Having read a lot of (often conflicting!) advice on how to make drums stand out in the mix, I’m struggling to see the difference between using a traditional compressor vs Cubase’s transient-shaping EnvelopeShaper plug-in.
Despite some opinions to the contrary (which I must admit to finding a bit confusing how some audio pros seem to disagree with other audio pros when discussing the same thing!), the general consensus on compressor settings seems to me to be this:
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To add ‘punch’ - longer attack time (e.g. 30ms-ish) & longer release (100 -200ms?) to squash down the body of the drum so that the transient stands out more but with the compressor resetting in time to allow the next transient through.
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To add ‘body’ or ‘fatness’ - quick attack & release times (less than 10ms) to squash the transient but allowing the tail through, then using make-up gain to raise overall level.
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For dynamic control - attack & release times as required which can vary depending on lots of factors.
The EnvelopeShaper appears to do the above quite simply by allowing direct control of the transient & tail as required.
But I’ve come across YouTube ‘tutorials’ where producers use the EnvelopeShaper, & then a compressor to add ‘punch’.
I’m struggling to see why both plug-ins would be required - I (think I!) have a good understanding of the theory of compression & the EnvelopeShaper seems to be to be a fast-track method of adding both punch & body to drums without worrying too much about threshold & ratio etc.
I did chuckle at one of the comments that said “… a lot of this is audiophile nonsense spread by producers trying to sell their courses or plug-in manufacturers trying to sell their plug-ins”.
Admittedly I can relate to that a little since I struggled to see the difference between ‘before’ & ‘after’, although that’s possibly due to YouTube sound quality (I was using good headphones though). That said, when experimenting inside Cubase I can definitely hear the effect of both compression & EnvelopeShaper, just not both at the same time.
Any advice appreciated!