Rob[atSound-Rehab]
 
not meaning to hijack the thread, but Jeff, do you have a similar to-the-point guideline when it comes to carving space?

Yes, please!  

Rob[atSound-Rehab]

Jeff Evans

Presets are OUT. They do not factor anything in at all. When you think of the procedure I have proposed here how could a preset know what to do?

that also applies to EQ ... and IMHO at least to some extent to creating space and dimensions
 
not meaning to hijack the thread, but Jeff, do you have a similar to-the-point guideline when it comes to carving space?

That would be perfect :)

That's one of the best introductions to setting up compressors I think I've ever seen Jeff. Short, clear and understandable. It's the sort of thing that ought to be stickied somewhere.

Only put the advice about not relying on presets in bold and using the biggest typeface available,

Presets are not the devil and I sure there are some quite useable ones.  But it is just they don't know how fast the transients might be for example and how much to slow down the Attack setting in order to let them through more.
If the music does not have a lot of attack transients then slightly faster Attacks can be set meaning the compressor is going to jump on things a little faster.  Then the threshold can be brought up too because you get more gain reduction as you speed up Attack settings.
 
As far as creating space and things that one is little complicated too.  I only have my own thoughts on that.  I do use reverbs and even early reflections to create a sense of space around certain things.  
 
I try to not get too may parts overlapping and playing at the same time.  When a lot of stuff is all going at once like 4 rhythm guitars for example then trying to separate them gets harder.  But if the 4 parts are intertwined in such a way rhythmically and they are not stepping on each other anywhere near as much then less carving out EQ is required too.  The EQ's can be fuller and more normal.  Individual levels of the 4 parts can be a little louder too.  But then maybe only one rhythm guitar is actually needed and sounds best with everything else in context.  Clarity in the rhythm gtrs say will create a sense of clarity everywhere else too. 
 
Another approach is get an EQ to alter its setting according the presence of a side chain signal e.g. vocals allowing the EQ to change on a lead guitar line going on behind vocals.  When the vocals are present the lead guitar can get an EQ change so that it carves out a little midrange for the vocals to cut through better.  When the vocal stops that same lead gtr EQ then then go back to normal and be flatter sounding.  Probably better not to have any lead gtr bits trying to compete with a vocal line in the long run.
 
I will think about some approaches and guides that I try to use for things like this.  Like I say I am into getting less going on in the congested areas of the music first. This most often sorts out many problems of things not being heard because of the presence of other things.  If there is a vocal present it can be the guide also in a congested part of the music.  Keep the all important vocal lines and remove other things until the vocal gets even clearer in those areas.
 
 
 
 
 
 

In the case of a live band, maybe your band, it is perfectly fine to set your bus compressor similarly to how you did it when you mixed it in the studio and then reduce the threshold until the meters bounce how you like.

You can't always use extreme settings in a live environment to dial in each song. The songs might be over before you finish with the compressor.

I know with my hardware compressor that is mostly used to record vocals and acoustic stringed instruments, there are common spots for the dials.

In this case louder jams are compressed more than softer ones unless room volume is controlled before the input to the compressor.

Awesome guides on compression.   Both of them really hit a lot of good points.
 
About carving space...  I think there is too much emphasis here.  Even a lot of pro mixers are on record saying that they dont pay it any mind.
 
I have a super minimalist approach to making space.  I high pass the guitars somewhere around 100 so they dont argue with the meat of the bass
 
I high pass the bass at around 35 or so, which actually makes it tighter in most cases, and allow the kick drum as the only instrument to extend into the low lows.  unless its a super boomy kick and also needs some sub lows cut to keep it tight.
 
I high pass the snare around 100-125 or so just to make sure it doesnt get down too low
 
almost everything else is accomplished with panning.  Just putting things in places in the stereo field where they dont sit directly on top of another voice/instrument with a similar eq curve.
 
I mono test for curiosity, but i certainly wouldnt alter a mix to make it sound better in mono if said change didnt sound good in stereo
 
the only other 'space' trick I employ is when I have double tracked guitars.  Assuming I have one panned left and the other right....  I take out 2 or 3 DB of some non essential frequency from the left channel, and boost that same non essential frequency by 2 or 3 db in the right channel.  it tends to add a smidge more separation to the sound
 
If I really had a problem getting a certain instrument or voice heard over another instrument or voice at any specific time, I am much more likely to sidechain a compressor to duck the piece that isnt being featured rather than try to use EQ to try to shape sounds around one another
 
 

@Jeff
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain your technique. Pure gold!
 
 
 

Great compression explanation @Jeff.  Thats perfect!