Helpful ReplyGood buss compressor for drums?

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mikedocy
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2014/10/24 11:48:25 (permalink)

Good buss compressor for drums?

What would be your favorite buss compressor plug-in to use on the whole drum kit buss?
I want it to add slap and level it out a little.
The slap is most important.
I have had good success with an LA-2A emulation from IK but there is a narrow volume range where it works. As soon as you start hitting it too hard it looses the magic and gets over-squashed. Maybe try some slight clipping before the LA-2A to keep it in the magic zone? 
 
Post your favorite "slap" drum buss compressor.
#1
batsbrew
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 12:09:48 (permalink)
I WOULD suggest the WAVES c4 multiband comp.

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#2
mikedocy
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 14:34:32 (permalink)
That's an interesting idea. Can you set the attack time in such a way that it emphasizes the transients?
That's what I was referring to as "slap"; the transient leading edges of the drum hit. 
#3
dubdisciple
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 17:05:17 (permalink)
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dubdisciple
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 17:06:48 (permalink)
Also Density is a great drum compressor but unfortunately only 32-bit: http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/downloads/
 
#5
sharke
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 18:00:07 (permalink)
I'm on the brink of buying The Glue and would be interested to hear if anyone has any experience with it on drum busses.

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Jeff Evans
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 18:48:29 (permalink)
I tried 'The Glue' for a while but did not like it too much in the end. A really good free one is the Tokyo Dawn Labs Compressor.
 
http://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-feedback-compressor-2/
 
A nice transparent design. Can get nice sounding drum buses.
 
I like modern sounding compressors on drums. Keep the transients crisp and clean. Don't soften things too much with vintage sounding comopressors. That is how I see it.
 
 

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dubdisciple
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 18:55:13 (permalink)
Jeff Evans
I tried 'The Glue' for a while but did not like it too much in the end. A really good free one is the Tokyo Dawn Labs Compressor.
 
http://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-feedback-compressor-2/
 
A nice transparent design. Can get nice sounding drum buses.
 
I like modern sounding compressors on drums. Keep the transients crisp and clean. Don't soften things too much with vintage sounding comopressors. That is how I see it.
 
 


I beat ya too it! ;)
#8
clintmartin
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 22:15:42 (permalink)
...but I'm the one that told Jeff about it!!! (the original TDR feedback comp is very good too.)
 
For drums I would think Klanghelm's DC8C2 http://www.klanghelm.com/DC8C.php would do a nice job. It has a punch and snap setting the OP may like.

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#9
quantumeffect
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 22:27:52 (permalink)
I like the Waves C4 multiband compressor on the tracks (bass drum and snare in particular) if necessary.
 
The compressor I love on the drum buss is the PSP Old Timer.
 
http://www.pspaudioware.com/plugins/dynamic_processors/psp_oldtimerme/

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#10
Jimbo21
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/24 23:40:31 (permalink)
I really like the Glue for drum buss and Master buss as well. I usually drive it pretty good with a few db of gain reduction and use  the mix knob to blend that in with the dry signal for rock type material.

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quantumeffect
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/25 09:50:52 (permalink)
I will add that the PSP Old Timer is NOT transparent ... so if that is what you are looking for Old Timer is probably not a good choice but again I love it.
 
The other thing I really like which is pretty easy to do is I use NY style compression.  There are a couple of ways to route things but I usually set up a send at the drum buss and then send that through 2 stacked Sonitus compressors to CRUSH the drum mix ... and then ever so slightly, feed the crushed drums back into mix.  The idea there is not to lower the peaks but to raise everything else.

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#12
bitflipper
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/25 18:10:30 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby jonboper 2014/11/15 13:00:32
I use the same compressor for drum busses as I do for master busses, vocals, bass and piano. I don't believe in separate products for every application. Just get one that's versatile enough to handle almost everything and take the time to get really comfortable with it.
 
For me, it's Fabfilter Pro-C, but it could as easily be one of a dozen other products that are similarly capable.
 
When shopping, look for compressors that offer these essential features:
- side-chaining
- wide range of attack and release times
- a wet/dry mix knob
- optional automatic release time calculation
- continuously-variable channel linking
- oversampling
 
Non-essential but good features for a do-it-all compressor candidate:
- continuously-variable knee
- automatic gain compensation
- RMS detection
- customizable attack and/or release curves
- Mid/Side processing
- Look-ahead (if super-fast attacks are supported)
 
A few other products that meet these criteria include Blue Cat Audio's Dynamics, DMG Audio's Compassion, and Meldaproduction's MDynamics.
 


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#13
dcumpian
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/10/26 08:58:16 (permalink)
I like The Glue for the master bus when mixing, but for drums, I love the Waves SSL. It's more than just a compressor, but I find it incredibly easy to find the drum sound I'm looking for.
 
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/11/15 13:31:23 (permalink)
+1 for FabFilter Pro C, great compressor (I'm a student, so luckily I qualify for educational discount...), and +1 for using the same tools over and over so you become familiar enough with them that you can actually utilize their features.
 
If you're not looking to spend though I highly recommend Variety of Sound:
 
http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/vst-effects/
 
Incredibly usable freeware, before I got the FabFilter stuff I used the VOS plugins all the time - still do sometimes, they have a certain crispness to them that is hard to get elsewhere...

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michaelhanson
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/11/15 14:06:01 (permalink)
Has anyone tried the Tokyo Dawn TDR on Bass Guitar tracks?

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Starise
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/12/01 14:20:15 (permalink)
How about the good ol' LP-64 multiband compressor right in Sonar?

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#17
gustabo
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/12/01 17:29:29 (permalink)
Now that it's out, the Plus 10bB Compressor
Sounds great on the drums buss!
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#18
sharke
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/12/01 19:39:22 (permalink)
I feel guilty for not using the Native Instruments Vintage Compressors enough. They're really good and I keep forgetting I have them. Maybe I'll try them on a drum bus tonight.

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backwoods
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/12/01 20:10:19 (permalink)
Don't know if it was meant to be used for drums but the best compressor for me is PSP Oldtimer. It has the three crucial things for me like Ren Comp does: ease of use, fast to dial in, sounds great.
 
 
 
 
#20
AT
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Re: Good buss compressor for drums? 2014/12/02 11:12:04 (permalink)
I've found Sonar's Pro SSL comp useful on drums as well as most other buss duties.  If I need more umph, I go external hardware.  Almost any soft comp will get the envelope part of the equation - tone ...

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