Thank you SO much DM for this video. Because of you I just messed about with my Distressor in a similar way (although completely opposite settings for attack etc) and for the first time ever, I have been able to make my very own 808 kicks that sound just like those you would buy as presets!
same as you use a VCA or 1176 type of compressor but different character, each one his own, Distressor also can emulate Optical. LA2 style which means smoother and longer release, even tubes compressor are a bit emulated with the distortion 2 add on and then also Tape with the third harmonic one, this compressor is really the only all in one in the market option aviable, the british mode is emulation of the 1176 all radio buttons pushed at once
you are not comparing properly unless db are equal, sorry but I got the idea of sound, please keep in mind tthe same output level before and after, video and the way you set it up is great
Hey Dr, Can you comment on how to route your output from protools-into the distressor and back in again to be able to solo and hear things along side the original track. Thanks!
Hi Christopher. Sure: firstly for this video we used a ProTools HD + Digidesign 192 interface. We connected the bottom Distressor (via patch bay) to channel 7 of the 192 - both ways IN/OUT. Then we used CH7 as an INSERT on the "PARALLEL" channel you see on the video. Try to go full screen and HD: you will see the insert, it's called "A 7". With this configuration Pro Tools compensates automatically for the delay introduced by the DA/AD conversion, eliminating phasing issues that would otherwise occur. Hope this helps ;-)
Doctor Mix hi DR I'm having lots of phasing and latency issues while trying this setup can you make a video on how to perfectly set this up i don't have Protools hd version though i just have the regular PRotools don't know if thats the case HELPpppp
Shadrach! Connect the input to the compressor to out 3 (for example) on your audio interface and then the output of your compressor goes back to in 3 of your interface. Then use 3 as the insert for the desired track.... and then turn on the Delay Compensation, using Maximum in the settings. That should take care of your phasing issues. Please let me know if it worked :-)
is the only reason to have two distressors to differentiate left from right sound, or would there be other reasons? if you want symmetrical room sound (lef & right equally), then one distressor for bus-compression is just fine, right?
'the level of the master bus is hardly changing' ??? only jumping up about 4db or so!...for someone calling themselves 'doctor mix', i find it strange you dont know that is a huge jump in level - enough to make an A/B comparison totally meaningless.
Hi! So do you keep the unprocessed drumtrack on each track of your drum PLUS the distressor processed track in your mix? Or do you replace the unprocessed with the processed when youve dialed in the sound you like on the distressor? And exchange the unprocessed with the processed?
Parallel compression has both the original "uncompressed" sound on one track whilst you have the heavily compressed sound on another track. I say uncompressed, but you might do some compression on that original track as well, but it would be relatively light. You're basically using the parallel track to squash the sound and bring the body of the drum up, whilst the original sound is providing the main thwack of the transients.
Hi Claudio. I’m struggling getting midi drums using EZ drummer in Ableton to sound good. I’ve tried compressing just the kick and the snare but still sucks. Would you recommend parallel compression for midi drums as the best way to compress them? Also should I leave the high hats and symbols alone? You’re awesome thanks!
I think these 2 podcasts might be for you :) www.doctormix.com/blog/podcast-004-how-to-mix-the-kick-drum www.doctormix.com/blog/podcast-002-how-to-mix-drums
why does no body start showing how to connect a distressor? - what the hell a "floating pin" is or whatever. All I know is, there's a cord and it plugs in. When my Distressor manual says "if you use a single-ended XLR ouput, leave unused pin floating," that might as well be written in the language of Martians. How does one leave an unused pin floating? - Please help.
FridoomAssassin Oh I see! Well, they are good for different things ;-) Cubase is certainly great for music making and it's definitely flexible and quick. Pro Tools is more of a "recording machine" if you know what I mean. It's very solid, you can recall a session from 15 years ago.. no problem. Pro Tools is rock solid and extremely reliable, Cubase is a great "music making" tool ;-)
A bit late, but the answer is kinda. The input sound is always connected to the level detection circuit, however there's a link in input which was designed for linking two distressors up, which takes a copy of the input sound on one distressor and feeds that in to the level detection circuit of the other one. You can instead connect this up to any sound and then turn 'link' on. If this trigger sound is much hotter than the original sound, then it'll dominate the level detection circuitry and thus will act as a sidechain input. It's not perfect, but it is doable.
If I have all UAD plugins except this one. Do you think I can't making my techno ( Kick snare is the main thing ) without it? So you think I can make the same really trick but with using another tools from UAD?
3:29 Actually if you look closely, the level on the master bus jumped up like 3 dB's...... If you want a punchier sound without jacking up the peak level, a good amount of saturation/distortion is necessary; compression alone is not gonna do it
Adding any signal that's not the exact inverse will always increase the signal. But with parallel compression, you just compensate and turn the drums down by that 3db. It should still sound bigger than the original sound even when the levels are matched. But saturation and distortion are also good for thickening drums up. They all sound slightly differently, and different drum sounds might work better on one of the techniques than the others. So it's just something to experiment with.
+ouhlala! Hey, these files are actually mono. We have two copies; one clean, one with the compression. This allows us to create a compressed version and blend it in parallel with the clean version.
Maybe a different microphone on this may even prove to improve. While I understand the changes made on this effect and how the sound is molded. A crappy microphone cannot be helped even by a well used effect. I could be wrong, but I am calling this recording a bust for mic choice. Sorry, I think this mic sucks on the snare, not the kick drum. Even that mic may be suspect. Not calling you out. It is just an opinion, okay! Mic might be near dead! Could be. Don’t know for sure!
Great video! Absolutely awful snare. What would possess you to make that choice? It's not musical and takes away from how good the video is. Polishing turds springs to mind...
Some of these tutorial videos could be a lot better if the source audio wasn't a complete piece of crap. Some better choice of music really wouldnt hurt.
I can make a better snare sound turning over a tupperware bowl and banging on it with a ladle. that's when you make a midi track and sample the snare. god that sounds awful.
Yea the changes you made will make it push through the mix but now it no longer sounds like a real bass drum. Great for hip-hop and Rap but not for jazz or country. Nice technique though. And what's with the weird pumping hiss noise. I suppose you would only hear it in solo. Yes, great technique but kick should have a bottom end. I suppose you one of those mastering engineers that heavily beings down the cloud (100-250hz) when mastering. Great for the latest thing but not for a remastering of a classic rock album from the 1970's.
Hi John, we usually do this technique just in parallel, and then often boost the low end back up, so you have a full bed for the more dynamic kick sound to live on top of :) Of course, just because an engineer says he uses a technique, do not assume he does it on every mix ;) It would be a mistake to treat a modern R&B track and a laid back jazz or orchestral track with the exact same treatment for example ;)
The only thing that can help that snare is the *Delete Button* .
so true !
lolol
jaja
Lmfao but true tho
A trick: you can watch movies at Flixzone. Me and my gf have been using it for watching a lot of movies these days.
Thank you SO much DM for this video. Because of you I just messed about with my Distressor in a similar way (although completely opposite settings for attack etc) and for the first time ever, I have been able to make my very own 808 kicks that sound just like those you would buy as presets!
That's not a snare, that's a spatula slapping a countertop.
hahahahahahaa so true
jajaa
Snoo Lee shit in shit out
I'm stealing that description for every bad snare I hear 😂
Great video! I feel I now have a solid understanding of how to use a Distressor.
same as you use a VCA or 1176 type of compressor but different character, each one his own, Distressor also can emulate Optical. LA2 style which means smoother and longer release, even tubes compressor are a bit emulated with the distortion 2 add on and then also Tape with the third harmonic one, this compressor is really the only all in one in the market option aviable, the british mode is emulation of the 1176 all radio buttons pushed at once
"Let's try some distortion...ok maybe not" lolol!! Good stuff.
For me Empirical and the SSL are the best for bus conpression, Punch, loudness and glue! thanks for the video!
More videos please! so cool to see actual hardware instead of all the same plugins :)
Thanks Patrick! We got more coming ;-) About to feature more Thermionic Culture equipment and maybe Shadow Hills soon too...
can you do more examples with the distressor ? like vocal or complete set of drums .. etc that would be great
and great video for sure.
you are not comparing properly unless db are equal, sorry but I got the idea of sound, please keep in mind tthe same output level before and after, video and the way you set it up is great
I thought that was a plugin till I seen the hand lol
Heh me too.
Dr mix needs to call Dr Phase
Great vid, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it :-)
nice video!_ helpful... thank you!
Hey Dr,
Can you comment on how to route your output from protools-into the distressor and back in again to be able to solo and hear things along side the original track. Thanks!
Hi Christopher. Sure: firstly for this video we used a ProTools HD + Digidesign 192 interface. We connected the bottom Distressor (via patch bay) to channel 7 of the 192 - both ways IN/OUT. Then we used CH7 as an INSERT on the "PARALLEL" channel you see on the video. Try to go full screen and HD: you will see the insert, it's called "A 7". With this configuration Pro Tools compensates automatically for the delay introduced by the DA/AD conversion, eliminating phasing issues that would otherwise occur. Hope this helps ;-)
Doctor Mix hi DR I'm having lots of phasing and latency issues while trying this setup can you make a video on how to perfectly set this up i don't have Protools hd version though i just have the regular PRotools don't know if thats the case
HELPpppp
Shadrach! Connect the input to the compressor to out 3 (for example) on your audio interface and then the output of your compressor goes back to in 3 of your interface. Then use 3 as the insert for the desired track.... and then turn on the Delay Compensation, using Maximum in the settings.
That should take care of your phasing issues. Please let me know if it worked :-)
to me too i find very difficult to not to get latency
Super efficient video! :) Okay, I got one question: Why keep the original channel if the compressed one sounds better overall in the end?...
ƠSЦȠƊί it is a design choice to keep the original signal to about 50% which sounds more natural
is the only reason to have two distressors to differentiate left from right sound, or would there be other reasons?
if you want symmetrical room sound (lef & right equally), then one distressor for bus-compression is just fine, right?
really good tutorial I just bought my disstressor
by the way what line in trim and out you set your converter on?
I use lynx Hilo
'the level of the master bus is hardly changing' ??? only jumping up about 4db or so!...for someone calling themselves 'doctor mix', i find it strange you dont know that is a huge jump in level - enough to make an A/B comparison totally meaningless.
found that bypass press really interesting, myself...
Cool video, How is the outboard inserted into protools without latency?
Probably automatically adjusted via a “pinging” function like in Cubase. No need to do it manually anymore.
Hi!
So do you keep the unprocessed drumtrack on each track of your drum PLUS the distressor processed track in your mix? Or do you replace the unprocessed with the processed when youve dialed in the sound you like on the distressor?
And exchange the unprocessed with the processed?
Parallel compression has both the original "uncompressed" sound on one track whilst you have the heavily compressed sound on another track. I say uncompressed, but you might do some compression on that original track as well, but it would be relatively light. You're basically using the parallel track to squash the sound and bring the body of the drum up, whilst the original sound is providing the main thwack of the transients.
What is the track at the beginning of your videos?
Great, I need one. What is the best compressor for hard techno kicks?
overstayer fet compressor
Or distressor
Hi Claudio. I’m struggling getting midi drums using EZ drummer in Ableton to sound good. I’ve tried compressing just the kick and the snare but still sucks. Would you recommend parallel compression for midi drums as the best way to compress them? Also should I leave the high hats and symbols alone? You’re awesome thanks!
I think these 2 podcasts might be for you :)
www.doctormix.com/blog/podcast-004-how-to-mix-the-kick-drum
www.doctormix.com/blog/podcast-002-how-to-mix-drums
I WAS LIKE WHY IS THIS PLUGIN SHAKING HAHA
Massive difference in db level between them. Pointless comparison.
Are you really unable to compensate for that 'on the fly'?
If not, you must not be very good at mixing, which requires that ability regularly.
You should turn on the British Mod and use that too.
hey dr! i just bought the distressor and im using a rme ucx interface. do i really need a a/d converter to capture the full sound back to ableton ?
prob to late now. but no. the rme ucx interface has a/d converters that will handle it
why does no body start showing how to connect a distressor? -
what the hell a "floating pin" is or whatever. All I know is, there's a cord and it plugs in. When my Distressor manual says "if you use a single-ended XLR ouput, leave unused pin floating," that might as well be written in the language of Martians. How does one leave an unused pin floating? - Please help.
Cubase FTW
It's not Cubase, it's Pro Tools... but we might have as well used Cubase :-)
Doctor Mix I know it's Pro Tools, But I prefer Cubase :-)
FridoomAssassin Oh I see! Well, they are good for different things ;-) Cubase is certainly great for music making and it's definitely flexible and quick. Pro Tools is more of a "recording machine" if you know what I mean. It's very solid, you can recall a session from 15 years ago.. no problem. Pro Tools is rock solid and extremely reliable, Cubase is a great "music making" tool ;-)
> Pro Tools is more of a "recording machine"
you must be a comedienne
@@snoolee7950 WELL, THEY CALL ME THE JOKER
is it correct, that the distressor does not have a sidechain feature?
A bit late, but the answer is kinda. The input sound is always connected to the level detection circuit, however there's a link in input which was designed for linking two distressors up, which takes a copy of the input sound on one distressor and feeds that in to the level detection circuit of the other one. You can instead connect this up to any sound and then turn 'link' on. If this trigger sound is much hotter than the original sound, then it'll dominate the level detection circuitry and thus will act as a sidechain input. It's not perfect, but it is doable.
would you use distressor for mastering compressor?
No
Yes that one work but i mean when i try to the a parallel compression than it gets really phasy or ill have latency issue
Then you're not doing it right, nigga.
Thanks for sharing. Love the demo and parallel compression. But I don like the snare sound. 😂😂😂
4:45 - "A LOT BETTER"
If I have all UAD plugins except this one. Do you think I can't making my techno ( Kick snare is the main thing ) without it? So you think I can make the same really trick but with using another tools from UAD?
3:29 Actually if you look closely, the level on the master bus jumped up like 3 dB's...... If you want a punchier sound without jacking up the peak level, a good amount of saturation/distortion is necessary; compression alone is not gonna do it
Adding any signal that's not the exact inverse will always increase the signal. But with parallel compression, you just compensate and turn the drums down by that 3db. It should still sound bigger than the original sound even when the levels are matched. But saturation and distortion are also good for thickening drums up. They all sound slightly differently, and different drum sounds might work better on one of the techniques than the others. So it's just something to experiment with.
why kick snare are stereos?
+ouhlala! Hey, these files are actually mono. We have two copies; one clean, one with the compression. This allows us to create a compressed version and blend it in parallel with the clean version.
Ale i skompensował głośność haha
“A-ha...”
Maybe a different microphone on this may even prove to improve. While I understand the changes made on this effect and how the sound is molded. A crappy microphone cannot be helped even by a well used effect. I could be wrong, but I am calling this recording a bust for mic choice. Sorry, I think this mic sucks on the snare, not the kick drum. Even that mic may be suspect. Not calling you out. It is just an opinion, okay! Mic might be near dead! Could be. Don’t know for sure!
when u gain up the Input this tool is too noisi!
yea twist some knobs! you didnt explain what you were doing or in context. That snare sample was odd. ehh
We prefer to let the gear do most of the talking, that way you can listen to what's happening as we change the settings.
Great video! Absolutely awful snare. What would possess you to make that choice? It's not musical and takes away from how good the video is. Polishing turds springs to mind...
very expensive hardware just for increase some db to a fake snare.
It shines on everything from vocals to guitars. This example is just one possibility, and certainly not the strength of the unit.
Some of these tutorial videos could be a lot better if the source audio wasn't a complete piece of crap. Some better choice of music really wouldnt hurt.
It's not the best snare drum ever, indeed.
I can make a better snare sound turning over a tupperware bowl and banging on it with a ladle. that's when you make a midi track and sample the snare. god that sounds awful.
I appreciate you but the last part was redundant
Yea the changes you made will make it push through the mix but now it no longer sounds like a real bass drum. Great for hip-hop and Rap but not for jazz or country. Nice technique though. And what's with the weird pumping hiss noise. I suppose you would only hear it in solo. Yes, great technique but kick should have a bottom end. I suppose you one of those mastering engineers that heavily beings down the cloud (100-250hz) when mastering. Great for the latest thing but not for a remastering of a classic rock album from the
1970's.
Hi John, we usually do this technique just in parallel, and then often boost the low end back up, so you have a full bed for the more dynamic kick sound to live on top of :)
Of course, just because an engineer says he uses a technique, do not assume he does it on every mix ;) It would be a mistake to treat a modern R&B track and a laid back jazz or orchestral track with the exact same treatment for example ;)
Senseless, sorry....