Parallel Compression, often called “New York Compression,” is arguably the most famous use of this technique. It’s the key to achieving drums that are both dynamically natural and fiercely powerful.
What It Does:
The goal is to increase the Perceived Subjective Loudness (PSI) and density of a track without squashing the natural transients (the initial sharp attack of a kick drum or snare).
1. The Drum Bus Hammer
How to Set It Up:
- Send: Create a new Auxiliary Track (Aux) or Bus channel in your DAW.
- Route: Send the signal from your main Drum Bus (or individual drum tracks) to this new Aux track. The send should typically be pre-fader if you want to solo the processed sound for easy setting.
- The Compressor: Insert a high-quality compressor plugin on the Aux track.
- The Settings: This is where the magic happens. Apply extreme settings:
- Ratio: High, often $8:1$ or $\infty:1$ (limiting).
- Attack: Very Fast (to grab the entire signal immediately).
- Release: Fast to Medium (often tempo-synced, or adjusted by ear to pump rhythmically with the track).
- Threshold: Low enough to achieve significant Gain Reduction (often $10 \text{ dB}$ to $20 \text{ dB}$).
- Make-up Gain: Use the make-up gain to bring the crushed signal back to a loud volume.
The Result:
The heavily compressed Aux track captures all the sustain and body of the drums, bringing up the quieter parts and the room sound. When you blend this crushed signal with the dry drum track, the transients (the “click” of the kick, the “snap” of the snare) remain intact on the dry track, while the processed track adds a dense, powerful layer underneath.
🎤 Parallel Compression for Vocals: Consistent Intimacy
Parallel compression is also excellent for vocals, where consistency is paramount but you still want the natural nuances of the performance.
How It Differs:
For vocals, you generally want to preserve some of the transients to keep the consonants clear, which helps with intelligibility.
- Slower Attack: Use a slightly slower attack time ($10 \text{ ms}$ to $30 \text{ ms}$) on the parallel compressor. This allows the initial consonants and breath sounds to pass through untouched before the compressor kicks in hard, enhancing clarity.
- Blend In: Blend the heavily compressed vocal back into the main mix until the vocal sounds consistently present and intimate, sitting perfectly in the mix without being overly dynamic.
🔥 Parallel Saturation: The Glue and the Growl
While compression controls dynamics, Parallel Saturation (or distortion) is used to add harmonic content, which is perceived by the listener as added richness, warmth, and most importantly, perceived volume and glue.
What It Does:
Saturation introduces gentle overdrive and harmonic distortion, primarily into the mid and high-mid frequencies. Since the human ear is most sensitive in the mid-range, these added harmonics make the track feel louder and fuller without increasing the measured peak volume.
2. The Master Bus Glue
The most powerful application of parallel saturation is often on the master bus or a group bus (like all instruments, excluding vocals).
How to Set It Up:
- Send: Create a dedicated Aux track for your parallel saturation.
- Route: Send the signal from your Master Bus or desired Group Bus to this new Aux track.
- The Processor: Insert a saturation, distortion, or tape machine emulation plugin on the Aux track. ****
- The Settings:
- Drive/Input: Push the gain on the plugin aggressively until the sound is audibly thick and distorted.
- Tone/Filter: Use the plugin’s internal EQ or a separate EQ after the saturator to high-pass filter the signal (cutting low-end mud) and maybe a slight boost in the high-mids (the area where “sheen” lives).