Dood Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Hi all! Well, I've always been a big fan of a technique called 'parallel compression' where one mixes a compressed signal with a dry signal. I love what it does to my bass signal and over all 'feel' of playing. For the uninitiated, it seems like a strange thing to do. Is it not negating the action of the compressor? Well - yes and no. The action of a compressor is to squeeze the dynamic range, limiting the loud attack of notes but at the same time raising the level of lower volume passages (such as a solo or a particular technique such as tapping). What the Parallel blend does is enable those louder dynamics to still come through with the power intended via the dry mix of the signal, but quieter passages to be raised in volume by the compressed signal (once normalised). I've used various rack units and pedals such as the TC C300 and Nova Dynamics which are amazing - but I fancy taking a look at alternatives that don't seem to get a mention over here on BassChat. So, does anyone use the VFE White Horse, Xotic SP Compressor, Walrus Audio Deep Six or Wampler Ego for example? I realise that I can attain the same function using my B3 - but the Xotic SP is tiny and would be rather cool on my board! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Not many controls on that Dood, especially with the high output on your basses I would want to try before you buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 [quote name='charic' timestamp='1358521987' post='1940779'] Not many controls on that Dood, especially with the high output on your basses I would want to try before you buy. [/quote] Exactly the reason for me enquiry! - I think this one has dip switches inside to pull back the input gain - but yes, with my rig, I'd need to try before buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 [quote name='dood' timestamp='1358522573' post='1940800'] Exactly the reason for me enquiry! - I think this one has dip switches inside to pull back the input gain - but yes, with my rig, I'd need to try before buy. [/quote] Just make iGuitar let you do a section on compression pedals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 That's a really good idea actually. Noted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Looks like [url="http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/pigtronix/philosopher/bass"]Pigtronix[/url] have got one coming out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 Thank you! I've seen Billy Sheehan demoing the original Philosopher's Tone pedal by Pigtronix that has a distortion section as well as the blendable comp. i'll check this pedal out now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 what is wrong with the nova dynamics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 Nothing at all! It's an amazing pedal - I sold mine. DOH!! - They are a bit like hens teeth though. Having thought about it, what I'd really like is either Zoom to update the B3 to six effects at once or for them to finally bring out the MS-50B that was 'rumoured' with pictures earlier in the year. I'm slightly obsessive about my signal chain and I would like to maybe leave the Be to add 'extra effects' and maybe have one or two pedals to set my 'always on' core tone. Something I do with a bunch of Boss pedals. The MS-50G could take care of that for example - but of not, I really like the idea of that tiny compressor pictured above to add a bit of squishy in to my tone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 Oh - I guess the other thing is board real estate. The smaller the better. In fact, half of the Nova Dynamics would be perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 true. majority of my board is made up of the compressor and my wireless system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 I love parallel compression but I like to be able to EQ and/or distort each channel individually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Any pedal you like with an SFX "split and mix"? Say with a Cali76 (ooooh now that [i]is[/i] a thought). Would be my way forward on this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Surely all you need is a compressor with an attack control? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1358765653' post='1944495'] Surely all you need is a compressor with an attack control? [/quote] what he is talking about is another effect, known as upwards or parallel compression. Its more often known for use in electronic music on drums, as it does nice things to snares. Thats where i usually hear it talked about anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) No, parallel compression is a completely different thing from changing the attack on an inline compressor. You can (and probably would) set up parallel compression with a (far) faster attack than you can an inline compressor, since the dry signal is going to contain all the transient info you will need, so you get all the benefit of that nice juicy spike with all its associated top end and so on, whilst at the same tame beefing up the meat of the sound as soon as the spike is passed. Even then this is a very differetn thing from carefuly regulating attack, since you tend to have enough of the dry signal to convey dynamics as if there were no comrpessor running at all. Its quite tough to describe precisely why and how it can be so different, but I promise it is (sorry!). Because the compressor is parallel you can 'get away' with far more overt compression than with an inline comrpessor, with all the benfits of massive amounts of compression (really fattened punchy sound) with far less overt side effects (diminished dynamic range, and asssociated nasty feel to playing into a really smashed compressor, implications of compressing the nuts out of the transients leading to a far darker apparent timbre than you want etc etc). Upwards compression is not striclty speaking, exactly the same as parallel compression, although there are similarities, to the extent that a lot fo the time people suggest parallel compression in place of upwards compression. Edited January 21, 2013 by 51m0n Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1358771581' post='1944619'] No, parallel compression is a completely different thing from changing the attack on an inline compressor. You can (and probably would) set up parallel compression with a (far) faster attack than you can an inline compressor, since the dry signal is going to contain all the transient info you will need, so you get all the benefit of that nice juicy spike with all its associated top end and so on, whilst at the same tame beefing up the meat of the sound as soon as the spike is passed. Even then this is a very differetn thing from carefuly regulating attack, since you tend to have enough of the dry signal to convey dynamics as if there were no comrpessor running at all. Its quite tough to describe precisely why and how it can be so different, but I promise it is (sorry!). Because the compressor is parallel you can 'get away' with far more overt compression than with an inline comrpessor, with all the benfits of massive amounts of compression (really fattened punchy sound) with far less overt side effects (diminished dynamic range, and asssociated nasty feel to playing into a really smashed compressor, implications of compressing the nuts out of the transients leading to a far darker apparent timbre than you want etc etc). Upwards compression is not striclty speaking, exactly the same as parallel compression, although there are similarities, to the extent that a lot fo the time people suggest parallel compression in place of upwards compression. [/quote] A great description! Better put than my post. - I totally agree and that's exactly why I use it. Really 'squishy' compressors with a blend work really well. Certainly units based on the 'Ross' compressor with the added blend control (and sometimes a way to soften the attack) adds a really nice warming effect to HiFi sounding basses and is certainly one of the reasons I am interested in pursuing further. loop-blended with a nice bass distortion I think it'd be a great pairing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 [quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1358771581' post='1944619'] No, parallel compression is a completely different thing from changing the attack on an inline compressor. You can (and probably would) set up parallel compression with a (far) faster attack than you can an inline compressor, since the dry signal is going to contain all the transient info you will need, so you get all the benefit of that nice juicy spike with all its associated top end and so on, whilst at the same tame beefing up the meat of the sound as soon as the spike is passed. Even then this is a very differetn thing from carefuly regulating attack, since you tend to have enough of the dry signal to convey dynamics as if there were no comrpessor running at all. Its quite tough to describe precisely why and how it can be so different, but I promise it is (sorry!). Because the compressor is parallel you can 'get away' with far more overt compression than with an inline comrpessor, with all the benfits of massive amounts of compression (really fattened punchy sound) with far less overt side effects (diminished dynamic range, and asssociated nasty feel to playing into a really smashed compressor, implications of compressing the nuts out of the transients leading to a far darker apparent timbre than you want etc etc). Upwards compression is not striclty speaking, exactly the same as parallel compression, although there are similarities, to the extent that a lot fo the time people suggest parallel compression in place of upwards compression. [/quote] What i meant was "what OP is talking about" in reply to BigRedX.Thats interesting that parallel compression is different than upwards compression (I had always thought that parallel was a type of upwards). And yeah, when i use parallel compression (most often on drums in a DAW) i set the compressor quite harshly, almost to the point of limiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 [quote name='dood' timestamp='1358773065' post='1944662'] A great description! Better put than my post. - I totally agree and that's exactly why I use it. Really 'squishy' compressors with a blend work really well. Certainly units based on the 'Ross' compressor with the added blend control (and sometimes a way to soften the attack) adds a really nice warming effect to HiFi sounding basses and is certainly one of the reasons I am interested in pursuing further. loop-blended with a nice bass distortion I think it'd be a great pairing. [/quote] i dont know why i hadnt thought of using the effect on bass, but i imagine it would go nice things to a nice growly fuzz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Indeed it sounds great. I love the extra fatness achieved when mixing this and a blended distortion together, but still being able to achieve that 'kick drum punch' that you'd usually lose using a distortion pedal that by it's nature naturally 'limits' the signal also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 any videos or demos of the sp? im gonna be looking for a small comp soon, anyone tried one of these on bass? andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 [quote name='0175westwood29' timestamp='1358780703' post='1944839'] any videos or demos of the sp? im gonna be looking for a small comp soon, anyone tried one of these on bass? andy [/quote] No bass videos at all hence my asking. I'm going to see if I can get a demo model in to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNZxqYP3OJs found this one, he plays bass thru it at the end but doesnt show any settings sounds gd tho! andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Blimey! Good work! I'll check it out now! Thanks for searching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassmayhem Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 I can achieve parallel compression with my Eden WT1205. Set a Heavy squashing compressor on one channel and a no compression on the other. Set them parallel. I also did it with my Shuttle Max 12.0, one compressor in the loop in one channel, the other without. Then both channels on. It works in this way: you get compressed "body" and still the transients you may need. The secret is in the blending. I don't use it. I adapt my playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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