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Parallel Compression
Parallel compression is a strategy for applying heavy amounts of compression and still retaining a natural sound.
In lesson 53 we cover how to use a compressor. The problem with a compressor is that it can suck the life right out of the music. If you apply too much compression, you can hear a pumping effect as it breathes in and out. It just doesn’t sound natural. A good technique to get back some of the natural sound is to use parallel compression.
The idea is to play 2 of the same track simultaneously. On of them is heavily compressed, and the other has no compression, or very little.
You can do this by putting a compressor on an aux bus instead of the main track. This essentially duplicates the track and provides 1 clean channel without compression, blended with an identical channel that has compression. You then crank the compression on the aux bus,and gradually blend it in. This will mostly raise the volume the quiet parts, while keeping the natural dynamics.
You can still put a compressor on the main track to reduce the volume of the loud parts, but keep the settings more mild, and combine it with the parallel compression that brings up the volume of the quiet parts. This way, you can get much more natural sounding compression. I like using this technique on vocals and on drum overheads.