Compression - over emphasized reverb

musicroom


So if I am going to try to put some finishing compression touches on a mixed song in my editor - then I need to reduce all my coloring effects during mixdown. Is that the answer?
 
That would work.  If for some reason that is now not possible you can look at Mid/Side and gently reduce your mids/low mids on only the side channel.   That is, the finishing compression you have previously applied is reacting somewhat more to lower frequencies than higher and since most of your verb will typically occur on the sides, the above mentioned attenuation if done judiciously, can help.
 
Jayhill

jayhill


Not compression - I meant to just EQ the sides.  Msed is a freebie from Voxengo that you can use to get at the side information. 
 
Just put it on the buss in encode mode and set up 2 sends - 1 fully panned left (mid) which is sent to another buss labeled mid; and 1 fully panned right(side) which is sent to another buss labeled side.  Then output those 2 busses back to another final buss with another copy of msed in decode mode.  Go in and eq the side buss by gently dropping some low mids with a somewhat wide q - then gently bring up some volume on the side buss that was lost with the eq cut.  Don't bring up too much volume on the sides or you'll lose overall definition.
 
Jeff

Legion

So if I am going to try to put some finishing compression touches on a mixed song in my editor - then I need to reduce all my coloring effects during mixdown. Is that the answer?

It all depends on what you are doing and the settings of the compressor. If you are using a fast attack fast release the comp will act like Bit said smoothing out the loud parts and bringing up the low, thus making low level sounds like reverb louder in relation to the other parts. What you can do is set a longer attack to let the punch through and a relase that's matched to the tempo (sometimes PDR works really well) and instead make the punch take more place and keep the lower parts in place while still somewhat have a glueing effect. Experiment with anything from 10-50 ms attack and also check the release to avoid pumping/breathing effects (you'll know it when you hear it ).

No matter what, it can be a good idea to check the sound with a comp on the 2-bus every now and then. Some people, I do it sometimes, mix with a compressor on the 2-bus from the start to the finish.

I tried this tonight and it sounded great except for one small thing - I had a ghost echo. Must be doing something wrong. I was meticulous in trying to follow your directions. But still - I know it works for you, so it must be me.