Have you ever listened to a final mix of your song and thought it sounds great at medium to high volumes but at low levels the mix just does not come alive? I've often thought that about my stuff (rock). It's almost as if the individual sounds in the mix have no density or weight.
I've tried compressing the final mix but that often result in unwanted side effects but I just read an article about mixing where some producer guy talked about taking a mix and compressing the sh*t out of it and then mixing it back with the original signal.
So I tried it on one of my songs by recording the stereo mix from DAT back into the VS (I had used up all 8 tracks) doing a copy to two new tracks and then using the stereo compressor patch to compress the living daylights out of one of the mixes and playing them both back together - really fattens up a mix without losing any of the dynamics.
TAZ Klaiq Tahir-Ali
26 Jan 1998
Nick G. adds:
Compression can be used to add fatness to any instrument, but this "trick" is used more commonly on drums.
I mix the original drum tracks with the same set of drum tracks on another channel that has been compressed. Bring the level of the compressed tracks up to taste. The combination of original and compressed signal really imparts a "big" sound. Start by using a 4:1 to 10:1 ratio with the theshold set around -10dB, Attack and Release, moderate, Output level as needed. Adjust to taste, there are no rules here.
1998/03