parallel compression of double bass

[drscotty14]

i used parallel compression on the kick of my metal song with attach of 8ms release of 120ms ratio: infinite and -40db threshold. it made the kick parts with single kick stick out and have more high end attach but for the double bass, it didnt change much. is there a reason it only made the single kick have more high end attack?

[Andrew07]

The release was set too long. So it reacted to the fast attack on the single kit and released before the next hit. but for double bass hits it clamps down on the first hit, but because the release is too long its still compressing when the other hits come in. Try setting it to a super fast release

[brandondrury]

Generally speaking, I like the the long release times on parallel compression, it kind of creates this suction type of thing that sounds really powerful to me.

However, double bass is just too damn fast.

Personally, I'd keep it as long as possible but still fast enough to allow each kick drum hit through during double bass parts.

I forgot the physics behind it, but if your release time is too short, the low end will distort like crazy (in a not-so-good kind of way). I want to say the release of the compressor has to be longer than the time it takes the sound to travel a single wavelength or something like that. So, if I'm anywhere close, a 100Hz signal is going to go to shit with a release time of under 10ms. a 50Hz signal is going to distort with a release time of under 20ms. Of course, 20ms is plenty fast enough for any double bass drum. I don't know of anybody who can hit 50 kick drums per second!

Brandon