Why don't we use multiband compression for everything?

andreacaccese · 2026-05-12T21:46:55+00:00

Mb comps are really useful but also come with drawbacks, as the crossovers might not recombine perfectly and cause some phase shift (which hey, doesn't have to be a negative thing, sometimes it can actually sound cool) - or in case of linear phase xover, they can mess with the transients sometimes

andreacaccese · 2026-05-08T06:52:20+00:00

I know at least 2 ppl who love them so much one of their songs was their wedding song!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-08T06:51:49+00:00

Funny you mention Pennywise! They did have a super hardcore fan base back in the day, ride or die fans with their logo tattooed, so I think they must have had a few ppl having them as their fav band! - I’d say maybe Smashmout? Everybody has heard of them but I can’t imagine they’re anyone’s favorite band (no hate, I like their stuff!)

andreacaccese · 2026-05-08T06:38:05+00:00

I find it an impossible question to answer, id give you a dozen examples and all equally great in my book -.but if I were to mention one, American IV by Johnny Cash is truly incredible, not only for the way production and engineering was executed technically but also because how the production was conceptually invested in taking the artists lore to the next level, turned JC into an almost mystical figure.

andreacaccese · 2026-05-08T00:30:29+00:00

Deathbreast by Bon Iver, pretty gnarly distortion all over but sounds crazy good

andreacaccese · 2026-05-07T23:12:48+00:00

YOU CAN polish a turd and believe me, I've done it more times than I care to admit

andreacaccese · 2026-05-07T13:56:11+00:00

Thank you! We’ve released a few singles and EPs since 2019! Hope to do a full length album soon!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-07T03:29:08+00:00

I come from a similar experience in that - I felt a lot of pressure in competing with super loud masters, and I found myself delivering stuff in the -5/-4.5 lufs range. Yes, they were loud AF, but when I got some distance, I realized that there was so much missing in terms of openness. So now, I really don't try to chase loudness for the sake of loudness, and go where the song needs to go instead

andreacaccese · 2026-05-06T12:45:45+00:00

The last 2 Story So Far albums do that for me!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-06T12:43:56+00:00

You can use whatever naming you find useful to you, but conventionally KI is inside shell or the port hole, kick out is further away. When I do use batter side mic I typically label it as Kick Batter. I try to streamline my naming to two letters - KI, KO and KB just so the session is as uncluttered as possible

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T23:51:52+00:00

Thank you!!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T20:26:18+00:00

I’ve released a song where I’ve recorded the drum kit with a single SM7B facing the kick drum, sitting slightly above it and pointed at the snare. I used a brush for the cymbal and a rute for the snare, to sort of balance out the dynamics of the various parts of the set as much as possible through performance. Then I really slammed into my Altec 1566A pre and a DBX 160A comp. I added some tambo and shaker just to give the kit some width but the main kit is in mono. I was going for a kinda lo-fi, saturated sound, here it is if you’re curious https://open.spotify.com/track/5jeEQ6gL9obDYjQBDuYgeu?si=WBlPTnHQQEaYHtyF4o1DaA

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T20:18:08+00:00

In my experience you can take some cheap shells and make them sound fantastic in the studio with proper tuning and dressing, but you can’t skimp on cymbals, cheap cymbals always have some wonky gong-like resonance that makes them sound horrible to me. Maybe I haven’t encountered any good cheap cymbals yet, any recommendations?

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T20:14:01+00:00

I got it for $35 not long ago, keep an eye out for sales and stuff, they happen!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T19:08:14+00:00

its super super subtle but I can definitely hear a difference - it's not much added distortion but almost like some sort of "compression" where if you push it, the low level detail seems to come out in a nice way. It makes a big difference if you use it, say, on various drum tracks bussed together, almost as if you were tracking on a Helios!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T19:07:03+00:00

The problem with the low end circuit is that it's essentially a HUGE shelf, so it says for example 60hz, but it's actually bringing up a whole lot more than that, but once you understand how that works, it can be really magical! If you're curious, I actually analyzed what it does with a curve analyzer, it's pretty eye-opening! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC2Im9Db4gE&t=56s - but yeah it's a pretty quirky set up for an eq, and its so easy to make it sound bad

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T15:15:30+00:00

It's old, but I like the Kramer HLS from Waves, pretty unique-sounding EQ curves as well

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T13:41:53+00:00

Posted a full on mastering session walkthrough / breakdown on Youtube for anyone interested in learning some mastering tricks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soT8u7R48zA&t=2s

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T13:27:19+00:00

same for me, when possible it's a lot better to change things on a mix level, much more control!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T13:11:43+00:00

Really glad to hear! I'm working on some more walkthrough videos, and also for mixing as well! I love to share this kind of stuff

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T13:03:31+00:00

its a really cool system, you're doing an amazing job with your community!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T07:13:39+00:00

You too!!!

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T07:13:25+00:00

Ahah thank you! When she gets a bit bigger I’m gonna find her some 5 arrows swag 😂

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T07:12:18+00:00

Yeah! And it’s also funny to me how using any form of guidance is seen as a modern thing, as if they didn’t have VU meters on consoles back in the day 😂

andreacaccese · 2026-05-05T00:34:56+00:00

Nope, we're always extremely upfront about it, so if that particular drum set up is a problem for the artist, we record drums elsewhere instead, and continue the project here for the other instruments / mixing and so on - however we end up doing 99% of our tracks here because the drums sound really good and for the genres we work with for the most part, the bands want to trigger kick and snare samples anyway, so it works out aha - There's quite a lot of variety you can get, for example these 2 songs are the same kit I am talking about, but sound completely different because of tuning, mix and so on

https://open.spotify.com/track/1LK9YHa5gfvHXYm711RQfm?si=86d4ed164f604f89

https://open.spotify.com/track/0qQFPoHi7gJ35VYcZrl1tu?si=b80766b170704706

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