Pancake or Crepe?

Crepes do not contain baking powder or baking soda for leavening

Using compression techniques in mixing

How to interpret terms used here:
Make . create sound channels (an instrument; drum rack; noise; vocals; voice ...)
Mix . sound channels to create track/song
Master . tracks to create album/project

My understanding/conceptualisation of compression

Compression is a form of manipulation for the dynamic range
. dynamic range refers to the difference between the loudest and quietest sounds

Compression can help
. create interesting sounds (make)
. mix sounds to make a track (mix)
. Provide consistency in an album/project (master)

Compression
. consider in terms of compartments for particular instruments or timbres in a track
. .send/return could help apply the same effect/compression to >=2 sound channels
. uncompressed, sounds could be too harsh, unclear or cluttered/too central
.. compression facilitates a clearer mixing of sounds in terms of time (arrangement) and space (stereo imaging)

I'm not an expert, but Deadmau5 makes some good tunes and I agree with him
. my take on his attitude to compression is that it sounds better if you "compress as you go", rather than "compressing everything" at the end of the work cycle, be that in the mix or in mastering
. else, you run the risk of producing "sausages" or loud, boring stuff
==> play with the dynamics, don't destroy them

Compression can also
. make your tracks seem louder => "perceptual loudness"
.. how loud a track seems depends on the average or sustained loudness (volume)
... compression flattens out peaks and troughs and can give impression of increased volume
e.g. adverts on TV often use compression --> they seem much louder than they really are!
.. it's often used by radio stations to present a more consistent character of sound

Korg Monotribe + AudioBox + Live 8 = getting it to work

Spent lots of time and money on various cables to work this out!


Hardware

Monotribe "output" 
= "thickest"/standard audio plug
--> socket 1 or 2 on front left of A.Box

A.Box
USB type 1
--> USB type 2 in MacBook

Speakers/Monitors
= "thickest"/standard audio plug
--> A.Box - back on the right of box "phones"


Software

Ableton Live 8

to be continued

Mastering Music Tracks - getting my head around it!

Workflow could be viewed thus:

Make (compose)

Methodize (arrrange)

Mix

Master

Market

Effects plugins - use in

--> Making/modifying sound => interesting noises

--> Mixing => interesting track

--> Master => fine-tune

Effect plugins in Making

- insert on sound channel

Effect plugins in Mixing

- use return (from common output [and before master output] to sound channels via send/return system

-- sound channel send --> group effect channel (pre-master) return -->  sound channel --> Master output

--- so can use different plugin effects, to varying degrees amongst sound channels

e.g. one pre-Master return is a compressor, assigned 100% to return A and another per-Master return is an EQ|, assigned 100% to return B --> sound channels can be affected in different proportions by compression plugin and/or EQ plugin before sending their output to the Master output e.g. for sound channel 1 send A is set to 75% and send B to 40%; yet for sound channel 2, nothing is sent to the return plugin for compression (set to 0%), but send to the return plugin for EQ is set to 100% 

Effect plugins in Mastering

- final opportunity to finesse sound output prior to Marketing

Try and get the track as close as you can to what you wanted produced, before Mastering

--> more likely to achieve desired product

--> more scope in Mastering

Essential aims in Mastering --> consistency

--> loud sound (good bang-for-your-buck)

--> character and brightness or clarity of track/s

--> without significant loss of dynamic range (quietest to loudest sounds)

--> without significant distortion (to much low and/or high frequency)

Thou shalt not

- use too much compression --> dynamic range as wide as possible

--> else risk blunted sound

- use too much EQ --> brightness as clear as possible

--> else risk loss of character

- focus all sound around the centre --> keep sounds separated/moving in time (phase) and space (stereo)

--> else risk characterless or boring sound

- avoid complicated movement of sound when applying changes in phase and stereo effect

--> else risk losing sound loudness or other quality as sounds clash