Choosing the right settings on your drum bus compressor is very important to the impact your drums will have!



Choosing the wrong settings can destroy your mix.

No worries though, it's actually a fairly easy thing to avoid!



If you use a slower attack time, such as 10-30MS, you will keep the integrity of your transients in place.



Since a lot of what makes drums smack & have big impact is based on the initial transients, a fast attack time can destroy their impact.



This is because the compressor is reacting right away & causing the transients to be compressed down. A slow attack time will allow for the initial transient to still cut through.



You can still use fast attack times if you're doing parallel processing on your drum sum though. This technique can add a pumping & punchy feeling! Just blend it to taste!

