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Here's one for the Rock & Rollers,

I've recently been coming across a few commercial records that seem to have brought a whole new level of play to the volume war game.

These new recordings aren't any louder that the going rate (-10db RMS - Damn Loud). What's impressive is the fact that the sound waveforms maintain most of their transient info. There is only a miniscule amount of the square wave chop normally associated with mastering this loud.

The best example I can think of would probably be the new album from Velvet Revolver (Featuring esteemed alumni of Guns & Roses and Stone Temple Pilots) Mastered at Sterling by George Marino.

The new Thornley record is like that too.

Check it out - It's really starting to make me wonder if there are a few new secret weapons out there...

Cheers,
Eric

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mixandmaster Thu, 07/15/2004 - 19:50

Here's a short explaination from the waves website...You can use it with any compressor/limiter.

Use an audio track with a good take from the artist. Any type of signal will do (vocal, guitars, etc.), although this trick works better on drum tracks. Duplicate the track onto another track. Open Renaissance Compressor or C1 Compressor on the duplicate track, and apply very heavy compression: Ratio 10:1, Threshold -30dB. These settings should make the compressor "pump." Blend this track in with the original track until you hear the "punch" of the duplicate track as it gets added to the original non-compressed track.

What they don't tell you is to make sure the resulting processing is IN PHASE with the original - I know I said this in the other post, but it's crucial to using this technique. Also make sure you don't clip the main bus. 8-)

It's simple but will take some experimentation on your end. Be patient, it DOES work.

anonymous Thu, 07/15/2004 - 20:11

Indeed, parallel compressing works great - we used to do this trick on analog desks on the drums and vocals - we called it "back busing".

There's a full explanation of the process at

http://www.nthelp.com/mastering/faq/specialtechniques.htm

In the digital world, this trick works just as well. As Mixandmaster says, this second track must be in phase with the original.

Keep in mind that plugins sometimes create a certain amount of sample delay, and this can cause the compressed track to be out of phase with the uncompressed track. You will immediately hear if there is phase problem, it's drastic...

To quickly remedy the situation, simply use another instance the same plug with a neutral setting on the unprocessed track. All the plugin does is delay the uncompressed track to delay it by the same amount as the compressed one.

Also, M-S techniques are very effective at getting more level without hurting the stereo image - they even enhance the stereo spead somewhat.

Cheers,
Eric

mixandmaster Thu, 07/15/2004 - 20:20

The phasing will almost sound weirder the closer you get it. If you're way off, it will sound like slapback delay. When you're about 4 samples off the high end will be hotter, once you get around 1 or 2 samples, it will be midrangey, then.....you get it locked in.

To be safe, bounce the processed tracks to a new track, and visually line them up. Then bounce the mix together without any plugins in the chain. :twisted: