Getting consistency compressing 808s

Somebody was having a problem getting two 808s to work together consistently so here are a few ways that I may tackle that kind of problem. I thought this may be helpful to others as well.

======== (Post from Skool member) ===============

⚠️ Consistency compressing my 808

Hey, guys. I'm working on a beat I made and there's a combo of two 808s that come in and out to make up my 8 bar pattern. The one I need help with is pretty inconsistent, definitely needs that consistency style of compression, but I can't seem to get it to even out. I've run into this problem before with other beats, but I really want to get this right. I' tried using a single compressor as well as serial compression until each instance it plays had the same amount of gain reduction. I'm pretty sure I have way too many on there now. There's like seven, but the gain reduction is all under 2 dB. I tried using a slower release time still on tempo when I did the serial compression. It did get the other parts to the same level, but the last section is still noticeably louder. I haven't tried it with the faster release time, but before I spend days more on this, I thought I'd come ask you guys for help.

============================================

💡 HERE'S HOW I APPROACH FINDING A SOLUTION 💡

============================================

The way I approach problems with multiple kicks or 808s is to first isolate which one is causing the problem by deciding which one is the main one, and which one is supporting the main sound.

How does the original recording sound before doing anything or adding plugins? Does each one sound good and consistent in quality?

Next, I mute the secondary sound and determine if the main sound is consistent throughout the whole song or has any problems such as vanishing or fluctuations in different sections. EQ and multi-band harmonic saturation can be helpful.

A big part of kicks and 808s are the length of the decay too.Timing your decays can help tremendously with the groove and prevent low-end tails from smearing the groove. Does the drum groove need tightening, or maybe stretched out a bit?

A combination of clip-gain volume edits and envelope shaping will go a long way to helping create a stable low-end even before using compressors, clippers, limiters, etc. Clippers and compressors can be used to control the attacks and increase the perceived loudness of the sound.

Once you have a solid foudation with the main instrument, then add in the secondary instrument and listen carefully all the way through to identify if a problem shows up that didn't exist before. See if it gets softer, louder, thinner, tonally weird, etc.

If there is a problem check phase polarity or phase rotation. Look at the attacks and see if they are cancelling each other a bit. Shape the attack envelopes with a compressor.

Ask yourself, what role does each stacked instrument play? Is it to enhance the attack, to punch the groove, or to fill out the body of the composite sound. Does it need tonal shaping or saturation to enhance harmonics? Every song is different so the relationship to the low-end is tricky based on what else is down there and the rhythms.

You can also re-record the composite sound back through hardware/software preamps, amplifiers, or tape simulations to add some grit or consistency if needed.

Finally, normal things like compressors, EQ, saturators, transformers, tape, limiters, side-chaining, and more are all options that may solve your problem but in my experience, the simply solution is usually the best.

~ Khaliq (Khaliq-O-Vision) Glover

0 comments