For true audio connoisseurs, uncompressed audio is an absolute must. Or, at the very least, audio or songs that have only had parts of them compressed, and not to maximize volume but for creative purposes that serve to heighten a song's emotional impact. Compression, at its essence, is a technique that involves certain equipment called compressors, and basically makes sounds that have quiet parts more even in terms of volume.
Compression as it applies to drum samples can meet you at several points of a beat making session. The earliest stage possible is probably the process where you select your drum sounds. As you're browsing, you probably realize that most of the samples sound very loud. This is the compression in action. Most samples have already had all their subtleties and creative tendencies removed by whoever made this sound library. It can be very tiresome to try to locate samples that you can modify, knowing that the original characteristics will still shine through.
The second stage at which compressed drum samples could greet you is the mixing stage. This is where you would, for instance, apply a compressor yourself over the snare and kick drum samples, to give an example. The difference between this stage and the previous is that you are making the creative decisions here, and not being subjected to the careless maximizing compression of the sound compiler.
Nearly every song that plays on the pop radio stations has a great drum pattern, with all drum samples cutting through the mix. This is very important as a lot of car radios still have speakers that aren't so great at getting all the frequencies across, so a good mix is essential. While over-compression has had a lot of 'stick' in the audiophile community, creative uses are not scarce. You just need to look to dance music and analyze the 'ducking effecting to see how popular some creative compression can become in a genre.
If you've just picked out some drum samples that absolutely love each other and can't afford to even let one of them go, but have noticed gross over-compression on one or more, there may be some things you can do. You can introduce some feeling and life back into these sounds using audio editors. There are many audio editors available today, including free version from Audacity and others, so download one if you don't have one yet. One thing you can do sonically to liven up any sample is to couple it with another sample that is untouched and still retains many of its original characteristics. Another process to go through is trying to crop and apply some filters to add some creative noise back into the sound.
A popular compression process that many Rock n Roll and Hip Hop producers are huge advocates of is the NY Compression technique. At its most basic level, it's simply taking the same sample, one version of which has been compressed to the maximum amount and mixing it with itself. So you have a drum sample that is very punchy and cutting, while it still shows signs of the original variance. - 31989
Compression as it applies to drum samples can meet you at several points of a beat making session. The earliest stage possible is probably the process where you select your drum sounds. As you're browsing, you probably realize that most of the samples sound very loud. This is the compression in action. Most samples have already had all their subtleties and creative tendencies removed by whoever made this sound library. It can be very tiresome to try to locate samples that you can modify, knowing that the original characteristics will still shine through.
The second stage at which compressed drum samples could greet you is the mixing stage. This is where you would, for instance, apply a compressor yourself over the snare and kick drum samples, to give an example. The difference between this stage and the previous is that you are making the creative decisions here, and not being subjected to the careless maximizing compression of the sound compiler.
Nearly every song that plays on the pop radio stations has a great drum pattern, with all drum samples cutting through the mix. This is very important as a lot of car radios still have speakers that aren't so great at getting all the frequencies across, so a good mix is essential. While over-compression has had a lot of 'stick' in the audiophile community, creative uses are not scarce. You just need to look to dance music and analyze the 'ducking effecting to see how popular some creative compression can become in a genre.
If you've just picked out some drum samples that absolutely love each other and can't afford to even let one of them go, but have noticed gross over-compression on one or more, there may be some things you can do. You can introduce some feeling and life back into these sounds using audio editors. There are many audio editors available today, including free version from Audacity and others, so download one if you don't have one yet. One thing you can do sonically to liven up any sample is to couple it with another sample that is untouched and still retains many of its original characteristics. Another process to go through is trying to crop and apply some filters to add some creative noise back into the sound.
A popular compression process that many Rock n Roll and Hip Hop producers are huge advocates of is the NY Compression technique. At its most basic level, it's simply taking the same sample, one version of which has been compressed to the maximum amount and mixing it with itself. So you have a drum sample that is very punchy and cutting, while it still shows signs of the original variance. - 31989
About the Author:
If you want to make rap beats, good on you! It can be easy for some, hard for others. An important step when making rap beats is learning rhythm, so if you have that, you're one step ahead of the pack.
