Avoiding compression is all well and good when you're going through a beautiful console and tape machine, you get that euphonic glue through those anyway. His "compression is for kids" statement doesn't really apply to the modern era studio setup imo
Use a subtle amount of tape emulation instead. Transients is what makes people dance! If it made Michael Jackson dance it's definitely good enough for anyone else lol
Times have changed a LOT. Especially mixing and mastering in the box. With parallel compression and the crazy detailed automation that's possible today, you can glue your track, while recovering the transients.
He's coming from the analog world, recording to the best multi track Reel to Reels and going through analog desks, it is much more forgiving and when hit hard saturate and tame transients in a pleasing manner . In todays world of digital DAWs it is a lot less forgiving and raw transients can sound harsh and lifeless.
Bruce was a genius. A man of talent and amazing ears for sounds. Whenever I hear an MJ song, i always seem to hear just the smallest sounds that makes the song come together smoothly like butter. The GOAT
I have Always Hated compression!! And fought over many projects over compression!! Its possible to work without it and I agree with Bruce, it changes the character of the sound.
Great vid and some terrific tips! Love getting these insights. But eventhough Bruce didn't like compresion/limiters on music, you should definitely try some on your videos - the volume levels from clip to clip are sometimes pretty bad, (mainly, your narration is too low). I had to 'ride the fader' for it! Just a thought. Keep up the killer content!
Michael Jackson ' secret : rythm, snap, dance, in same time to sing. Michael started from the " Motown studio ", watched " Key of life " steevy wonder, and had a studio to him house " encino " , and had 50 % of Sony Mtv. So i think he knew what he wanted.
I've also never really been a fan of compression, never personally liked how it sounds. Even with very slow attacks and fast release times, I just never personally liked what compressors do to transients, but I use them anyway because we are told that we need to "glue" our mixes.
It's also very funny. Talking about, Re--Amping. The speakers he's using. The same, JBL 4311, control room monitor speakers. He actually used. For recording and mixing, Michael's greatest hits, originally. They are great sounding speakers. I had 6 pairs of them! All over my house and studio. In both locations. Can't live without those! I still like them better than lots of newer stuff. Newer stuff sounds cool, sure. These just sound so real and solid and fat and punchy. Everything you want in a speaker sound. No need to use anything else. Better is not necessarily, better. The same speakers also recorded and mixed, Earth Wind & Fire. And so many others. I've been using them since 1978, myself. I heard them in 1968. When they first came out. And I knew I would have to own a pair one day. Later I had 6 pairs. And similar bigger and smaller versions. They all sound fabulous. And I discovered. They are out of phase or rather out of polarity. To every other speaker manufacturer out there in the world. Why did they do it backwards? I figured that out in 1978, also. Try it on your own speakers. Reverse both connections on the left and right speakers. Take another listen. It's way different. You can do this with any speaker. And I realized why they did it. Everybody else makes a common mistake. They cannot think it through, properly. When you do it's very funny. And everybody ends up with dumbfounded looking egg on their face. When someone clues you in on this like I just have. It's very funny. It is tragically professionally, funny. Because everybody makes a mistake. And believes they are correct and can prove it! LMAO! No they really cannot. I get them every time. Once you've figured this out. It's a game changer. It changes everything. Your recording and mixing will go so much easier. You'll hear everything so much better. You won't need surround speakers. You will be surrounded from only 2 speakers. It's an amazing psycho acoustic phenomena. Called, connecting your speakers, Correctly! Not both inverted, negative polarity backwards. Everybody makes that mistake. With their electrical engineering degrees and their acoustic engineering degrees. It's very funny. No it is not funny. No I consider this to be the biggest technical audio faux pas FUCK up. In Pro Audio History. And nobody was to accept the fact. They've all gotten this backwards. They are, adapt. That they are correct! But it doesn't sound correct.. In your monitoring environment. And hey. Spoiler Alert!! It's not your acoustics. Even, if it is. Because what your speakers are both in negative polarity wiring. And you think it's positive. You really don't know what the FUCK. You are listening to. You don't know how it's supposed to sound. Your speakers are effectively, sucking.. They are not punching out toward you. Even if you can prove they are. LOL. No. They are wired to mimic the motion of the microphone diaphragms. And are those moving out toward you? No they are not. The joke is on you. And! There you have it! How to monitor like Bruce Swedien and Quincy Jones. And hey. I worked with Quincy Jones for an entire television season as an, Audio Engineer. On a show he was Executive Producer, on. And I know Bruce Swedien.. Or used to. I'm not quite as old. I'm only 67. I'm a youngster. But in the industry for over 50 years LOL. Yes I got a very early start. And so everything I'm telling you is 100% true. For anybody who is actually reading this. And you know who you are. You are the ones seeking knowledge and information. You just got some of the best information ever! You can flip the polarity on both of your speakers. With the cheapest of hi-fi's.. And you will be pleasantly amazed. You'll freak! I turn all my friends onto this. They have learned the way. To,, pure monitoring nirvana. Try it and enjoy. With your stereo and passive speakers of any brand except JBL. Those are already connected correctly. If you have them/any. But all others this pertains to. On that you can depend. I fix control room monitoring. The electrical engineers and acoustic engineers can't fix.. Because they think they got their math right. They didn't they made a fundamental error. A beginners error. It's tragically and pathetically, funny. RemyRAD
3:35 i almost unsubscribed but luckily you have a very useful channel. I did a paper on all this in high school and forgot almost all of this until now.
People like me and michael who have brutally powerful voices . Need mics like the the sm7 because we can literally blow up a condenser microphone. Thats why the sm7 has always been, and still is such a critical and intricate piece in rock production. The sm7 can accurately record a strong wailing singing voice. If you have ever worked with one im sure you know how low it takes in audio, and it needs a lot of power to produce sound. This is why its able to collect the full range and dynamics of an intense gutteral performance... A lot of condenser mics will just overdrive, and simply cant capture all the nuances and frequencies of a belting vocal take . It will literally leave stuff out and fail to represent the singers actual tonality . Not to mention what will also happen during the a to b digital conversion in our interfaces and daw systems . In a lot of cases a condenser mic is just inadequate and lackluster to certain situations. Thats why in my opinion the SM7 is a mandatory for your studio if you are a serious musician . ( It does more than just vocals) its just a very good piece for handling a Hot input or Loud high frequency instruments.. I got one and i also have the usb one they started making (i forget the model number but its an SM7 USB Mic) The 57 and 58 are also great for your arsenal as well. You can seriously get it all done with those 3 mics ... Sorry for the nerd out ... Actually no im not, go get you an SM7...
(michael jackson was technically perfect, with a fully developed range and resonance. What you call “powerful” is just and effect of perfect technique.)
quite a few spots where your voice audio cuts in too quickly over other voice audio, heard it a few times while watching. i liked the info but watch your vid a few times before you post so you can fix stuff like that.
A lot of people dont understand what he was using and had at his disposal... You dont have that lol, so acting like you also dont use compression because your a genius in your daw is not the same
It takes a lot of time to learn how to compress things, so I understand the guy, he didn't have to learn much about compression since all the analog top notch gear that he uses adds some elements of compression to the mix and he had a great feel for levels and auto - mixing; and top artists that had great control of the voice. Compression is "another level" of greatness if you know how to use it. I think he just wants to sound cool, he used compression a lot; if not him, his assistent when he went to the toalete.
Bruce Swedien did not use compression. He also said "compression is for kids". So your compression statement in relation to Bruce Swedien is totally false.
@@danender5555 He had compression right from the start using his Harrison 4032 console and Neve series. The transformers (in and out) in these two beasts already add compression right from the start ... It's easy to say "I used no compression" when you use such high end gear (200 000 dollars and up) full of transformers in and out. I would like to see him on some 5- 10 000 dollars tech without compression. It's a suicide.
@@b.hornetiii.6771Not sure what you are about to say. Bruce Swedien knew that the console automatically adds the compression regardless the fact he wants it or not, so his statement about not using compression is a lie. Or Bruce Swedien did not know the console automatically by design adds the compression regardless the fact he wants it or not, so he was a recording noob who knew nothing about compression at all.
@@danender5555 He knew ... ; it was just to show off a little. I think if he knew how people would grab that statement like it was a religion, he wouldn't have say it. I think what he was trying to convey is that it's used too much in pop music nowdays.
The only 2 trans people I know (one in my family) transitioned maybe a year or two before this was all over the media, and bud light ban(heh) and they are both good to friends and family, get straight A students and are happy they transitioned. Before I met them/their transition, I was ignorant to why people would want to do that until I spoke to them. I think people should listen to each other at the least and try to understand why these kids / people would want to. Then you would actually know if its the media, government, for fun or for self. Im for freedom to make mistakes and make your own choices. Having kids we have to constantly teach them how to ultimately make the best decisions along the way and not push them away when they want to do something we dont agree with. Saying that, we need to fight sex trafficking and expose and lock up these rapist and p e d o s with the same prison sentence as murderers.
Prince was prolific. Michael in comparison was far from that. Ribbon mics are where it is at. 1940's music was warmer, more human. Yes compression sucks.
@@vadimmartynyuk The SM7 has slightly more top end. That doesn't make it "superior in every way." That's like saying a condenser is superior to a ribbon mic because it has more top end. It's a preference. In fact, if you have a sibilant voice like mine, the top end of the SM7 is a disadvantage. Podcastage has a good video comparing the mics, and he came to the same conclusion. He preferred the SM7 at first, but gradually came to prefer the B. Also, there's something called "tolerance" in manufacturing. There's going to be natural amount of variation between even mass-produced microphones. So the SM7 he had could have been brighter simply from this natural variation. There's also the fact that any 40-year-old mic is not going to sound like a brand new one. The capsule is identical, however. And while you can hear the differences between the two mics, it's nothing that would actually matter in the mix. It pales in comparison to the difference between an SM7 and a condenser, for example. With a two db EQ boost they sound identical.
@@rome8180 SM7 is not only clearer at the top end but also has better bass extension, transient response, and les resonances mostly due to a different grill
you should be blind for making some content like this.michael jackson has albums when he was 12 years old.all of his albums was gathering of the best of the bests.he had quincy jones as his co producer .there is eddie van hellen just as a solo guitar.different famous producer for his each song he supposed to be great.there was lot of money involved in each of his albums
Extremely well researched piece, but poorly produced. If you are doing a piece about on of the greatest SOUND people in the world, doing something with this must disregard to level matching, balance and editing is kind of insulting to the Bruce. This could have been a wonderful piece for a wonderful man.
Sounds like the narrator doesn't listen to the oldman! Worst voice sound of entire ytb! over comp, arshy, too much sibiliants... But good job anyway....
CRAZY ENGINEER ! He took It as far as he could ! Which is so f impressive, all the mics variations ect. He dedicated his whole life for that knowledge you can feel. Respectable.
I appreciate this video, and love Bruce. Such a legend. That said, learning compression is right next to EQ as the most important thing you can learn to hear and utilize in mixing and music production. And obviously in live sound too. Controlling the transients and knowing when (and when not) to do things is the key
Digital recording sounds harsh…. Although it’s so easy to do stuff on it, I find im better off working on my 24 trk. Definition is outstanding on tape.
So you push the levels when recording to tape, which pushes the peaks up against the max volume the medium can support and it squashes the peaks. Sure you get sweet analog distortion and drive some of the less audible sounds in the recording, but you're basically still compressing/limiting.
Read Bruce's books. He went to great lengths to preserve transients on tape and created a whole system for it. He wasn't using tape saturation, he was avoiding it.
The idea that people used "tape compression" as a tool back then is really misunderstood. Sure maybe a few records were cut really hot but most engineers tried to avoid distortion as much as possible. The idea that you should overdrive tape is a modern thing.
I have two books by Bruce Swedien about recording, 1. The recording method and 2. In the studio with Michael Jackson. Highly recommended if you want to take a deep dive!
Hey George, you should make a video about how to have your speaker monitors setup and, certain engineers monitor steps. I know some have them horizontally and some don’t etc.
He's coming from the analog world, recording to the best multi track Reel to Reels and going through analog desks, it is much more forgiving and when hit hard saturate and tame transients in a pleasing manner . In todays world of digital DAWs it is a lot less forgiving and raw transients can sound harsh and lifeless.
@@AlexChenification It depends what genre, his methodology can still certainly work extremely well in todays music, just depends on what, if you're talking todays pop, dance and what they call 'hiphop' these days then you'll struggle to find a song without compressors in the mix.
If you are gonna make videos about how to get a good sound and try to make it as a youtuber, you should probably put a bit more time into getting a better sound for your voice; use a de-esser man, rx repair tool, make sure the levels of the clips you are playing are at the same volume. It's extremely distracting and automatically makes me have less respect for what you are saying. Especially the esses...
Bruce used Westlake Audio BBSM series as well - got to know that from Ashish Manchanda, who worked with Bruce closely. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-P7e5yncRrhc.html
