A thread here got me trying out new york compression as a side chain/send to a buss.
That way, I understand, I can use one compression for vox, drums, guitars etc yet retain the original dynamics on the original tracks.
I'd like to try using a Prochannel buss due to it's nice compressors.
Not having done it I ran into several choices:
1. Which one?
a)PC4K-s bus
b)PC4K-s channel
c)PC76 U
d)other?
 
2. I understand from Reverb sends concepts, that you exaggerate the effect and trim it down on the home track's send.
So assuming this would be the same idea, what "exaggerated" settings would be appropriate?
(side chain switch?, Input, output, attack, release, ratio )
Thanks
Glenn

Any compressor with a dry/wet setting can do NY Compression without any extra routing. Compress as much as you want and use the dry/wet knob to adjust to taste.

Ah!, so don't use it in a buss? Use one for each track, in the tracks, and adjust the wet dry instead of the send?
Is this better on resources than one compressor?

"New York" compression isn't about what kind of compressor you use or the sound so any of those will be fine. Just use what you like. It is just a term to describe a way of setting up the routing for your compressor. You can use side chain if you want but I find that a little confusing and not all compressors have that option. The easiest way (IMO) is to just insert a buss into the project, put the desired compressor on it then on the track(s) you want to be affected insert a send that points to that bus. Make sure the compressor is set completely to Wet if it has a wet/dry setting. As scook said the Wet/Dry knobs on compressors will produce the same results as sidechaining or using a send but not all compressor plugs have a Wet/Dry knob either. Listen to the track going through the compressor with the Send level turned all the way up and set the compressor. Yes you'll want to exaggerate the effect. Then turn the track send all the way down and turn it up incrementally until you are getting the right mix.
 
As far as the settings it all depends on what you are doing. There's no way to know what your tracks need. If you are looking for some tips the Groove3 vid "Compression Explained" is quite good and answered a lot of my questions. Cheers.

If you have a compressor on each track then yes, it will likely use more resources but more importantly if your intention is to have the compression applied evenly and with the same settings to multiple tracks the bus method is what you want, just like with a reverb bus. If you want to use the wet/dry knob on the bus don't use a send on the tracks. Just send the entire signal to the buss and then you can use the wet/dry for the NY effect there. That of course depends on whether or not your compressor has a wet/dry knob in the first place though.
 
 
 

Oh and by "evenly" I mean the same settings but by adjusting the individual track sends you can still apply more or less of the compressed signal to the final outputs. You had it right when you said it's like a reverb buss. Same process just with a different effect.
 

M_Glenn_M
Ah!, so don't use it in a buss? Use one for each track, in the tracks, and adjust the wet dry instead of the send?
Is this better on resources than one compressor?

You might use a combination of the two. Sometimes you may want to add compression on drum tracks before the drum bus, if you use a drum bus. Then add the parallel compression on the drum bus. If the compressor has a dry/wet adjustment, the compressor can be added directly to the drum bus, otherwise use a send from the bus. As you know, you want to do what sounds good which means there is no script. If resources are an issue, you might end up needing to bounce and freeze parts of the project.

FWIW, parallel compression AKA NY Compression does not typically involve using the side-chain on a compressor. Parallel compress is a technique combining a dry signal with a compressed signal.

Ah yes... I forgot to mention that. Definitely if the individual tracks need specific compression get that main signal where it needs to be then use the parallel compression as kind of a finish coat. Otherwise because you still have the raw signal coming through you'll still have the hairiness of a wild track in play.
 
NY style compression is also called parallel compression in case you weren't aware. You might get more google search hits using that term instead if you decided to look around for tuts and articles. Cheers.

scook
FWIW, parallel compression AKA NY Compression does not typically involve using the side-chain on a compressor. Parallel compress is a technique combining a dry signal with a compressed signal.

Yeah... I was starting to get confused when he mentioned sidechaining. Can parallel compression be achieved with a side chain? I forget.