Logic Pro 8 What am I doing wrong?

[ryguy76]

Hi,

first off, I'm quite new to logic/digital audio, but not to recording itself.

I have ezdrummer running in logic 8, and I am trying to set up parallel drum compression by having each individual ezdrummer channel bussed to a submix, instead of going to master, and the submix I have a send (set at unity) going to an aux with the compressor.

The problem I am having is, when I solo the comp channel, there is no signal to it, but it's there in the master mix. Even though the submix is not being heard, shouldn't it still be sending signal to the comp channel and be audible in that channel?

Am I missing something in my setup?

 

[Peter Ostry]

Set the drum bus to "solo safe":
Ctrl-Click on the solo button.

If you want to hear the comp bus alone, set the send to the comp bus to "Pre Fader". Then you can mute the drum bus and still hear the comp bus.

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In case you use the Logic compressor, you might not even need the comp bus. The little triangle at the bottom of the compressor interface opens the extended parameters and you find a "Mix" fader there. Set it to less than 100% and you get parallel compression in one step. Maybe an option for you. You could even insert a compressor in each drum channel where you want parallel compression and set them individually, depending on the character of the single drum.

 

[ryguy76]

thanks peter, I'll go and give it a try and report back with my findings. 😀

 

[zerobeat]

Peter already answered the question well, but here are some other words meaning mostly the same thing:

Solo = Mute everything else.

But Logic will sometimes smartly exempt certain channelstrips from being muted if it's in the signal path of the thing being soloed. The most obvious example is a physical audio output.

But sometimes it doesn't. Control-Click on a channelstrip's Solo button to exempt that channelstrip from ever being muted if ANOTHER channelstrip is in solo mode.

Also note that Logic's own Compressor plugin does parallel compression within itself. This is a relatively recent addition (maybe with Logic9?) There are extra parameters to the compressor shown with the reveal-triangle at the bottom of the plugin's window.

Other plugins have extra parameters too. What happens is that the features are implemented before the graphic designers have a chance to implement into the GUI (Graphic User Interface), so instead of holding back the features they are included in this "boring looking" format.... fully functional but no fancy graphics.

 

[Peter Ostry]

Peter already answered the question well

I am really sorry, please don't hate me for that. It's just the case that I am so unbelievable fast. Often I have to ask my neighbours if I am already at home because I didn't see me walking in. Some people want me to consult a doctor but I think it is a matter of speed.