release, since it is at 6 (?) - it's pretty fast actually (and it's basically where everyone usually leaves it on a 1176, from 5-7 range). Relevant to mention that basically, in fact there is no "slow" attack on a 1176, even at its 'less fast' configuration (•1), it's still pretty fast (800 MICROseconds). (Unless you own a 1176AE edition, where they added a "SLO" option).

[@consumer365]

I have to say between the drum compression and vocal mix vids u did recently I was blown away with the results I'm starting to get. Thank you so much dude you don't even know the issues u solved for us. Great stuff man!

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

So stoked to hear that!

[@juliantcach2712]

I don't think there is a KZbin channel with more honest and useful content, thanks for uploading these videos! 🙌🏻

[@realfishmusic2032]

Totally true

[@valleywoodstudio7345]

Just to note the AR controls on the 1176 are Slow to Fast as you turn clockwise from 1-7 so assume this is a narrative blooper. The settings you show , however, are correct for most applications on a 1176 - moderate (midway) for Attack and fast (7) for the Release with 4:1 ratio. You'll get a lot of milage with those settings.

[@hextatik_sound]

I Was about to comment the same.

[@chriselliott5122]

1176 controls are slow to fast as you turn them “clockwise” from 1-7, 1 being the slowest and 7 being the fastest. 👍🏼

[@valleywoodstudio7345]

@@chriselliott5122 hah - corrected!

[@85crossy]

@@hextatik_sound Same!

[@sandersonstunes]

I'm glad a lot of the tips you gave I am already using in my work just with my own daw and plugins.

[@sansproductionlounge8083]

Love this!! I just bought low control :P used it a few weeks ago and the trial ran out… I needed it in my life and now I’ve got it. Such a great plugin. Thanks for sharing your knowledge Jordan :)

[@21stCenturySin]

This vid really helped. I’ve been working on a song where most of the song is driving along at a good pace, 143 bpm. There is a middle section where it stays at the same bpm but slows down to half time with the bass hitting long open notes that ring out. I noticed the wavering/pumping effect on the bass track exactly as you described in this vid, where if the release time is too fast that will happen. So I automated the release time for the compressor on the bass bus to slow down the release time. Magic. Notes now ring out & decay very nicely instead of the wavering effect. Thanks Jordan! 🤘🏻

[@dans5666]

Nice one Jordan, these videos are super useful

[@infinitydrumming]

This was awesome. I hqve low control and the cla76 so going to try this out. Would love to see what you do with vocal and guitar. As well as drumset room, overheads and bus. Thans for all you teach here. So much gold!

[@hleet]

Great tutorial ! thank you

[@vams_3475]

this really helpfull, thank you!

[@bryanunderwood]

This was great! I’d love to see a video on processing drum rooms and overheads.

[@niteshades_promise]

nice to see my bass tracks look the same. thought i needed to play with a more consistent volume. 🍻

[@lavinchi6709]

Thank you >>>very helpful

[@jumpbackgeno]

Excellent use of the plugins! I am not sure of how to process my SD3 in my mixes, any similar techniques for that in rock music?

[@DouglasSantosMusic]

Hello, how are you doing!! This is a really good content! Have some content about mixing basses with clean + distortion signals?

[@daleonov]

Thanks a lot!

[@philippsvetashkov7070]

Hi. Great video. I´d like to see your approach to electric rock guitars.

[@tstsmusic]

FROM WAVES CLA-76 MANUAL Use the Attack and Release controls to adjust the time constants for the type of material you want to compress. Important: Attack and Release settings range from slowest (1) to fastest (7)

[@66fitton]

More free schooling haha! You're awesome dude! I feel like I'm cheating lol. THANKS!!!🤘🙏

[@sprvky4370]

please do the guitar, like how compression works on dry content before amp simulation

[@firstname3078]

I really appreciate your videos, Jordan. So does EQ go in before the tracks were joined and bounced? In cases where I’m just using one bass track (or any type of track), is it EQ first or after compression?

[@LucasDellaporta]

How about a magic compressor video on toms? Would also like to see one on guitars and maybe piano.

[@BrofUJu]

I've actually seen a very wide range with toms with tons of compression or very little to none. Nolly didn't even compress the toms on the latest Periphery album. I like doing parallel compression on toms

[@brokenheartsyndrome4881]

thanks for the video. does it make a difference if the bass player is already compressing on his pedal board? should the bass player compress just a little on the board or should the sound be fairly compressed on the way in?

[@craighughes-shug6694]

Love guitar magic compression settings, from clean to crunchy to full on dirt lol

[@Dwolfmusic]

Would be cool to have a video about editing drumtracks!

[@MrMllx]

Is it worth doing some compression (pedal or rack gear) before you go into your board/daw ?

[@danymalsound]

Hi Jordan! I know you recently got new monitors, but are you still working (fully) ITB? Cheers

[@rome8180]

I'm a little confused. You say "slower release" but then you have the release set to nearly the fastest setting on the 1176. For those who don't know, 7 is the fastest release time on the 1176. The dial is set to a little over 6 here.

[@rome8180]

On the stock compressor, you do have a slow release (600ms). I believe the 1176's fastest release is 50ms, so where you have it is probably around nine times as fast as the stock compressor.

[@lusid_music_uk]

Was gunna say this. That’s a “fast” release not slow. So now I’m just confused. Did he misspeak or does he consider the slightly slower than fastest release to be “slow”? Either way… strange and confusing lol

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

to my ears / my feeling using this compressor, the knob around 6 there is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than when it's up a little at 7

[@kaisound868]

@@hardcoremusicstudio I find the same on this model. No idea why as it should still be very fast, but if I come off the fastest release even a little, it suddenly is very apparent and slow feeling. 6.5 is slow feeling, no idea if the hardware is the same?

[@nath7185]

@@kaisound868my hardware rev a acts the same.

[@MG-jy5qx]

Do you use the 60hz noise option on the compressor on purpose? Or do you normally have it off? Seems like all it does is introduce a constant 60hz hum, which I can’t imagine a single use for. If anything, that constant tone would clash with the bass, no?

[@VicktoRUrosAndrijasevic]

Great video! Thanx! Now, we wait for "magic compression settings for heavy guitars" video... 😊 🤘🏻😁🥃

[@peptoattack]

Spoiler alert, Jordan does not use much compression on guitars. Just an LA-3A to smooth out the transients. But I bet that video is going to be useful as well.

[@MarcosRobertoDosSantosJF]

@@peptoattackyeah, overdrive will naturally compress the guitar a little bit, acting like a compressor.

[@peptoattack]

@@MarcosRobertoDosSantosJF Sure!

[@VicktoRUrosAndrijasevic]

@@peptoattack yeah, sure. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward the next video... 😃

[@peptoattack]

@@VicktoRUrosAndrijasevic me too! This is pure gold.

[@BikerEgg1]

I listened to this in my truck. I didn't hear muchnof a difference as you were manipulating that bass signal. It was like you just took the edge off. As a bass player, I appreciate that you didn't squeeze every bit of dynamic from that signal.

[@johntweedale271]

Have you ever tried waves bass rider plugin any thoughts on that

[@Julio_Uno]

super helpful compressor technique. luckily i have the compressor you used lol

[@seanhoward5562]

For that type of heavy music, is the Bass DI always recorded with a lot of treble, and then processed later?

[@timoratus_music]

How would you go about this if you were mixing sludge bass that is tuned to F0?

[@markmorrell3494]

You are still utilizing the 60hz HP on the CLA 1176, correct? Thank you for your content and I appreciate your work!

[@PrantoKoX]

Hey - there is NO 60Hz HP (high pass) on the CLA 1176, that 50Hz/60Hz switch isn't a sidechain filter nor an audio filter, it's just for Waves' silly "analog" simulation of the electical mains hum, which is at 50Hz in EU but at 60Hz in USA. And no, there is no good reason to leave that switched on, especially on an instrument like bass guitar which lives in that very same frequency range, unless one likes unnecessarily noisy mixes. It's a bit like adding in the simulation of a bad ground wire. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@markmorrell3494]

@@PrantoKoX Thank you for your response and the explanation! I appreciate it.

[@PrantoKoX]

@@markmorrell3494 No prob, glad to help! 😉👊🏼

[@ac34116]

why do you aim for 10dB of GR if the Material is not very dynamic to begin with. i think it would only create a loud pop at at the start of the bass track while the GR hovers in a 3-4 dB window, so the same result should be possible with a higher treshhold and sound cleaner.

[@Fire-Toolz]

you can always automate the volume a little bit if that happens. i do this occasionally when i don't want to change the compression settings on the material

[@johnscambles5609]

I just cant hear the first level of compression. Thx for the video!

[@charlespiper9291]

The UREI 1176 manual states when compressing an electric bass, the release control should not be faster than 11 o clock. The setting you are showing is very fast. Perhaps the plug in acts differently than a vintage hardware unit

[@devouringfamine2427]

If bass player plsy fast the seting change

[@Johnnymoonlander]

If it's just DI with some EQ is compression really necessary?

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

absolutely

[@luisguimaraes2176]

​@@hardcoremusicstudiowhat's the bass tone used (after DI)?

[@igorzavalnyi5341]

wait a minute, the CLA-76 has faster release time on the higher dial values 7 being the fastest.

[@cassio_zambotto]

Waves CLA 1176 Rev D is also my favorite on rock/metal bass, I've tried all 1176 plugins I could grab (probably every plugin available in the market) in order to replace this one with no success and it's all about the release times, I'm pretty sure CLA has mods on his 1176's to be faster, no 1176 hardware I ever witnessed is that fast without mods. CLA and JJP plugins are hard to beat and what makes Waves great is that very low cpu usage.

[@EvilBlakey]

Have you tried the Purafied VU Compressor? It honestly blows the CLA76 out of the water

[@cassio_zambotto]

@@EvilBlakey yes I did, pretty great plugin also, but attack and release controls for me make all the difference when choosing an 1176 to include in my tool kit. but purafied la-3a is way to go.

[@devouringfamine2427]

darkglass have a blend option

[@Fire-Toolz]

it's nice to be able to put processing only on the second layer tho

[@devouringfamine2427]

@@Fire-Toolz a signal that have a compresor abd other that have the darkglass mai cause phase problems in all track its viable that you said but i dont see the thing on this scenario

[@DigitalKnightProd]

Your mic was sounding pretty rough on this one.

[@edmcguire4926]

Not sure if you are aware, but those waves plugins add a ton of very audible aliasing, especially in the midrange. It's actually killing your compression! begging you to try a more modern compressor plugin with anti-aliasing. The results will astonish you.

[@funkeety]

if you mistaken slow release with the fast release, how can i really sure you know what you are doing in this video? ahaha... just kidding, 1176 is really fast even on 1-3 release, thats why u said it compress harder, i got your idea anyway.. nice way to compress

[@rmmancham9137]

Your mic is very sensitive, tongue clicks. Great tutorial, thanks.

[@constantinranis]

Low control for the lows followed by double tap for overall compression and that's all you need

[@AJbassist]

feels you unofficially made a multi-band 1176

[@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

You always cop a lot of shit about these 'Magic' videos, and we all know it's not one size fits all, but it does help a lot to have starting points!

[@_sweetchuck_]

Always blows my mind how people will be dicks to a person giving them free information. A professional with a proven track record. Just take the info you find valuable, forget the rest and move on.

[@RealHomeRecording]

​@@_sweetchuck_right? One day I may make all my videos Members Only and charge $100. People have no idea how lucky they are to get this kind of information for free.

[@stevewoodyt]

Don’t hate the player. Hate the game. Although it does irritate me. lol. I still usually watch. Why not? If it sounds good it sounds good. I don’t hear a difference with some channels, here I do.

[@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

@@stevewoodyt Some mixing videos seem very vague to a beginner, so having actual numbers to start from, instead of ambiguous terms like Fast or Slow is helpful. What is considered a Fast Attack or a Slow Attack? What is considered a Fast Release or a Slow Release? Are the numbers considered fast or slow the same for both Attack and Release? If you don't give a starting point, the phrases used in tutorials mean nothing to a raw beginner.

[@stevewoodyt]

@@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunnok.

[@szmryb]

3:53 what??? slower release?? you literally have it set to nearly fastest setting... I consider you a very professional, great mix engineer but not knowing how the 1176 works at your level is wild. I'm not trying to hate because I seriously love your channel man and you've helped me learn a lot but this is crazy

[@szmryb]

and yes I did double check this with the waves cla-76 user manual

[@Tonyisotope397]

Ya, those two compressors have entirely different release times set up. Yet they sound nearly identical during the AB.

[@mrcoatsworth429]

I'm pretty sure he even talks about this in one of his other videos.

[@szmryb]

@@mrcoatsworth429 from what I see he uses the 76 compressor really often, and I've never seen him mess that up before, I don't what happened today, but I'm quite sure he does know the difference and just messed up this one time...

[@rome8180]

Yeah, he has the stock compressor set to 600ms, which is indeed very slow. But then with the 1176, he has it at over 6 out of 7. I believe the fastest release time on an 1176 is 50ms. So where he has it would probably be around 75ms. So like nine times as fast a release as the stock compressor. And yeah, I agree. There's no way he doesn't know how the attack and release work on an 1176. I've seen him use the 1176 dozens of times before and never noticed him make this error.

[@buklau6509]

Im so confused. I have you in consideration as a good mixing engineer and teacher but somehow you mess up the attack and release times on the 76? That is a very fast release (as it should be, and it sounds good), so why are you then telling ppl to use 600ms release on a normal compressor? Were you very tired when u recorded this? Cheers

[@stephenbagnall6712]

He is comparing one compressor to another. It's that simple Ultimately when mixing you need to use your ears and not rely on numbers.

[@buklau6509]

@@stephenbagnall6712 Still, he is talking about slow release and his compressor is almost on the fastest setting. Its a common mistake, but i would not expect it coming from a pro mixer on his level. Maybe he was just tired when he made this video

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

what @stephenbagnall6712 said. listen to it. i'm using my ears to make a comparable result.

[@buklau6509]

@@hardcoremusicstudio then would u say the 76 fastest release is still a "slow" release?

[@voinrima]

Didn't think that bass compression is something that can be talked about 14 minutes straight

[@Jonaros]

You lost me on the 1176 release mistake

[@spiritnone2818]

So basically the player has no specific bass tone of his own? He doesn't care you change it completely? I really don't understand the production of these highly polished records.

[@cacadordorio]

Even darkglass sh1t is ruinning the clank clank punk rock tone

[@PrantoKoX]

Says "it's not like it needs to be levelled out a ton" - adds 10-15dB of gain smashing... Says "the release is actually somewhat slower" - sets the release to almost the fastest setting on one of the fastest compressors on the planet. 🤭😂 Not one of your best videos or examples, IMHO, especially because it uses such a distorted, guitar-like midrange rich and fast tempo fast picked bass to begin with that it's nowhere near as problematic as a bass guitar can get. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@russenduf]

That's a bad bass sound choice to demo compression......use a clean bass sound that uses more notes stronger and weaker to do a demonstration

[@DadRockAndGuitars]

Although he doesn't play the audio, he does demonstrate reducing the peaks with a clean DI using slightly different settings starting at 12:01.

[@Fire-Toolz]

he teaches based on the music he works on. these aren't stock demos, they're his clients. his channel is for people who mix those styles of music. and that's just what you get bass-wise with pop punk (and hardcore)

[@TheOneJordan667]

Yeah clippy over comped bass. I mix metal and you’re absolutely 100% correct. It’s really bad when you have to go back and replay the damn track cause the people you record can’t play their instruments

[@scorestorm]

Why not using multicomp for lows, for example like pro mb?

[@EvilBlakey]

Why not actually pay attention to what he says?

[@scorestorm]

@@EvilBlakey i asking u? -no, so fuсk off goofy