Parallel drum compression

Starting points, not rules. Release timing follows the tempo, as in our guide to compressor attack and release times: one beat lasts 60,000 ÷ BPM ms, so 500 ms per quarter note at 120 BPM.

Drums carry most songs, and a kit that sounds thin makes the whole mix sound small. Parallel compression is the usual fix when the drums need weight but you don’t want to lose the hit. It’s one of the first things a mixing engineer reaches for on a live kit, and it’s simple to set up in any DAW.

What is parallel compression?

Parallel compression mixes a heavily compressed copy of a signal with the original, unprocessed signal. The dry track keeps the transients and the dynamics. The compressed copy brings up the quiet detail: room, sustain, ghost notes, the body of each hit. Together they sound louder and fuller than either one alone.

You’ll also see it called New York compression. Strictly, New York compression is parallel compression with an EQ boost on the compressed copy, which we cover below.

Parallel compression vs normal compression

A compressor on the track itself trades dynamics for density. Parallel compression lets you keep both.

What the dry signal gives you:

• Full dynamic range
• Transients that cut through the mix
• A natural sound

What the compressed signal gives you:

• Higher perceived loudness
• More sustain
• Quiet parts brought up
• A fatter, heavier sound

A dry drum waveform looks something like this: big transients, not much body between them.

With parallel compression, the transients stay where they were and the space between them fills in.

Your waveform will look different, but the result is the same idea: the kit sounds bigger and the room sounds larger, the RMS level goes up, and the peaks barely move.

How to parallel compress drums

1. Create an aux (return, FX) track and put a compressor on it.
2. Send the drum tracks you want to compress to that aux. Leave the dry tracks as they are.
3. Solo the aux and compress it hard: high ratio, fastest attack, 10–20 dB of gain reduction.
4. Set the release so the gain reduction meter returns to zero just before the next hit.
5. High-pass the aux, before or after the compressor.
6. Unsolo, pull the aux fader all the way down, and bring it up slowly until the drums get the weight you want.

There are three ways to build this. Each gets you to the same place.

Using a send

This is the method above, and the most flexible one. With post-fader sends, the parallel bus follows your dry faders, so the blend holds when you rebalance the kit. Pre-fader sends make the two levels fully independent. Either works, as long as you know which one you’re using.

Sending each drum separately, rather than the whole drum bus, lets you decide how much of each drum goes into the compressor. Most of the time you’ll want plenty of kick, snare and room mics, and less of the cymbals, which get harsh when crushed.

If the compressor on the aux has a mix knob, set it to 100% wet.

Duplicating the tracks

The quickest version: duplicate the track, say the kick, and compress the copy. It works, but with a full kit the session fills up with copies fast.

Parallel compression inside a plugin

Many compressors have a mix or dry/wet knob, so you can blend inside the plugin without a separate bus. FabFilter Pro-C, for example, has a Dry knob that adds the uncompressed signal back in.

Start around 30–50% wet and adjust by ear.

Which method is best?

For a quick touch on one track, the mix knob is the fastest and keeps the session clean. When you want to EQ the compressed copy separately, which New York style needs, use a send to an aux.

Best parallel compression tools for drums

Any compressor can do parallel compression. What changes is the character of the squash:

• FET (1176 style). Fast and aggressive. The classic choice for smashing a drum or room-mic bus.
• VCA (SSL bus style). Tighter and cleaner. Good when you want weight without obvious grit.
• Optical. Slower and smoother. Better for sustain than for density.
• Stock compressors with a mix knob. Logic Pro’s Compressor, Ableton Live’s Compressor and Glue Compressor, Studio One’s Compressor and Reaper’s ReaComp all do the job without a send.

Can parallel compression cause phase issues?

It can. The same drum arrives at the mix bus twice, once dry and once through the compressor. If the compressed copy is even slightly late, the two comb-filter and the kit sounds hollow.

Modern DAWs compensate plugin latency automatically, so in the box this is rare. Check it if you use hardware inserts, a low-latency mode, or a linear-phase EQ on the bus. A quick test: bypass the compressor and any EQ, match the levels and flip the polarity on the aux. If the kit almost disappears, the timing is fine.

A high-pass filter on the parallel bus also shifts phase near its cutoff. If the low end gets thinner when you raise the bus, move the filter lower or flip the polarity on the aux and listen for which way the kick sounds fuller.

New York style parallel compression

New York style is parallel compression with an EQ boost on the compressed copy, so the drums get sharper, punchier and fatter at the same time.

1. Send the drums to an aux. Sending some bass there too often helps the low end move with the kit.
2. Compress the aux hard: fastest attack, fast or medium release, ratio up to 20:1, 10 dB of gain reduction or more.
3. After the compressor, boost around 100 Hz and around 10 kHz, often by 6 dB or more.
4. Pull the aux fader down and bring it up slowly until the kit has enough body.

Should you parallel compress drums?

On most live drum recordings we do. It works on a single kick or snare, on the room mics, or on the whole kit.

It isn’t the only option. A slower attack on the track itself can already give you punch with good transients. When one compressor, or a chain of gentle ones, can’t make the kit both natural and heavy, parallel compression usually can.

What does parallel compression do to drums?

It raises perceived loudness, which pushes up the LUFS and RMS of the song. It adds body, longer tails and sustain, while the dry kit keeps the transients in their natural shape. That shape is a big part of the groove, and it’s why the technique took hold on drums first: drums and bass have to carry the song, and the hits still have to be sharp.

Where to use parallel compression besides drums

It helps on any part with strong transients and a lot of low-level detail you want to bring up. We use it on bass, on vocals that need density without sounding squashed, and sometimes on the mix bus. Use it when gentle compression doesn’t give you enough, and heavy compression takes away too much.

If you’re sending the mix to mastering, take any parallel compression off the master bus before you export. The mastering engineer needs the mix with no master-bus processing and peaks around −6 dB.

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