i know you said you weren't doing much mixing and just wanting to show what the compression was doing, but was curious as to why you didn't adjust the output of the EQ when you gave a decent boost to the low end when you were showing the VCA compressor. i was taught that gain matching to the volume before you do any boosts or cut shows what the EQ is really doing to the sound.
Hey Mike! Thanks for your comment, you've raised an excellent point. Level matching like you describe is a really useful technique, particularly if you aren't sure what kind of results you're looking for from your EQ (or any other processing) in this case I just wanted to quickly put a bit of low end energy back into the low end of the kick, so I didn't bother with level matching. I go into my thoughts on this in more detail in this video about mixing 'rules' I often break: th-cam.com/video/Sy9Et9ae8bw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=C3NKMghxQLchbr41&t=430 That said, in the case of this tutorial video you're right, it would have been better practice for me to have level matched the output on the EQ - it would have been more clear for people who are learning what's going on if I'd done it that way, so apologies for that!
As a complete beginner in these things I do find it a bit frustrating that the demonstration videos made by pros - while they give realistic use cases - are far too subtle for a person like me to actually hear any difference against the non-processed versions. Your explanations are great and knowledgeable as such, but I don't think I'm alone in saying that the target demographic for your videos are similar to me and have the same difficulty in getting the point due to the difficulty in hearing the differences. So, just a hint: This same kind of video but with more extreme examples of the various kinds of effects, compressors, limiters and whatnot would probably serve the beginner community more. I understand that in that kind of video the effect is not realistic, but to actually understand the differences and the function one has to fully hear the way they act even if the settings wouldn't be actually used in a real production. It's not only you. It's every producer channel I've seen that don't seem to understand how undeveloped the beginner ear actually is (and our gear also isn't pro-level). The TH-cam audio degradation probably plays a big role too which makes my point even more relevant. So, I think that with your Studio setup, you probably hear the differences clear as day, but they don't really translate to TH-cam as-is. Thoughts?
Hey Andy, thanks for your comment, I definitely hear what you're saying. Most of my videos are aimed at an 'intermediate' level, so they do assume some knowledge of the topics that I'm covering, but I think you're almost certainly right that there's probably a gap for a 'back to basics' style video on how to hear compression in the first place. Hearing compression is hard, especially when you're developing your ear. It was definitely the last of the main principles to 'click' for me, and I think that's pretty common amongst people learning the craft. To some extent this is one of those things that comes with experience, and there's no substitute for spending a good amount of time working with audio to help you get better at honing in on these kinds of subtle differences in the material you're treating, but your comment has got me thinking, and I'm going to see if I can put together a video that might help people who are earlier on in their journey to understand what to listen for when it comes to compression. You're right that the TH-cam compression certainly doesn't help, but once you get your ear in you'll start to be able to hear pretty subtle differences, it just takes time. It'll likely be a few weeks before I can put another video together as I have the next few videos made already and I've got a lot on in the studio, but keep an eye out for it!
Hey again Andy, re my comment below here's a link to my video on what to listen for when you're learning how, and when to compress th-cam.com/video/UnT1pFetEGs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=j8Twv4TkHicsfU0Z
Really good video, I liked the vca comp on the full mix and I liked the Fet comps on the bass. Good work.
thanks! I'm definitey with you on those 2 points, although I do love an LA-2A on some bass sources too
i know you said you weren't doing much mixing and just wanting to show what the compression was doing, but was curious as to why you didn't adjust the output of the EQ when you gave a decent boost to the low end when you were showing the VCA compressor. i was taught that gain matching to the volume before you do any boosts or cut shows what the EQ is really doing to the sound.
Hey Mike! Thanks for your comment, you've raised an excellent point. Level matching like you describe is a really useful technique, particularly if you aren't sure what kind of results you're looking for from your EQ (or any other processing) in this case I just wanted to quickly put a bit of low end energy back into the low end of the kick, so I didn't bother with level matching. I go into my thoughts on this in more detail in this video about mixing 'rules' I often break: th-cam.com/video/Sy9Et9ae8bw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=C3NKMghxQLchbr41&t=430
That said, in the case of this tutorial video you're right, it would have been better practice for me to have level matched the output on the EQ - it would have been more clear for people who are learning what's going on if I'd done it that way, so apologies for that!
nice
As a complete beginner in these things I do find it a bit frustrating that the demonstration videos made by pros - while they give realistic use cases - are far too subtle for a person like me to actually hear any difference against the non-processed versions.
Your explanations are great and knowledgeable as such, but I don't think I'm alone in saying that the target demographic for your videos are similar to me and have the same difficulty in getting the point due to the difficulty in hearing the differences.
So, just a hint: This same kind of video but with more extreme examples of the various kinds of effects, compressors, limiters and whatnot would probably serve the beginner community more. I understand that in that kind of video the effect is not realistic, but to actually understand the differences and the function one has to fully hear the way they act even if the settings wouldn't be actually used in a real production.
It's not only you. It's every producer channel I've seen that don't seem to understand how undeveloped the beginner ear actually is (and our gear also isn't pro-level). The TH-cam audio degradation probably plays a big role too which makes my point even more relevant. So, I think that with your Studio setup, you probably hear the differences clear as day, but they don't really translate to TH-cam as-is.
Thoughts?
Hey Andy, thanks for your comment, I definitely hear what you're saying. Most of my videos are aimed at an 'intermediate' level, so they do assume some knowledge of the topics that I'm covering, but I think you're almost certainly right that there's probably a gap for a 'back to basics' style video on how to hear compression in the first place.
Hearing compression is hard, especially when you're developing your ear. It was definitely the last of the main principles to 'click' for me, and I think that's pretty common amongst people learning the craft. To some extent this is one of those things that comes with experience, and there's no substitute for spending a good amount of time working with audio to help you get better at honing in on these kinds of subtle differences in the material you're treating, but your comment has got me thinking, and I'm going to see if I can put together a video that might help people who are earlier on in their journey to understand what to listen for when it comes to compression. You're right that the TH-cam compression certainly doesn't help, but once you get your ear in you'll start to be able to hear pretty subtle differences, it just takes time. It'll likely be a few weeks before I can put another video together as I have the next few videos made already and I've got a lot on in the studio, but keep an eye out for it!
Hey again Andy, re my comment below here's a link to my video on what to listen for when you're learning how, and when to compress
th-cam.com/video/UnT1pFetEGs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=j8Twv4TkHicsfU0Z
@@MoonshiftAudio-ft7oh Perfect. Thanks, man!