2 compressors?

[MisticoRitualista]

Or use your finger attack & toss the effects

I played straight in for years but I'm a pedal head now, definitely respect both camps though

 

[bftbassman]

This thread reminded me that I wanted to try this. I have an API CMP always on at the very top of my chain, then API LLX, Hudson Broadcast (24 V internal, low gain channel), Broughton HPF/LPF, Lightning Boy Fe23 and Genzler Magellan Pre/DI as the always on chain. Between the Hudson and Broughton are a fuzz and OD (in a gently-blended Radial loop with the Broadcast) and right now, an old Japanese Boss CE-2B chorus I’m experimenting with. I decided to try my Walrus Mira right after the chorus into the Broughton.

Adding the Mira into the always-on series doesn’t do anything I want; it adds a little noise and merely makes me want to dial back the CMP (which I prefer over the Mira) or turn off the Mira. Inserting it immediately after the chorus (and perhaps other varieties of pitch modulation) really adds a lush thickness to the chorus tone and smooths out the pitch transitions, allowing the depth to be increased without making the result too “jagged”. Really nice. I don’t know if the chorus will stay on the board; I want to try some small-format phasers and flangers (my current ones are huge, 18 V affairs for which there is no room), and the Mira may play nicely with these, too.

Anyway, an interesting result to me, maybe to someone else.

sounds like awashed ut where the heck am i in the mix situation..

I played straight in for years but I'm a pedal head now, definitely respect both camps though

I understand & not intending to be negative at all,,the only real thing i can say is anything that pushes your signal back in a mix or spreads it really from my experience..tends to wash out the bass sound,, i have more pedals sitting around than one should ever have lol and when its to go time live or studio its my SVT's or v4b into right cab for the job,,hard to beat the thickness..the impact on down beat without it being spread around the background

 

[GrowlerBox]

sounds like awashed ut where the heck am i in the mix situation..

Odd thing to assume without the benefit of a recording, and quite the contrary as it happens, but I appreciate the concern.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

Most decent FOH desks have built-in compressors. During soundcheck, you can send the sound engineer your lowest and highest (effected) signal levels, so they can set the compression accordingly. This might negate the need for the second compressor/limiter pedal.

I don't use pedals much anymore, but when I did, I had my Cali76 at the beginning of my chain with.

 

[Krisfield]

I compose my songs around the bass guitar and effects. I use a compressor and limiter. We get a FOH engineer who gives us what we want.

 

[Krisfield]

Are you talking about stereo spread? If you have a decent meter with a vector scope, you can easily identify if your signal is in mono or not.

anything that pushes your signal back in a mix or spreads it

 

[FullumMusic]

That sounds like an intricate setup. I like experimenting w/ different sonic possibilities but am very much a novice when it comes to understanding the science of sound engineering. I just follow my ears & what sounds good to me.

I mean, as someone who's vastly educated in audio engineering & sound design, using your ears is still the final judgement. All the education does is understanding how gear and acoustics works so you don't have to randomly turn knobs until it sounds good. You come in with an understand of what you need to do to make things sound good/better. But the end result is always filtered through our ears.

Similar to how music theory doesn't tell you what to play. But it does explain why things sound the way they do and understanding it means you don't have to experiment reinventing the wheel to find the right note or chord. It just makes it easer to find the sound you want to hear, but in the end, the what or why behind the theory is less important than just, "does it sound good?"

If it sounds good, it sounds good.

 

[el murdoque]

on one of my boards, I run a Cali76 fairly early in the chain. It acts as a limiter and sound enhancer.
At the end of the chain I have a LA-1A tube compressor which is too slow for limiting, but fattens up the sound a bit and adds that third dimension that a good tube device can provide. It also has a quality balanced output which I use to send the signal to FOH.

 

[MisticoRitualista]

I mean, as someone who's vastly educated in audio engineering & sound design, using your ears is still the final judgement. All the education does is understanding how gear and acoustics works so you don't have to randomly turn knobs until it sounds good. You come in with an understand of what you need to do to make things sound good/better. But the end result is always filtered through our ears.

Similar to how music theory doesn't tell you what to play. But it does explain why things sound the way they do and understanding it means you don't have to experiment reinventing the wheel to find the right note or chord. It just makes it easer to find the sound you want to hear, but in the end, the what or why behind the theory is less important than just, "does it sound good?"

If it sounds good, it sounds good.

Right, thats a great analogy, I guess what I mean is I wish I had a better grasp on why what I'm hearing sounds good to me in technical terminology whether that be from an engineering or theoretical perspective

 

[MisticoRitualista]

on one of my boards, I run a Cali76 fairly early in the chain. It acts as a limiter and sound enhancer.
At the end of the chain I have a LA-1A tube compressor which is too slow for limiting, but fattens up the sound a bit and adds that third dimension that a good tube device can provide. It also has a quality balanced output which I use to send the signal to FOH.

Is there a particular reason you have the LA-1A at the end as opposed to the beginning? Can it not also act as a limiter?

Ive not tried the LA-1A but had a PC-2A for a time & really loved what it added to my tone.

 

[klattman]

I generally don’t like compression before gain because it changes how the gain responds, but sometimes need one at the end to condition the signal for the next device if I don’t want it colored by clipping into that device.

On the other hand, if I have a very hot bass like the squier rascal, a unit67 set to attenuate and maybe a little compression at the beginning helps reduce the signal so I don’t have to change everything down the line and gain behaves.

So I can see where you might want both. Just don’t overdo it unless that’s the sound you were going for.

 

[el murdoque]

Is there a particular reason you have the LA-1A at the end as opposed to the beginning? Can it not also act as a limiter?

Ive not tried the LA-1A but had a PC-2A for a time & really loved what it added to my tone.

It's too slow and too sluggish to act as a limiter.

 

[FullumMusic]

Right, thats a great analogy, I guess what I mean is I wish I had a better grasp on why what I'm hearing sounds good to me in technical terminology whether that be from an engineering or theoretical perspective

It'll come in time. Just keep doing what you're doing, listening to what sounds good and figure out why, either by asking someone or looking things up in books/online, or by experimenting and learning the technical theory. Don't try to learn it all at once. As you find audio tech things that strike your interest, that's where to start learning. Because at the end of the day, it's not about just knowing the tech. Its about making music with it.

 

[arepa_funk]

Yep!! Either the Diamond Comp/EQ at the beginning for sauce and compression or Cali76-CB after filters to tame peaks + Analog Alien Bass Station limiter at the end.

 

[SemiDriven]

Is there a particular reason you have the LA-1A at the end as opposed to the beginning? Can it not also act as a limiter?

Ive not tried the LA-1A but had a PC-2A for a time & really loved what it added to my tone.

Huh. For whatever reason it didn't even occur to me to try the LA-1A at the beginning of the chain. Hmm.

+1 on the PC-2A.

 

[Derek Williams]

Cali76 V2 at the start of the chain with dimed HPF and 50% clean blend (both blend and output set the same). DLA-2A at the end, set so it stays around -3db during normal playing. Both are doing quite light compression. I like how the Cali76 adds just a bit extra before any drive pedals without losing dynamics, and the DLA-2A just subtly smooths and fattens each note. No limiting here, although when I kick on the Doom 2 It can push the DLA-2A a bit too much (which is sometimes perfect with fuzz). Can always bypass it if I don't like the loss in dynamics. I think it's important to recognise when any pedal might be having a negative effect in a certain situation and just hit that bypass switch, so I always try to set up my pedals for unity gain. (Except the fuzz, let that thing rip!)

 

[Lo-E]

Two compressors…. that’s crazy talk! It’s like putting a hat on a hat!

Nah, not really. If you listen to any modern recording there’s a very good chance you’re hearing at least two stages of compression on the bass, if not more, added at various points in the recording process. As others have mentioned, trust your ears and let them decide whether two compressors is the right number and which compressors are the right combination (because they can be vastly different).