Learn how to treat compression like an instrument and perform magic on any drum mix.
Fab uncovers the mysterious process of parallel compression, also known as New York compression.
Watch this step by step guide on how to achieve a punchy yet natural drum sound with some simple routing and a compressor (or 3!)
This tutorial shows you how to:
Set up parallel processing buses
Listen and learn the unmistakeable sound of New York Compression
Tweak the 2 most important controls: attack & release
Manage gain staging between the processed and unprocessed signals
Hear the tone differences between various compressors being pushed to their limits.
This is the most essential mixing technique that’s been used on almost every record for decades. Don’t start mixing another set of drum recordings until you’ve watched this tutorial!
Plugins used:
Massey CT4
Chandler TG1 plugin
UAD 1176 plugin
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00:00:07 Good morning children!
Today, we're going to talk about
parallel drum compression
also known as
New York Style Compression
which is very interesting,
since we're here in New York
and I've never heard it be called
New York Style Compression...
00:00:18 here in New York!
Which raises a question...
00:00:20 What do they call French food
in France? Food? I don't know!
Let's go back to compression!
So, first you need drums.
Here's some drums!
Fair enough. Now, how do we
make this bigger? Simple!
All your drum tracks must be fed
to two separate busses
running in parallel, meaning,
at the same time
and feeding the same ouputs.
00:00:47 One of those busses will be clean
the other will have an FX on it,
like in our case, compression.
00:00:53 The beauty of the idea is that
you can blend the clean signal
and the effected signal together
however you like to create new tones.
00:01:00 Here's how most people do it.
You need two Auxes.
00:01:03 One for your clean drums
one for your crush drums.
00:01:07 You need to send all your drums
to both those Auxes.
Simple enough.
00:01:13 We know what the clean drums
sound like, they sound like this...
00:01:20 Let's focus on the other bus,
the crush bus.
00:01:23 I'm gonna turn it on and put
a compressor on it.
00:01:26 In this case, I'm gonna select
the Massey CT4, which I think is great
and especially for this,
because it's simple.
00:01:32 Crush them - it's a crush bus...
00:01:34 a little gain here to listen
at the same level...
00:01:37 and it sounds like this.
00:01:43 As a reference,
this is the clean drums again.
00:01:49 Crush...
00:01:53 I think we could get more out of this.
Let me explain the concept
behind attack and release
in this particular case.
00:01:59 I have a slow attack. Why?
Well, I feel the clean drums
could use a little more attack.
00:02:04 So, if on my crush bus
I open the attack
then the crush drum's attack
is gonna get through and be louder.
00:02:11 That's gonna enhance the clean one's.
00:02:14 Now, I'd like more of the room, more of
the buoyancy and the reality of the drums
and make it more messy.
00:02:19 To do so, I'd like to have
more resonance.
00:02:21 To do that, I'm gonna make
a fast release.
00:02:24 Why? Well, imagine this...
00:02:26 If I have a fast release
the compressor is gonna
let go quicker, right?
And if it lets go quicker,
what's left?
Everything that's after the release
is gonna get pushed up from the gain.
00:02:37 If that's too complicated right now,
look at the compression videos
and then it'll make a lot of sense.
00:02:42 So the idea is...
00:02:44 slow attack,
to get the transient through
and fast release,
so that the compressor lets go
and I can hear it pump, and I can
hear all the room noise come up.
00:02:53 And it sounds like this.
First, slow.
00:02:56 Listen to the snare, and listen
to the tail of the snare.
00:02:59 And then fast,
and listen to the same thing.
00:03:16 Again. You can hear it
on the bass drum too. Slow...
00:03:26 Fast...
00:03:34 As a reference, we started here
with clean drums.
00:03:42 And then we compressed it.
00:03:50 So now, I'm gonna unmute
my clean bus...
00:03:53 lower my crush bus and then slowly
raise the crush bus under the clean bus
while listening, and choose a spot
where I like the balance of the two.
00:04:00 It sounds like this.
00:04:13 As a reference, we started here
with clean drums.
00:04:19 We made this bus here.
00:04:24 And then we blended them.
00:04:32 Just so you know, this is
what it would sound like
if I'd switch back to a fast attack.
00:04:37 I'm gonna play the slow attack again.
00:04:39 Listen to the punch
and the presence of the snare.
00:04:42 Then, I'm gonna switch to fast attack
on the crush bus
and listen to the same thing.
00:04:46 Slow attack.
00:04:54 Fast attack.
00:05:01 Again.
00:05:10 Fast.
00:05:17 It does this, right?
And... that's key!
So now of course, it can be
overwhelming to just solo the crush bus
and try to imagine
what it should sound like.
00:05:26 So how do we think about it
to keep it simple?
Well, you have one clean bus that
keeps all the integrity of the signal
transients, tone, everything.
00:05:34 Then you have a crush bus where
you can do whatever you want.
00:05:37 Of course, it's difficult to imagine what
the crush bus should sound like in solo
but we have some basic principles.
00:05:43 So for example...
00:05:45 If your clean bus lacks punch
put a compressor on the crush bus
and open the attack.
00:05:50 And then tuck that
new created attack under it.
00:05:54 If you need a lot of room,
a lot of buoyancy
then maybe a fast release
and a lot of compression
is gonna bring the room tones
and then you tuck that
under the clean bus and you get that.
00:06:03 If you need both, well... slow attack,
fast release, tuck it in!
Those are the principles. There's
a lot of stuff you can do with this.
00:06:09 A lot more stuff.
But there's a catch!
Here's the catch!
Obviously, we started here.
00:06:20 We ended up here.
00:06:26 I don't know many people who would
not like the louder version better.
00:06:29 We're not just listening
to a compressed bus...
00:06:32 we're listening to a louder
compressed bus...
00:06:35 which is gonna fool everybody.
00:06:37 So far, we've been going from
no parallel compression
to parallel compression full bore
with a big level jump.
00:06:43 I'd like to make sure that...
00:06:46 the compressed and uncompressed signals
on the parallel bus, are at the same level.
00:06:50 And then, we'll be able to compare
at the same level
what parallel compression does.
It makes sense? Here we go!
This is my compressed signal...
00:07:01 And uncompressed signal...
00:07:06 Compressed...
00:07:10 Uncompressed...
00:07:14 I'd say the compressed signal
is a tiny bit louder
so I'm gonna take it down
a little bit.
00:07:18 Now, I'm gonna have
both busses opened.
00:07:22 First, I'm gonna play
with the compressor off...
00:07:24 that's my reference level.
00:07:26 And then I'm gonna
turn the compressor on
and we'll be able to listen to the effect
of parallel compression at the same level
which is very educational.
So first, no compression...
00:08:05 Without the level jump, obviously
it's a lot less drastic of a difference
but it's still a very nice enhancement,
and you get the great pleasure
of knowing you're not kidding yourself
with levels, which is very nice.
00:08:15 I'd like to try different compressors.
This was the Massey CT4...
00:08:18 now I'd like to hear
the exact same stuff
but with, say a TG compressor.
00:08:23 This TG compressor also has
very few settings.
00:08:26 There's no attack, it's fixed.
00:08:28 Release is called Recovery.
00:08:30 1 is the shortest one, so I'm gonna
use that fast release thing.
00:08:34 And then I just jacked up the input
and lowered the output, put in
Limit mode, and it sounds like this!
As a reference,
the CT4 sounded like this...
00:08:54 TG...
00:09:02 So apparently, the attack of the TG
is faster
than the attack on the CT4.
That's why we have less punch.
00:09:08 But it does some really cool things
to the sustain of the snare.
00:09:12 I'll play it again. Listen to
the sustain of the snare on the TG...
00:09:14 and then to the sustain of the snare
on the CT4. TG...
00:09:24 CT4...
00:09:32 TG...
00:09:39 CT4...
00:09:46 As a reference, we started here.
00:09:54 Cool!
Depending on the compressors you have
available, this can turn into a lot of fun
and also a gigantic time waster.
00:10:01 A lot of people use
1176s linked together, two of them...
00:10:05 or, an 1178, if they have one.
00:10:07 Probably because somebody
discovered that sound
then somebody copied that sound, and
that became the sound you had to have
so, let's listen to that sound!
I'm gonna use the UA 1176
and we're gonna use it
in all-button mode
meaning that you're pushing
all buttons in
which you're not supposed to do,
but people do anyway
because people do what they're
not supposed to do. It's a human thing.
00:10:27 And I'm gonna make medium
attack and release.
00:10:30 Lower the gain a little bit,
and it sounds like this.
00:10:39 Without...
00:10:47 With...
00:10:54 Not subtle, but fun!
If I turn the clean bus back on,
it sounds like this...
00:11:06 Without...
00:11:13 With...
00:11:22 I like this. It's very different
from the other tubes.
00:11:25 Actually, we should compare.
00:11:27 Let's start with the 1176.
00:11:29 Listen to the attack on the bass drum
the size of the bass drum,
and the sustain on the snare.
00:11:34 Also the grain, the little bit of distortion
that having this setting provides.
00:11:38 So, 1176 first.
00:11:48 Now, let's listen to the TG one.
00:11:50 Listen to the difference in grain,
in sustain on the snare
and also where
the bass drum is placed.
00:12:03 And lastly, the CT4.
00:12:05 Listen to the punch on the bass drum,
and also the sustain on the snare.
00:12:15 Now, the three of them without talking.
CT4, TG, and then 1176.
00:12:47 Now, all completely different,
all fun.
00:12:50 The sky is the limit.
You can do whatever you want.
00:12:53 For example, you can have all three on
at the same time. Check it out!
I think Trent Reznor
would like this one very much.
00:13:08 To summarize, you need one clean bus
for transient integrity, and tone
and then one processed bus - it can be
a crush bus, it can be distortion,
EQs, anything you want really,
it's your imagination.
00:13:19 I urge you to download the files
and try stuff.
00:13:22 But that's the principle...
00:13:24 one clean sound,
one processed sound
run them in parallel, hence the name!
Et voilà!
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Fab Dupont is a award-winning NYC based record producer, mixing/mastering engineer and co-founder of pureMix.net.
Fab has been playing, writing, producing and mixing music both live and in studios all over the world. He's worked in cities like Paris, Boston, Brussels, Stockholm, London and New York just to name a few.
He has his own studio called FLUX Studios in the East Village of New York City.
Fab has received many accolades around the world, including wins at the Victoires de la Musique, South African Music awards, Pan African Music Awards, US independent music awards. He also has received Latin Grammy nominations and has worked on many Latin Grammy and Grammy-nominated albums.
Parts of this site and some files are only accessible to pureMix Pro Members or available to purchase. Please see below our membership plans or add this video to your shopping cart.
Hi! So great as usual; I'm watching them all, it's so helpful and simply explained, so great!
Do you use outboard for your haircut? :))
Fabulous Fab
2016 Dec 06
@soundspace2001: I do not send much OH in this bus. You could. It's a taste thing. I like to keep things dry and punchy, OH would make more of a mess. If you are looking for a messy, wooshy sound, go ahead and include them.
Fab
soundspace2001
2016 Dec 01
I wonder if you still send the OH, Room-Mics and Monomic to a separate OH-Bus? Or if you sent the whole set - including OH, Room-Mics, Mono-Mic to this Crunch-Bus? But interesting new option how to do this ...
davidromero
2016 Nov 23
All compressors in wins. LOL
joshuagoble
2015 Mar 08
Loved the punch from the CT4.
Sheldon Cooper
2014 Dec 20
@Fab:
Thank you for the answer, if you mean what you showed in the advanced video (switch the input of the crush bus then send the drum channels to it so you can mix it independently) i can remove the send from "clean to crush" then send the drum channels to the crush bus, looks like the same by the way!
Have a nice day! :)
Fabulous Fab
2014 Dec 19
@Sheldon Cooper: no that works but you cannot decide to alter the mix to the drum crush. It's fine in most cases.
Sheldon Cooper
2014 Dec 19
(Fab, yes: why don't you tell Trent to do an intrview??? :) )
I usually send the "drum bus" to the "drum crush" instead of sending all the drums to 2 independent aux so if i put an eq on the "drum bus" the "drum crush" will be affected too...are there any problem i'm not considering? :D
Fabulous Fab
2014 Sep 01
@Uauker: Phase issues can also be a benefit. If you wnt to avoid thinking baout it just have close to the same processing on both stems. If you feel confident you can stay in control when phase issues starts creating nulls and bumps then go for it. It's powerful stuff.
Uauker
2014 Aug 31
Hey Fab!
How about phases issues on parallel compression? In the mixing Caribean video you used the same compressor settings in the two busses to avoid phases issues. The same happens here?
roba81
2014 Jan 02
Great video fab. For me the comparison of the different sounds of the compressors was really helpful. For someone like me who is fairly new to the game and trying to train my ears this kind of stuff is great.
crash
2013 May 27
hi fab,
in this video you put all the drum in to a clean bus and a processed bus!
Is there any differences to put all the drums part into the clean bus and make a send(in pre fader) from the clean bus to the processed bus ?
thanks
onlinemusic
2012 Dec 07
It was very helpful at the end when you compared the sound of each compressor without talking in between the examples, and used the images to indicate which comp we were hearing. Talking in between examples makes it harder to hear the differences. It would be great if in future videos there could be more instances of this type of comparison. Thanks!
jrod9900
2011 Nov 30
Hey, Fab, I know there are no rules, but when should you use the full kit through parallel vs just say kick and snare. It seems like I've gotten told not to run everything through there together, yet it is perfectly acceptable for me to run kick and snare through one and a squashed room parallel with the rooms. ???
Thanks for all these great tutorials!
JROD
TaskUno
2011 Oct 11
I am astonished by how much difference I can hear already, in only my first attempt to use your technique. I also appreciate how you break things down in a simpler form than most which is very easy to understand. Please keep them coming!
fab
2011 Oct 07
@ DAVE / Yes it does. It gets twice as loud. In the video we compensate for that so we don't fool ourselves with levels. You should do the same in real life. (Whatever that is)
@Chimulko. THanks. Working on it
@Fransme. You should have no phase issue if you make sure that your plugins are properly compensated. (Sometimes you get lied to by your DAW)
@Mike C. PT LE pre PT9 is not delay compensated. It takes a lot of planning to do parallel comp on there. Save yourself some grief and upgrade :-)
ciao
Fab
Dave Zerio
2011 Oct 07
This is a great video! It definitely answered some crucial questions I've had. I really got a lot from hearing the same method used with different plug-ins too.
To make a long story and a whole bunch of questions real short: 1 question: If you send your drums to 2 separate busses as in the video, doesn't that amplify your gain before you even add any processing?
Stay tuned to all the really convoluted associated questions in person.
Thanks Fab & G!
chimulko
2011 Oct 06
Great great, more videos please please..
Fransme
2011 Oct 05
Very interesting tutorial. I like the comparisons of the different styles of compression.
At times I stay away parallel processing because of various phase issues. Is there an easy way to avoid this problem altogether?
yongjin.h@gmail.com
2011 Oct 05
Excellent, magnificent, fantastic!! It is really easy to understand but super practical. I've already learned what is
"parallel compression" on another website. This video, however, is totally different. It's not just an explanation of
the technique. Fab teaches how to listen to music and what part I need to focus on. And then, he shows the
differences with and without parallel compression. Now.... parallel compression is my technique!
This video is worth EVERY PENNY! Thanks Fab..
MikeC
2011 Oct 04
Wow this technique really changes my drum sounds. I feel like I just jumped up a level with my mixes.
Also, when doing parallel processing, do you ever run into latency/phase issues with the two separate busses? I have a really slow LE system on my laptop, and I'm wondering if I'm going to experience that.