Parallel compression methods?

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Trash
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Parallel compression methods?

Post by Trash » Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:49 am

Hi all -
So I decided to try some basic parallel compression on a demo track that I have, just as an experiment before I try doing something on a real track.

I have two tracks (a stereo pair) that contain the rhythm section which consists of stereo drum machine and a synth bassline.

I watched Anthony's informative video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KCKC7jB8dY (Thanks for the link Corey) and in it he suggests sending the output of a track to two other tracks one of which will be the dry signal the other will be the compressed version with the final output being a blend of the two.
However this means that I would end up using six tracks in total (the two orginals + a pair of 'drys' and a pair of 'wets')

The other way that I saw for doing this is to make a duplicate of the track(s) and then process the duplicates. However I tried this and the track duplication seems to lead to some weird effects that seem to indicate that the duplicates are not 100 percent aligned with the originals - they look fine when you compare them by sight even at high magnifications but there is definitely something weird going on aurally.

Which leads to the third option - I notice that Pro-C has an option to mix the wet and dry signals. Could this be the answer to my problems? Are there any downsides to doing it this way? The only one I can think of is perhaps a lack of flexibility - using this method you can't EQ the wet and dry signals differently.

Any thoughts/comments would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Cheers

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Anthony Alves
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Re: Parallel compression methods?

Post by Anthony Alves » Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:06 pm

Hi there,
When you duplicate a track and apply no processing to either track and play them together what will happen is that the track will sound slightly louder but there will be no difference in sound because they are identical. However once you process one of the tracks with say eq or compression,the two tracks are no longer identical but are extreemly close. This slight difference will create a phase effect much like a flanger or phase shifter for guitar. So this is why parrallel processing works so well as the signal is split and not duplicated.
Using the mix/dry control in any of the fabfilter plugins is parrallel processing but as you said there are limitations and it is not as flexable as sending a track to a buss track. Yes it is unfortunate that one must have many more tracks when using the bussing system to create parrallel processing but this is normal in desktop daws as well, but with the exception of creating a dry track buss because this is how Auria’s bussing system was created.
The Aux also act as parrallel if you use one Aux for each processer like eq on Aux1 and compression on Aux2. The blend will be your Aux send dial located on each track.

good luck and cheers

Studio A

Trash
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Re: Parallel compression methods?

Post by Trash » Fri Jul 27, 2018 8:22 am

Hi Anthony -

Firstly thank you again for all the time and effort you put into sharing your knowledge (I have been digging into some of your videos and they really are incredibly clear and helpful).

Secondly (more specifically) - thank you for answering my question. Everything is clear apart from your very last sentence:
Anthony Alves wrote:
Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:06 pm
The Aux also act as parrallel if you use one Aux for each processer like eq on Aux1 and compression on Aux2. The blend will be your Aux send dial located on each track.
I'm not really sure what you are saying here (I'm sure it has more to do with my lack of understanding of Busses rather than your explanation). If you could expand/rephrase that would be very helpful (this seems like something I should get my head around before I start my first mixing with Auria).

Thank you again for all your help.
Cheers

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Anthony Alves
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Re: Parallel compression methods?

Post by Anthony Alves » Sat Jul 28, 2018 11:05 am

Whenever you can blend a dry signal with an effected signal it is called parallel processing so that is how the Aux work. Even a reverb with a mix control is parallel. Series is the only other form of processing but one effect plugs into another effect and so on. In series processing the plugins affect eachother as the signal has to pass through every plugin or effect. This series processing is what you find on the channel strip FX slots.Aux are Parrallel to the signal and allows the processing to be indepentant of the other effects.

Trash
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Re: Parallel compression methods?

Post by Trash » Thu Aug 02, 2018 11:15 am

Okay that makes sense.
I guess it is the equivalent of the Aux send/Aux return setup that was on my old Tascam Hard-Drive Portastudio.

Thanks again!

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