The importance of buss compression
One of the biggest lessons that I have learnt lately is the tool of grouping certain elements of a track into a a master bus channel and adding compression , known more as ‘glue compression’.
I only wish I had learnt this technique years ago. Glue-compression , as its aptly named , glues certains elements/tracks together to give the group channel/entire track more uniformity and adds quality to the overall production . The reason why I found this so important is that , in the past when I heard tracks made by other producers everything sounded perfectly mixed together , and I knew it wasn’t from the mastering but from the ‘mixing’ the track. When the drums would be soloed in a certain part of the track , they sounded so nicely blended together whereas my tracks , I felt that ( in the scope of 3D sound) that they were ‘all over the place’ . Like my hats and percussions were ‘floating’ and not sitting ‘still’ . This is where glue-compression comes in . Once I learnt about this , it changed the overall sound of my productions and gave it that spark of quality. My entire methodology of mixing has completely changed after adding this method into my tracks.
For example , what I do with every track of mine is , I add 4 group channels :
Drums
FX
Instruments
Vocals (if there are any)
Depending on the group , I will pass selected elements/tracks through this channel ( for example hats, percussion , snaps etc will be passed through the drums channel) . Here I can EQ further if I like and most of all add a compressor to glue these elements together. Most notably the SSL G-Master Bus Compressor . which is based on the renowned master buss center compressor of the SSL 4000 G console . There are allot of different software versions for this , but I use the WAVES version.
As mentioned before , this compressor glues together tracks and tightens up the overall mix. You can even add it on your master channel to glue together groups of tracks . The best part of this compressor and using it is that you don’t need to apply a lot of compression you can apply as little compression as a ratio of 2:1 and use a gain reduction of between 1-2 DB .
You do need to watch out for your attack time and release time. If your release time is too fast , you’ll get a ‘pumping’ sound and if its too slow , the compressor will simply not work . As for attack time , start at 100ms and go up from there until you find the right timing for your specific track.
I leave out my kick and bass tracks on their own as I find that these are the two most important elements of any track and having them on their own not grouped makes them stand out more. Although I do compress and EQ them separately in their own right , but this is just my personal preference .
If you don’t use this method , I highly recommend to start. It will change the entire quality of your productions . WAVES is having a sale on right now and you can get this plugin for the low price of $41,99 discounted from $249 , you can’t miss this offer . You can purchase it from the WAVES website HERE