Fix Your Compression Problems. Before They Ruin Your Mixes

Compression is one of the most misunderstood tools in music production: You can ruin your music if you don’t know how to use it properly - but you can’t create professional quality music without it. In this video, I uncover the 6 most common myths I’ve heard when it comes to using compression and compressors in modern music, so you can avoid the mistakes that 95% of producers make.

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In this tutorial, we cover…

00:00 - Intro
00:31 - Myth 1: Compress everything
03:45 - Myth 2: Compression = Dynamics
04:41 - Myth 3: Using multiple compressors
07:39 - Myth 4: Magic settings
09:21 - Myth 5: Compression = Loudness
10:30 - Myth 6: Best Compression Chain
11:59 - BONUS: Using compression properly

📝…And here’s the blog version of this video: ???

Gear I use in this video…

🔈 My Audio Gear:

🎛 Discounted Plugin Deals:

💻 …And some of my Favourite Software…

🎤 Vocal Processing (I use all of these):

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Cheers, and happy producing!
Will

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#compression #mixing #musicproduction

[larswillsen]

Your analogies are just brilliant .. :-)

[johannborchersfriends]

So many people are losing the whole dynamic volume of their tracks having different volumes and that's okay. A lot of truth to this. I never compress the master.

[ackzz]

Great info - I like that you said – These are just my opinions, you might not like them, you might completely disagree and that’s absolutely fine. This keeps you safe – cheers!

[Proleet]

Always crazy when you search for a video and Will actually uploaded it a few hours ago, thanks Will!

[leifomusic]

Fantastic video. I'm not ashamed to admit that even after producing for 20+ years, I learned from your video. I'm really glad that I subbed to your channel. Keep up the wonderful work and be well! - leifo

[therej]

Great video! Learning compression and how to use it has been one of the most challenging aspects of music creation for me, but I'm understanding more that sound selection is the most important stage in great music. Compression is just one tool, but great sound selection is the most fundamental part of a great song.

[GrooveTV]

On moments i like to clip / limit before the compressor, so it does not have to push so hard .

[NoQualmsTheArtist]

I would add that compression on individual elements is actually an envelope shaper. The attack and release controls are like the ADSR controls on a synth.

[MindsetModulation]

For anyone trying to learn compression I recommend getting a high quality oscilloscope that allows you to see the waveform of your sound in real time and then run all kinds of sounds through your compressor and into the oscilloscope and start changing settings, listen AND watch what happens to the sound. The visual confirmation can help you start to hear the effect so much faster because it is really hard to even hear the effect of compression for beginners.

Or don’t do any of that. Your life… 🤪

[J_August_Music]

the examples are crazyy and relatable.. thanks boss

[EDMTips]

Thank you for watching! If you liked this format of the video, let me know what you would like me to cover next 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

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[charliegould]

Thanks for the vid, really helpful. I think I'm starting to understand this stuff now. 'if in doubt, don't use it' is actually really helpful to hear.

[MrTomservo]

The problem I have with tutorial channels is how they throw so much jargon at you and expect you to keep up, and then play a bunch of audio samples that sound identical to 99% of people, while claiming what a huge difference it makes. The bit you said about not worrying about which brand of compressor your plugin is mimicking was refreshing, because I don't know anything about the compressor market. And the audio samples you used were often exaggerated enough (like the reverb one) that the difference was a little more than nuanced. I appreciate your approach. After 24 of mixing punk and emo, I almost decided to quit recently because I was overwhelmed with how to produce pop vocals. I think I'll watch a few more of your videos and practice few things before I throw in the towel. Thanks

[DJVasC]

Again a super educational and clear video Will. This will be a good video to watch again when I dive more in depth learning compression. It brings you back to the basis.

[sybamunki]

completely agree with everything you said!! Use a few things well, and less is more

[bjulin]

All of this is absolutely true... Learn the fundamentals first, before you start to learn specifics. Much easier and better this way...

[GarethRees-ye]

Excellent explanation and analogies. Thank you!

[CharlesK]

Excellent video. I have seen a lot of videos giving setting on compression without know the source material. As you said theres a lot to consider when using the tools available to us 😊

[ethansoundknight]

These are true facts... You must do a tutorial On Eq

[JohnTosom]

The important thing is not the order of the plugins, the most important is what the sound need in every step.
Great video.