Dynamic Range Compression

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Doug
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Dynamic Range Compression

#1 Post by Doug » Mon Nov 29, 2004 2:50 pm

I know that there has been some discussion regarding compression as part of a remastering scheme. But do any of you routinely compress the dynamic range of your DJ tunes almost irrespective of the recording??

I find that compressing - to the point of nearly flattening - the dynamic range of many "undanceable" songs can really enhance the rhythm section, can make bass solos loud enough to dance to, and can fix those blasting brass hits that are so common in 50s and later big band stuff. (Ya Ruben - I know - just don't play that cr@p). I happen to love bebop and find that with compression the rhythm section can be made to stand out to the point that many of the tunes really drive along (Kyle - stuff the comments). Anyone else?? I am using the compressor that comes with audacity and find that it works pretty well.

KevinSchaper
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#2 Post by KevinSchaper » Mon Nov 29, 2004 3:32 pm

I used to use a cheap behringer compressor for a while to do the same kinda thing.. just on the fly, rather than re-mastering..

With a crappy PA, I think compression helped in doing exactly what you're talking about - bringing up the quiet rhythm section and mellowing out the harsh mids and highs..

With a good PA, old stuff sounds alright anyway, so it's a lot less of an issue.

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Yakov
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#3 Post by Yakov » Mon Nov 29, 2004 4:29 pm

is this something you can plug into the sound system?
what does it look like? how much does it cost?

Campus Five
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#4 Post by Campus Five » Mon Nov 29, 2004 6:58 pm

You can get a bunch of different half-rack sized compressors for $50-$100. Check www.musiciansfriend.com and then check ebay.
"I don''t dig that two beat jive the New Orleans cats play.
My boys and I have four heavy beats to the bar and no cheating!
--Count Basie
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szarka
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#5 Post by szarka » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:21 pm

I use a compressor/limiter in my sound system, with some fairly gentle settings. My aim is mostly to keep the recordings with a huge dynamic range from scaring the crap out of the dancers and/or killing my speakers when the horns kick in really hard. A radio station or techno DJ would typically use much more aggressive settings than what I feel is appropriate for a Swing dance. Another nice feature, though, is that it eliminates any hiss or extraneous mic noise that might come through during ostensibly "silent" preiods during the dance. I always forget how nice this is until I hear another DJ's sound system without one...

It comes into play more when doing live sound than DJing, though.

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scowl
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#6 Post by scowl » Wed Dec 15, 2004 1:20 pm

Is there any software to compress the volume of a track before burning it to a CD?

Confusingly, the term "compression" usually means the file size in this situation. :?

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