Mix masterclass with Jon Musgrave
Like the sound your compressor adds but want to retain some of the original signal’s sound? This technique could be for you
Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm326downloads
#11
Compression is one of our core mixing tools, but there are many specific techniques that use compression in different ways, so we’re allocating individual mixing masterclasses to each. This month we look at a very popular technique – parallel compression.
Parallel, or New York compression as it’s sometimes called, is a mixing technique that blends a dry and compressed signal, and is particularly popular for beats, bass, vocals and even the master bus. The technique was first developed back in the analogue days and in its simplest form involves paralleling a signal across two channels, one of which you compress quite heavily and one of which you don’t. You can then find a balance of the two signals, allowing you to benefit from the flavour the compressor adds but also retain some of the cleaner transients of the original sound. It’s a very liberating technique, and if done properly, can really help position sounds in your mix.
In the plugin realm, parallel compression can be achieved quite easily by adding a global mix blend, and this option is readily available on many compressors. That said, this arrangement doesn’t necessarily match the flexibility of using two paralleled channels. In this tutorial, we’ll consider all of these aspects and look at the various ways we can set up and use this fantastic compression technique. Right then, let’s get to it.
1 Adding a mix blend control to a compressor plugin provides a quick and easy way to use parallel compression. Many compressor plugins have this, so seek out one that’s suitably equipped. You’ll find some examples in the CM Suite. Here, we’re using EaReckon’s CH-COMP87.
2 Parallel compression is great for beats and in particular kicks and snares. 808 kicks can be tricky to compress, and doing so can add much needed harmonics but damage the decay. We’ve loaded up an 808, setting quite aggressive compressor settings. We’ve then used the Mix to blend in some original kick decay.
3 Drum kit kicks can benefit from a similar treatment. We’ve used the same compressor but adjusted the attack and release accordingly. Listening to the compressed sound with the mix set to 100% wet, we have a very over-compressed sound,
