The #1 Parallel Compression Mistake 

Dylan here. Make sure to stick around to the end of the video to see my completely unscripted meltdown that my editor decided to leave in for laughs. 😬😬😬

This is such high-quality advice. Straight to the point, not too simple/beginner, not too complicated. BTW for my FL Studio gang : you can duplicate the plugin you are using for the initial track's volume automation, put it onto the parallel compression track's insert and link the gain knob to the same initial automation!

Now I can finally say I am no longer a beginner because I understood and followed every single step even though I used a totally different DAW.

Andrew Scheps uses a lot of parallel compression but he doesn’t use pre fader sends in his workflow AT ALL... go watch any oh his masterclasses, all his sends are post fader. In Reaper and Studio One professional any plugin can be routed in a parallel chain... so no problem at all. Basically he solves the issue that logic has) also I don’t see any problem in post fader sends to parallel compressor. It’s rather natural for parallel compressor to relax a bit when the dry signal goes down in volume. In parallel chains we usually want to slam the compressor really hard, mush harder than in series mode... in this case 2-3 dB doesn’t change the tone dramatically. So I don’t see any problem at all. Also I don’t see any need to feed the reverb with compressed signal... but this may be debatable.

1. Just use the gain plugin at the end of each channel for volume automations? no? 2. Just use the mix knob on a sophisticated compressor plugin? no? 3. Great video anyway.

I'd argue the #1 mistake when dealing with parallel compression is actually low cutting the parallel bus which introduces nasty phase issues and results in less bass because of cancelation. A lot of people don't notice that and just mix against this problem.

Would you effectively be doing the same thing if your compressor has a "mix" knob that lets you adjust how much signal is compressed and how much isn't?

HA! I thought I was really smart just because I used Parallel Comp in the first place...this was pure gold

Just curious... Would it be an idea to just include both tracks, main and compressed, into a summed track stack? That way, you'd keep all the tracks together on the mixing board and, when the track stack is closed, have only one channel strip showing on the board, saving space and the trouble of having to navigate between three channel strips. Open the summed track stack, make some adjustments, then close the track stack. Wa Laaaa... Everything is together. You could then, easily automate both the main and compressed tracks using a gain plugin on the summed track.

One of the best, helpful, clear, simply explained presentations I have watched. THANK you.

Don’t forget to set the parallel compression track to Mono and you’ll actually find yourself in a good spot then 😉👍

Short version: use parallell compression/processing on initial audio, then output the signal to a new aux for volume control without messing with the processing, just like with a VCA.

I think the term you're looking for is "group fader". I typically do automation for intelligibility/enhancement on on the track and level automation on the group fader. Since we have almost unlimited bus faders in DAWs, there's no reason NOT to bus everything before putting it into the master bus fader.

you can also assign any faders to VCA masters and have even better control

Can’t we just copy and paste the volume automation of the original track to the parallel track?

starts at 2:15

I can appreciate your tip with extremely dynamic tracks/songs. I guess my perspective is that with a post fader send, as Andrew uses does, you have an exact copy of track A going to your parallel compressor...I prefer a post fader send myself. My 1st thought is that if you are needing to change the level of a track so much that a couple of db going to your parallel compressor is affected that much you may want to address that prior to the automation of the song, but if the song you are working on is that dynamic, extreme volume changes, this is a good way to address those obstacles and create a nice wet/dry balance between the tracks. In my experience if a vocal, specifically, is getting so lost at certain parts of a song during the automation process-which I try and leave until the end-the issue is, for me, more of a frequency thing than a level thing. Certain frequencies are stepping on the vocal causing it to not cut through and be articulate enough. another thought is that when you adjust the dry volume going into the parallel comp it can help act as an energy boost for an instrument. So if I want more snare drum for a particular part of a song and increase the level of the dry track and the send is post fader, it can give you more energy making the snare sound as though it is being hit harder... creating a dynamic that is pleasing...so many ways to do this stuff...I absolutely love it!

Just copy and paste the automation curves.

Too much talking, wasting my time.

I get comparable results by simply adding a compressor with a dry/wet mix knob, slamming the signal, and then backing off on the 'wetness' to taste. I get parallel compression in seconds.

In logic won’t a summing track stack accomplish the same thing without having to create sends.

Can you explain if you route multiple vocals to a vocal bus how would apply reverb or delays individually ie some doubles or adlibs you want to have a specific delay but each time you change the reverb or delay for doubles or adlibs or harmonies can you use the same vocal bus and use send on track pre vocal bus?

Great tutorial!

Great tip! That opening "dust to dust" song makes me dread clicking on your videos though. It's like Creed mixed with Nickelback. n

Its not a mistake. Michael Brauer mix vocals into parallel compressors. so they react to automation. and its a part of his method..

How about duplicating the track, slam the duplicated track and commit (you can commit because you've still got the original). Automate to taste. Won't work so well in DAWs that don't do latency compensation.

I duplicate the channel? Maybe i am the idiot...;)

Say "Sweet Compression Cheat Sheet Seat" 10 Times for a virtual cookie.

Great explanation. I just wished even more examples, but you definitely gave plenty already.

just for clarification, in logic you can copy and paste automation to another track by selecting the whole track automation and copy, select track you want to paste, then paste. Just in case someone needs that bit of info.

Would it be the same thing to make a summing stack of the dry and compressed vox tracks and apply your automation to that?

For some reason I feel like I'm in a scene of Sherlock Holmes when Dylan is explaining the real solution versus the one that creates another problem lol

One thing I don't understand here is when you say at 9:12 "The workaround for this would be to automate the parallel compression signal the exact same way". I understand you aren't doing this in the end, but surely that would be the exactly same thing as leaving the Dry Bus on post fader and then just automating as normal (thus it isn't a work-around just the same as leaving it on post-fader?)

You lost me when you said to create a new track for the vol track. Maybe a logic thing. The routing is funny in that view you are using. Side to side in logic. A mixer view might be better. think you should have shown it in the mixer view. Can you please explain for other DAW's like studio one. Thanks.

So let's say for my bus sends I usually have a couple delays and a couple reverbs. With the para comp on a new bus track, i would just route my reverb and delays to the send of the para and comp? and not separate sends on the track itself?

Control freaks have been doing this from the start, no names given, just the natural urge to control everything lol. I find that in the audio engineering world, things with complex explanations or fancy names are often done without thought to high detail oriented people, it's just a natural instinct to organize and control. I guess that's why they say certain people gravitate towards things that fit their personality. Awesome vid by the way, looking forward to more.

Thank you SO MUCH for this tutorial! This is pure gold. Question… now (in 2023) that Logic Pro offers “Track Stacks,” could the same be achieved by nesting the original vocal track within a track stack, and doing the volume automation (and reverb, etc.) there? (Assuming that the parallel send from the original track also gets nested into that same track stack.) If so, is it still important to switch to pre-fader versus post pan/fader? Does it make a difference if you’re not touching the automation of the original track any more? Many thanks again!

omg thx a lot!

Apologies if this notion has already been discussed (I'm late to this thread, it just having surfaced in my YT home)... but if the dry track needed level adjustment word-by-word wasn't it already messing with the compression threshold? (assuming that the adjustment was to normalize the level, as opposed to de-normalizing to intentionally make parts louder than others). Logically it seems that the adjusted dry track might *fix* the threshold variations instead of corrupting them. Awareness of the issue, though, will allow the competent mix engineer to employ the appropriate strategy to keep the parallel compression coordinated with the dry track.

The Studio One "splitter tool" in the insert path can get all your parallel compression, saturations and crushing done ahead of the panner and fader. You keep the "clean" signal feeding through and the split allows a parallel channel of plugins to operate on the signal then mix with the clean at the output of the splitter.

Do we need add reverb on that parallel compressed track？I was only add reverb on dry signal so will be ：dry signal+compressed signal+ reverb（dry). Yours add 1 （compressed + reverb）？

The reason for the busses was pretty clear. The explanation of the track cluster was pretty vague. Maybe that is because I'm not used to looking at Ableton, and he didn't explain it very well.

dang how do I do this in ABLETON when I have multiple vocals? would it just be me grouping all the vocals and then adding the parallel compression, compressor to that group track? Thanks!

Couldn’t you just automate both the vocal tracks using a Logic summing group? Much faster, no?🤷🏾‍♂️🤨

Ive got ableton live with internal glue compressor which has a blend (wet/dry) controller. Is it the same thing as a parallel compression made with aux channel? And why not if the answer is no? Thank you!

what is about just a vca automation instead of the volume bus?

honestly this is a production topic that keeps me up at night because its so specific and enigmatic but also so real. Thanks for talking about it in so much detail!

wouldn't it be a solution to automate the clip gain and not the volume fader? 1. Automate Clip Gain 2. Setup Pre Fader Send 3. Enjoy

Great tutorial as always! Quick question btw. Could you just use the mix nob built in to the compressor and just automate that one track? Or is there a difference between doing that and this way of parallel compression?

Please stop teaching people how to make flat boring music with no dynamic. What you call “mistake” post fader - this exactly what make a mix breath - specially ITB mixes - keep the good work up

question: can I group the parallel compression bus channel with the origin channel like you showed in your 10h course instead of making another volume bus output? thanks!

I just use pre-FX volume automation and a compressor that does dry/wet by itself. So I never even thought of these issues.

Or just use fabfilter's internal parallel compression?

Couldn't we just put a compressor which has the ability to mix the compressed signal on the vocal directly?!

Nice! but if you are using a compressor with Parallel Compression option you can just play with the automations right?

Why don't you use a VCA fader?? To only manage the volume the VCA fader is very more precise than a simple bus

Dylan - If you are tuning vocals you are the one making the BIG mistake. Leave the vocals to people that can actually f-cking sing.

Thanks for the tip, it`s a important idea that I don`t thought about! Buuuuut... Isn`t easy just copy the automation on original track? It`s fast using automation select tool (T+Q) + drag mouse on track area + ctrl C + ctrl V on the compression bus track + ajust position draging the automation. Any technical problem making this?

Wait people automate individual vocal tracks and don’t use volume buses?! This is a thing mixing engineers do?!

Can't you just use a compressor that has faders for dry and wet signal like Reaper's Cockos ReaComp?

An easier way to do this is to send your vocal to a VCA. When you automate the vca volume, it will scale all your sends. Done

this isn’t really necessary if you’re doing parallel compression by reamping a hardware compressor out of logic and back in right? if you just make sure to send out the audio without any automation?

U can record the Parrallel Compressed Audio as a new audio. & Then make the gain automation.

Summing Track on Logic Pro X does this for you

At 9:20 you say it's not easy to go back and forth copying the volume automation to avoid the inconsistency in compression, but can't you just copy that channel's automation and then paste it onto the return channel? At least on Ableton i know it could be done easily not so sure about logic. Great tutorial I really am just confused as to how this is the first video on parallel compression that covers this topic as an issue...

Or just use the mix knob on your compressor! :)

Cool! That's the same we should do with all multi-mic, multi-source instruments like drums, bass, guitars, etc...

How about... Use a compressor with wet dry on the vocal track and then add another one after? Or... Vice versa?

If you're not utilizing Pre-Fader Sends..... are you even mixing?

use ableton live, create a parallel compression on your main lead vocal chain then gruop your compression with dry signal. Its easier to make parallel compression on ableton. dont waste your time on logic dude

Instead of doing all this we can simply use a plugin that has a mix knob. no need to have a aux .

You can copy the vocal track to the Bus with the automation and then delete the audio but not the automation leaving the bus with the same automation as the vocal track.

Can't you use a pre-fader send and then group the two channels? Or use a VCA that controls both?

I don’t know I think copying pasting my rides onto my parallel bus is way easier

How would I do this on Ableton? you cannot send return tracks to a Bus, only another track! please someone help!

Thank you, I am a newbie and didn't know I was making these mistakes! This is a great help.

I find it a different ways in cubase.. Where in pre fader will affect the amount of signal send, while the post fader dont

Or... you could just adjust gain pre fader instead of automating the damn fader lol

God thank you for telling me what parallel compression actually is. Every video assumes I do!

Why not just bounce the original track with volume automation and use that instead?

If we have to use a dedicated aux buss for each track for parallel comp,might as well use a compressor in the insert with a wet dry function….maybe I missed something….no offence, I’m just here to learn and this was explained really well…I understand pre and post fader very well

An obvious tip that could be easily articulated in a single sentence drawn out into a tedious 15 minute video.

you just went to fast for me and I'm sure there is a missing step in your process. I was lost at the part of making a new track. I hope you remake a video on this subject.

Or... Just use a compression plugin with a blend knob

Couldn't you just group the comp track and the vox track?

What if you put your reverb on your original track and not your Vox volume track?

I'm a beginner in Cubase Pro. Will VCA faders do the same thing?

Can someone explain to me why one can't just put a compressor into the original audio channel and use the dry/wet setting to apply the parallel compression? (Ableton Live)

The "free cheat sheet seat" is not free if I have to see the long video to get it! Remember, time is money! I'm not falling in that crap.

Please have a word with your video editor. It does little for my confidence when the first thing I have to do is turn the volume down because your voice is hurting my ears.

Nice video, white talk, Logic Pro, fancy plugins, etc. You just got another subscriber! 🤘🏼 Thanks dude.

I am sorry, but this was too confusing. The routing of the solution lost me completly

so if you’re not using a send and simply duplicating the track there’s no problems to begin with right ?

This is super super awesome never heard it like this before 🙏🏽🤝🏽

I wanted to thank you for your explanation of compression parallel compression and volume busing. Whereas compression in and of itself can be confusing to say the least parallel compression can be even a bit more difficult to understand. And then to throw volume automation into a separate bus can completely confuse the thought process of how an instrument or vocals are processed. My mind very much wanted to get lost in this whole process but your explanation was very concise and understandable. Also a great workaround between pre and post fader. Thank you so much.

Or you Can just create a return Channel yourself next to the instrument with the right rooting then just group it.

That compression cheat sheet suite is good SH*t!

Great video, thank you.

hey musician on a mission, your explanation is amazing but one thing I want to know is, how can I do the delay with this process? do I have to put another bus in the volume Vox for a delay ?

Can’t you duplicate the tracks and put them in a folder