Welcome to sage audio. Today we’re talking about How to Low-Level Upward Compress Your Master
But first If you have a mix that you need mastered
send it to us at SageAudio.com to receive a free mastered sample of it.
Easily Low-Level Compress
In my opinion, the easiest way to add low-level compression to your master
is by using the Waves MV2 and subtly increasing the slider on the left side of the plugin.
You can monitor how much you’re introducing, and how your signal is reacting.
It’s a pretty inexpensive plugin as well,
and can be demoed, so it’s worth trying if you’re interested in low-level compression.
Sonnox Inflator and Ursa DSP Boost
The Inflator and Boost are 2 other plugins that can introduce low-level compression during
mastering - inflator is more indicative of tube distortion but with upward compression qualities,
whereas Boost amplifies quieter details of the signal with the focus slider.
With the inflator, increase the curve value to make the signal warmer like tube distortion,
or more like transistor distortion with a negative curve.
Multi-Band Low-Level Compression
FabFilter’s MB and other multiband compressors are capable of upward compression - to accomplish
this, use the compression mode with a positive range value. Since this is a multi-band plugin,
you can create different amounts of upward compression at various frequencies
Utilize the release time to affect for how long this upward compression occurs.
OTT Low-Level Compression
OTT is a popular free multiband low-level compressor, with which you can turn off
downward compression at the bottom of the plugin, and emphasize upward compression by dragging the
bars in the middle to the right. Then reduce the depth to under 10 percent when mastering.
This plugin is incredibly sensitive so be careful with it.
Parallel or Low-Level?
Parallel compression works by using significant downward compression, then blending that
heavily compressed signal back in with the unprocessed signal - Low-level compression
works by isolating a quieter part of the signal, compressing it, and the amplifying
it. Parallel compression is downward and affects peaks, low-level is the opposite.
Try both to see which one sounds better on your session, or maybe combine the 2.
Let’s compare the 2
Parallel Low-Level
It’s possible to parallel low-level compress by using an auxiliary send,
heavily compressing the send, and then blending it back in with the original signal.
This may not sound unique from regular low-level compression,
but with this set up you can introduce an EQ or other processor post-compression.
Just be sure to check for phase issues as that might happen with this setup.
Upward Compress the Side Image
With the FabFilter MB you can upward compress just the side - to do so use the compression
mode with a positive range, and toggle the expert mode in the bottom right.
Then move the slider to the right to have that processing only occur on the side image.
You can now expertly control low-level compression on the
side image with the attack, release and other functions.
Upward Compress the Mid Image
Again with the FabFilter MB you can upward compress and control the mid image of your master
from within the expert section of the plugin. This works well at making your mids more impressive,
or maybe increasing the perceivability and detail of your sub-frequencies.
If you use this on lower frequencies,
be sure to use a release time of over 50ms to avoid distortion.
Distort then Low-Level Compress
One of my favorite techniques is to distort the signal with tube or tape distortion,
and then amplify quieter parts of the distortion with a low-level compressor. This, more times
than not, increases the detail and nuance of the distortion, making for a unique, distinct sound.
When mastering, use this effect sparingly.
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to receive a free mastered sample of it.
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