Expand Dynamic Range Ideas

General

• Avoid Direct Compression and Aim More for Parallel Compression and / or Group / Bus Compression

• Use Multiband Transient Shaping

• Balance / Limit Each Sound on Its Own so it is Optimally Loud, then you Do Not Need to Squash Things in the Master Process, i.e. Use a Brickwall Limiter or Clipper at the Last Stage of Either Each Channel or the Subgroup to Control Transients (the Very Short and Loud Peaks), without Losing Punch of Course

• Compensate Sustained Elements that Suffer from Dynamics with High Dynamics Material (e.g. a Pad vs Percussive Attack), i.e. Having Sounds that Complement Each Other

• EQ Settings with a Rather Broad Frequency Selection (Dip or Boost) at the Right Place can also Change Dynamics, e.g. EQ Out Unwanted Frequencies (and those you can Not Hear) 

• Louder in the Real World have a Louder Echo/Reverb which Makes the Sound to Appear Louder than it Originally is (Psychoacoustic Effect), e.g. a Bit as you would Add a Lens Flare to a Photo to Make an Existing Light Source Shine Brighter, Now Use this Trick and Add a Dedicated Reverb Send Bus (that Allows to Send Parallel Amounts) Only to the Loudest Signals that have Strong Attack / Transients, so their Dynamics Seem to be Even Higher (Although it is a Psychoacoustic Effect), but Before the Reverb Add a Compressor and Expander (i.e. Compressor —> Expander —> Reverb), this Way the Compressor Increases RMS but Reduces Dynamic Range while the Expander Sends Out Only the Loudest Stuff to the Reverb, Use per Track “Send” to Mix it to Taste, as a Alternative you can also Try the Compressor After the Reverb

– Lower the Noisefloor Where Possible which can also Add a Couple of dBs

• You can use Compression while Thinking the Other Way Around and Compress Things to Make Other Sounds Pop Out More, i.e. Compress for Tone and Not Loudness

• Although Natural Dynamics are Important in a Mix Before Mastering, a Balanced Mix is Still More Ideal for the Mastering Process than a Mix Where Certain Things Pop Out Too Uncontrolled

• If at Master Stage, you Could in Theory Add Dynamic Range with a Rather Re-Balance of the Sounds with a Multiband Compressor or Multiband Limiter, i.e. Divide Signal into 4 or 5 Major Ranges Such as 20-200, 200-4, 4-9 and 9-20 and then Play with Gain Range Volume / Compression / Limiting (Along with Main Limiting Controls)

• If Kick vs Bass is Nice and Balanced with Nothing Else Interfering Everything will be Much Clearer, i.e. Less Definition in the Low End Always Ripples Up into the Higher Ranges and Less Definition = Muddy Mix = Lower Dynamic Range

• Use Clinically Precise Upward Expansion, Expansion Increases the Volume of the Louder Elements (and Works the Opposite of Compression which Decreases the Volume or Louder Elements), e.g. Use it to Increase Punch of a Kick without Affecting the Sub or Click

• Increase Clarity of the Hi Hat and Cymbal Transients on the Master Bus

• Add Dynamic Lift to the Lower Mids of a Synth (Avoid Mud Though)

• Increase Weak Snare Attack = Use Transient Shaper

• Leave Lots of Headroom, i.e. Master Should Show Healthy Overall Peak of -9dBFS

• Gain Compensate Insert Effects, i.e. Multiple Gain-Uncompensated Insert FX Make the Signal Falsely Louder, Eat Headroom and Make the 2-Buss Clip 

– Lay Off the Solo Button when Mixing, i.e. Only Use to Listen Details of a Particular Sound but Not Solo and EQ a Individual Track Without the Context 

• Compress in Parallel to Keep Transients Intact

• Leave Some Tracks Unprocessed, i.e. if it Sounds Good then Let it (Do Not Insert a Plugin Anyways just because you can)

– Use Existing Dynamics and Accentuate Them with Automation, i.e. Search the Flat Tracks / Passages in the Song and Change the ADSR with Automation

• Use Zynaptiq Unfilter to Boost Existing Resonances Instead Filtering, e.g. Set Main Slider to Negative Values to Boost EDM Sub Bass via Given Resonances

• Use Standard Gate to Expand Material and Transients

• DR Tools = Sculpt, Essence, Multiply, Impact, Solera, Punctuate

• Increase Weak Pad Attack = Zener Comp with Long Attack (4-5) and Very Short Release, About 4dB

• Increase Weak Kick Attack = API 2500 with Middle Attack (.5 to 1) and Long Release (0.5)

• Increase Weak Hihat = Neve RS 88RS Noise Gate / Exp

• Increase Weak Bass Attack = Use 1 Band in a Multiband Expander Only on Bass Frequencies (600Hz to 2100Hz) to Only Expand the Bass, Ratio of 1.5

Subtle Transient Enhancement to an Entire Mix

• Mostly in the Upper Mids and High Frequencies 

1) Target Specific Frequencies, e.g. Target Snare Frequencies with a  Band Pass Filter to Around 650Hz to 5kHz

2) Set Mode of Dynamic Tool to Expand (and Not Compression)

3) Set Mode of Dynamic Tool to Only Affect the Mid

d) Play with Threshold so that the Signal Exceeds the Threshold

e) Reduce the Output so the Audio is the Same Loudness as Before the Effect was Introduced 

d) Start Tweaking the Knee, Ratio and Attack/Release Settings so it Works Musically with the Rest of the Mix, e.g. Very Quick Attack to Push Transients Up and Moderate Release to Return Naturally to Original Level (Approx. so it Comes Back to Original Level Before the Next Hit)