Question about Compression .

[Pop-cycle]

I've been recording for a short time ok a long time but more off then on.
I never liked the way my mixes sound. They always sound very low in volume or way to loud and they don't have much dynamic range and everthing sounds like it's coming from the middle or is seperated to much.

I pan things and eq tracks solo and then refind them in the whole mix .
The main question is I don't use Compresson any more because it always makes the track or the whole mix
sound worst. No matter what I do with the ratio or attack.

It I possiable to still have a good sounding mix with out compresson ?
Maybe I'm just not paying enough attention to the basic tracks . I do 95% of My recoding Myself so Drums are
done with TWO mic's running into the M-Box and then everthing eles I plug in or sometimes I'll turn an AMP on.
Did I just answer the question.
CRAP IN CRAP OUT.

any way I want to learn more about compression does any one know of a good place to start ?

Thanks ,
John

[superpenguin79]

Hey John,

the answer is that there is no wrong way to make a mix as long as it sounds good to you. Most of the mixes that you hear on top 40 radio..etc.. now days are squashed til they cannot be squashed anymore with compression anyhow which kills the ears and takes the dynamics out of the mix big time. For your setup, I would try to focus on getting quality sounds with the equipment that you're working with. For drums, I have used a Mixer that has 4 pre'amps and then run the mixer into the MBox into a stereo channel and it usually sounds pretty good. A mixer like that usually runs around $100 roughly and would give you a couple more channels for drums.

Also for compression and getting great sounds, I would highly advise checking out: The Project Studio Handbook site which is a great resource packed full of information on just about anything you might want to know. The trick is to mix everything until you believe it sounds good to your ears and then refference with a cd on another stereo until your mixes translate how you want them to sound to everyone. Goodluck