Ross Hogarth wrote on Mon, 17 May 2004 22:20 |
I also absolutely believe that 2 mix compression is WAY overused and if way overused incorrectly can suck all the life out of a mix to the point that a ME has his hands completely tied when trying to do anything to it.
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Of course, these days you can completely tie most ME's hands and they'll still try to make your record louder. All the while they'll be providing plenty of lip service on how records are just too loud. Yeah, right.
There are only a couple of exceptions to this rule that I personally know of. They hang out here on this board. Their initials are DC, and BB.
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If you change your setting in the middle of the mix, your whole mix will change ..sooo in all this yes it is ok to fuckup BUT if you want to play it safe and that is the real answer ..if you want to play it safe and make sure you do not ruin your mix ..compress and limit it later if you are UNSURE of your setting.
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I don't really understand this advice. If I change my compression in the middle of the mix then, as you say, my whole mix will change ... but if I want to play it safe, I can compress it later. But my mix is going to change just as it would have in the middle of the mix (as you pointed out). Only then there's not a damn thing I can do about it, other than pray. Oh, wait, I can recall it! But if I can recall it, then why the hell don't I just try compressing it in the first place, while I'm mixing?
Personally, I wouldn't call leaving compression for later playing it safe. I'd call that living dangerously.
I'll tell you Ross, I think that we have a responsibility as mixers to encourage young and/or inexperienced recordists to commit. To commit to tracks; to commit to takes; to commit to an arrangement; to commit to mixes. I think we should encourage young recordists to not be afraid to fuck up. How the hell else are they going to learn how to compress the 2-bus if they don't fuck it up a couple of times? It's not like the client dies. And as I pointed out, they can recall the mix if they fuck up. Why should anybody leave the mix in the hands of a mastering engineer? The answer is, they shouldn't. No matter how good that mastering engineer is, he's still not a mixer.
The bottom line is this: If the levels are going to change from something that you want to do to the mix, then you'd better do it while you're mixing. NOT while you're mastering. If you wait until Mastering to put compression on the mix, then I contend, you didn't make a mix. You kind of put together some balances, and then hoped for the best. That's not mixing. In fact, that's the antithesis of mixing.
In Mixerman's 10 Steps to Better Mixing (catchy name, eh?) the first step on the list (it's not actually a step, but I can't figure out what the hell to call it) is as follows:
1. Mixing is an attitude.
Waiting like a pansy to see if someone else, who also has no clue how to mix, can somehow make the mix good with some compression is NOT an attitude. Quite the opposite really.
Number 8 on the list is as follows:
8. Mixing can not be taught, it can only be learned.
One is certainly not going to learn how to mix from their most disabling Mastering Engineer, who will forever attempt to convince them that they should leave compression up to the "Profeskonals."
If you always tie your children's shoes for them, you run the risk of their never learning how to tie them on their own. Yes, these are not children, but when we are learning something new, we are very much like children in our lack of ability. Mixing must be learned by the person attempting to mix, and will only be learned in this manner.
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In mastering , if you are in a good studio with an engineer of cred with good gear and good ears ..hopefully you have a good set of ears ... you can make your compression choices there ... again not my style now that I am more self assured but I wasn't always so ...
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Making compression choices after the fact is the equivalent to playing darts blindfolded. You can't possibly know what you're aiming for.
We're talking about a mix here. You can't even MIX the song if you're going to be compressing it later. All you can do is get some balances, and hope they're better after a compressor is strapped on. That's not mixing.
A mix is supposed to accentuate the song, production and arrangement; to help provide lift in all the right places, to push the listener forward through the song, to cause the proper physical reactions from the listener. Achieving all this with a mix requires much more than haphazardly setting levels. It requires attention to detail. A desire to complete a task.
I say don't let your Mastering Engineer compress your mix for you. You compress it. If you put too much compression on, well, fix it, Dear Henry, Dear Henry, Dear Henry, well fix it Dear Henry, Dear Henry well fix it!
Or just do better next time.
Mixerman