STOP COMPRESSING YOUR DRUM BUS!

#musicproduction #compression #dnb
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[@Beatsbasteln]

I think the purpose of compression on any kind of bus is usually not to find a better loudness of the elements or their relationship together, but just to glue them together by giving them all a shared feeling of drive. all types of nonlinear processors distort the signal. compressors and saturation, so they make all the frequencies intermodulate with each other in a cool way. but I agree with what you are proposing. If the problem can be solved with just saturation or just a clipper then it should be used rather than a compressor. I'd personally argue for it in regard to peak levels. Saturation massively reduces peak levels while keeping the overall balance of the sounds pretty similiar. compressors can be a bit like that too with lookahead, but it's much harder to nail and sometimes even too transparent

[@michaelpaul3481]

Leave the kick out of the drum bus and put it in the “low end bus” so to speak, with the basses

[@midsekta6452]

Cool video! I feel like you missed an important point, which may solve your problems: the makeup gain control. Your concern appears to be that you are trading low-amplitude sounds being turned up for your kick being turned down. But the low amplitude sounds are only brought up in level IF makeup gain is applied post-compression. If makeup gain is applied such that the input and output peak levels are equal, then your kickdrum will be the exact same peak level as it was before compression, and the lower-level sounds in the bus (such as the cymbals) will be higher in level than before compression. Win win, if your goal with compression is to bring up the level of lower-amplitude signals in a mixbus. Also, that's only one of many uses for bus compression, and I personally would recommend compressing the drum bus, but for a different reason: Rhythm. With the correct attack and release settings (which are very important for this to work), a compressor on the drum bus can be used to greatly improve the perceived groove of the drums. This is because (as you stated) the kick and snare are usually the loudest elements of the drum group. When a compressor is applied to the whole group (kick, snare, cymbals, other percussion), the compressor will always be triggered by the kick and snare, as they are the loudest and will cross the threshold first. This results in the ENTIRE GROUP being compressed for a moment, the kick or snare hit that triggered the compressor by crossing the threshold will be turned down, let's say for arguments sake by 5dB, but so will every other bus element. All the cymbals and percussion will be turned down (compressed) for each kick and snare hit. This essentially imparts the groove of the kick and snare to whatever other elements comprise the bus, such as the cymbals and percussion, as the gain reduction kicks in and out rhythmically based on the release setting. This kind of compression can take a dry, static groove and impart a lot more "bounce", all while also bringing up the smaller details provided makeup gain is applied. I'd also recommend clipping your drum bus after the compression stage, as depending on your settings you may end up with a waveform that's a lil spikey and dynamic, which will throw off any compression stages further down the line, and might also emphasize some transients too much. You're doing the same thing with master bus compression, except with master bus compression, you are applying the groove of the kick/snare to the WHOLE MIX, emphasizing the groove even further. Just watch your release time, as too fast or slow and you'll have the opposite effect, you'll blur the groove out instead of emphasizing it.

[@mikebrigs1218]

THANKS BIG G!! PEACE!!

[@Art1fact]

Bigups Mike!!!

[@krisissupercool1]

i would never not use some saturation and gentle compression on my bus's. It's just important to mindful of the transients, adjust your attacks and releases etc.. a db or two of gain reduction from the compression trypically helps the drums come to life and together more than it hurts, if youre also being mindful of your gain staging.

[@XC-Fly]

DnB in the DaW and Led Zeppelin at the wall..thats the way i like it!! Subscribed!

[@Art1fact]

That’s my guy ! :)

[@crishimdnb]

Thanks to you G’ 🦍

[@Art1fact]

Let’s go fam 🫡

[@dannydaniel8975]

But on my warm audio bus compressor, there is a filter for the low-end, so the compressor does not react to the kick drum as much..

[@Adamveckz]

💯💯💯

[@charles826]

I actually never since i stared producing put my kick into a bus with the other drums. Id rather bus it with the basses. Just now i see that some people actually do that😂 but yeah kick is way too important process it mostly on its own it would be my way to go

[@Art1fact]

🔥🔥

[@Hardwayistheonlyway]

You can just leave the kick out of any compressed groups

[@pascalschwarz3509]

indeed, many modern compressors nowadays have an internal sidechain tool, so you can set it above the fundamental frequencies of your kickdrum so your compressor isn't triggered by the kick. but yeah, I usually use just a soft compression on my drumbus, about 1-2 dB of gainreduction to glue the whole thing slightly together.