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Post by automatedhero on Aug 21, 2022 9:44:01 GMT -5
having just discovered the joys of MB compression can someone explain why I shouldn't use it on everything? I'm sure there are very VERY good reasons not too, but it's more effective, to my amateur ears, than straight eq!
I'm sure it's a very bad thing to do over and over
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engraven
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Post by engraven on Aug 21, 2022 22:43:39 GMT -5
Short answer is that it is also compressing the bands/frequencies, not just adding/subtracting gain from them. This will affect the dynamics of the sound in a possibly drastic way, where simple EQ will mostly leave dynamics untouched and only affect the volume of certain frequencies. So, multiband compression is going to alter the color or tone of the sound to some degree (which can be a good or bad thing), while EQ is merely going to raise or lower certain frequencies of it (better for making finetuned adjustments without fundamentally changing the sound in any way).
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Post by automatedhero on Aug 22, 2022 10:33:29 GMT -5
When would you use them or recommend using them?
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engraven
Fighter
No heroes. No lords.
Posts: 119
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Post by engraven on Aug 22, 2022 14:38:16 GMT -5
There's not really a hard and fast rule there; one is not necessarily better than the other, it just depends on what you're trying to do. If the sound is dull and would need both EQ and compression anyway, multiband could be the way to give it some life. If the sound is good but you just want to tweak it by adjusting certain frequencies, then only use the EQ.
At the end of the day it comes down to the producer's preference -- whatever means gets them the sound they're looking for are precisely the correct means haha. As for me personally, I rarely use multiband compression. I prefer the chain of [subtractive EQ] > [(non-multiband) compression] > [additive EQ]. I feel this gives me more control over the dynamics, tone, and timbre of my sounds than multiband compression does.
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Post by automatedhero on Aug 22, 2022 15:17:25 GMT -5
I've been using my ears as a guide in the end. Seems the only way. I don't have a ton of studio gear. Just my laptop some headphones and my own discernment. One of the joys of DS is that it has a very DIY vibe. I'd much rather hear some interesting music made by people with integrity, than all the world's top producers and their soulless output, or the endless iteration of "top 100 must see mixing hacks" that are all over YTube. YMMV of course
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Post by Damage Cloud on Aug 26, 2022 14:19:28 GMT -5
I'd say, like most things in mixing, don't put any effect on anything if you don't have a specific purpose in mind. why are you using multiband compression? if its "just because", it's probably a bad idea to just slap it on one thing a lot of people do with mbc is they really compress each frequency, which leads to something where no frequency range is distinct and the whole spectrum is evened out and muddy. in general you want each instrument to have a specific place in the frequency spectrum, like bass in the bass frequency, strings in the mid frequencies etc etc. i.e., tons of multiband compression on a flute is gonna bring up bass frequencies, when you really only want highs and high mids. id say rather than a three band compressor, find an eq plugin with very few frequency options. you'd think less options is worse, but having fewer knobs is a lot more intuitive. i think multiband compression probably feels good to use because you're only dealing with lows, mids and highs heres some free eq recommendations, both by analogobsession: www.patreon.com/posts/frank-65955720www.patreon.com/posts/american-bundle-55358141
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Post by automatedhero on Aug 30, 2022 10:32:13 GMT -5
I'd say, like most things in mixing, don't put any effect on anything if you don't have a specific purpose in mind. why are you using multiband compression? if its "just because", it's probably a bad idea to just slap it on one thing a lot of people do with mbc is they really compress each frequency, which leads to something where no frequency range is distinct and the whole spectrum is evened out and muddy. in general you want each instrument to have a specific place in the frequency spectrum, like bass in the bass frequency, strings in the mid frequencies etc etc. i.e., tons of multiband compression on a flute is gonna bring up bass frequencies, when you really only want highs and high mids. id say rather than a three band compressor, find an eq plugin with very few frequency options. you'd think less options is worse, but having fewer knobs is a lot more intuitive. i think multiband compression probably feels good to use because you're only dealing with lows, mids and highs heres some free eq recommendations, both by analogobsession: www.patreon.com/posts/frank-65955720www.patreon.com/posts/american-bundle-55358141I wanted to test out how they worked, but it seemed to sound ok tbh Thanks
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Post by RangerRick on Sept 1, 2022 22:03:15 GMT -5
I will agree that the longer I’ve been mixing, the less stuff I’ve been throwing on. You see the advice that says 80% of it should just be leveling and simple multiband EQ but you got all those nice plugins and of course you GOTTA use them… but it turns out all those old timers were right. There’s still a place for FX and compression and other fun stuff, but use it more sparingly than you think.
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Post by automatedhero on Sept 11, 2022 16:20:28 GMT -5
I agree
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Post by Darkmoon on Sept 30, 2022 4:55:54 GMT -5
In fact, the multiband compressor was originally used in mastering to compensate for the fact that the engineer no longer has access to the different tracks to correct the mix (and the compression of each track). In this case, the MB compressor is useful to "pseudo-mix" some frequency bands and not others on the whole track. But when we are the musicians and/or we have access to our different tracks, the MB compressor is a bit useless as we can act on each track individually by applying compression, EQ and level (volume) increase/decrease. Otherwise, as engraven mentions, we risk distorting~affect the color and tone of the whole piece~sound with strange results. In other words, there is no need to use an MB compressor on our master track when we have access to all our other tracks (in a DAW) since we only need to process the appropriate tracks individually. But, on the other hand, applied to a single sound and/or track, the MB compressor can be used as a tool to creatively "sculpt" the sound, drastically so! In this case, the MB Compressor acts a bit like a dynamic EQ. Because technically, a dynamic EQ (which compresses the selected frequency bands) is nothing else than a multiband compressor, but with many more frequency bands that can be processed, whereas multiband compressors are usually limited to 3 or 5 frequency bands. In short, if you want to sculpt a unique sound/track, it’s better to use a dynamic EQ (and/or individual tools). And if you want to correct a whole mix, a song where you no longer have access to each track individually, in this case we have no choice to use an MB compressor since without being able to act on individual tracks, we can only act on frequencies on the whole mix!
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