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Here's a new twist on an old idea. Many months ago I posted with an idea for dynamically changing compression attack every time there was a peak in the treble frequencies (snare.) Well, I've revised that sytem to allow setting attack and release for both low bands and high bands of a single-band compressor. I feel this allows for a more natural preservation of dynamics than a dual-band compressor would allow while also catering for the faster attack and release time the peaks in high frequencies call for (they do call for this, right?).

In the low band, my attack is 61 ms, release 340 ms
In the high band, my attack is 39 ms, release 240 ms

Remember this is all for a single-band compressor, although the dual bands affect the single-band settings.

Here is the original mix: [="http://www.headchemists.com/ro/not_another_rap_m2_mix.mp3"]Mix (147 VBR, 1.1 Mb 1:00 48 kHz)[/]="http://www.headchem…"]Mix (147 VBR, 1.1 Mb 1:00 48 kHz)[/]
Here is the mastered mix: [[url=http://="http://www.headchem…"]Mastered 158 VBR 1.2 Mb 1:00 48 kHz[/]="http://www.headchem…"]Mastered 158 VBR 1.2 Mb 1:00 48 kHz[/]

Is the difference in volume dip between bass thud and snare pop enough to make it sound better than a fixed attack and release for all frequencies (aka normal single-band compression)?

edit: on a side note, is the bass too boomy? Back when I had a sub woofer, I mixed the bass much lower than I did with my headphones (which is all the monitoring I have available right now...) Thanks for any comments.

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anonymous Fri, 04/14/2006 - 10:13

What about Native Instruments Reactor?

The reason I didn't use a MBC is because they compromise the dynamics too much, I prefer the sound of a single band compressor (with side-chain EQ to accentuate the snare compression a bit). It really wasn't much work... :-) Maybe my newbie ears deceive me, but I "hear" something similar to this technique in professional masters. I'm hoping it's a technique I can use to get the best of both worlds: the minimal effect of a single-band compressor, with the ability to set attack and release of different frequency bands.