Contribute

As this site grows in content and an abundance of great ideas from users such as yourself, I’m finding that more of my time is spent putting together new material and generally trying to make this a great resource for everyone in the Reason/Record community. I’m also getting different requests from users on how to do certain things, and also many great people out there are sparking me to find new ways to achieve things in Reason/Record. I don’t want this to stop, so please keep the questions coming. I’ve always believed that this site is a joint partnership between you and me. And I would certainly like to keep it that way.

So now is the time in this partnership in which I ask you to give something back, not just to me, but to everyone else out there in the Reason/Record community. Here is how you can help both of us achieve our goals:

  • Donate. This helps me pay for hosting costs and my time creating the patches and tutorials for you. If you like what you’re reading, watching, or listening to on this site and want it to continue, or if you use my patches in your work, then please make a donation. Every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated. I do 100% of this for free, and I would like to keep it that way. [paypal-donation]
  • Donate a link or a mention. Spread the word in any way you can. Let people in other message boards and blogs know about Reason101.net. Post a link in your own sites and blogs, and tell everyone that this resource is completely 100% free for any and all musicians under the Creative Commons 3.0 license.
  • Donate your comments and questions. Positive critical comments are always welcome. If you have a better way to do things, or know a workaround to an issue that I don’t, we all benefit. If you have a question, I’ll try my best to answer it, work out a patch for you, or help you in any way that I can. If I can’t, I’ll usually have a suggestion or two on where you can find the answers you seek. Just please keep things on topic and be specific and clear.
  • Donate an article, patch or refill. I won’t guarantee I’ll post it or review it, but if you have some method or technique that you think is really hot, or you have some kick ass sounds, send me an email and let me know about it and I might just feature you under the “Contributor” section. Email me privately if you want to know where to send any CD or DVDs if your refill is too large to send. Are you really going to say no to free promotion?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and do your part to make this site and all the content within it a success! Now let’s go make some great music!

59 thoughts on “Contribute”

  1. hello, has it is i was wondering has a reason user and SoundDesigner if i could reference your blog site in my web page has a source for knowledge about reason if yes tell me what to do and what is the logo, for further questions please contact me. Ho i have some material also we could talk about it why not i send to you some of my stuff perhaps you couls post it too.. thks Luis Bicho-Portugal

  2. I’m totally new to mixing and DJing but I love Dubstep and have tried to make some stuff with FL studio (bobobebo on soundcloud), but I feel limited and am moving on to Reason. However, I have next to no money, no MIDIs or hardware, and not too much digital music or music theory expirience. Any ideas of where I should get started? (I mostly need help with hardware suggestions for price vs. value and reviews). Thanks for the help, having forums like this helps everyone out so much. Keep it up!

    1. Bobby,
      It’s tough to say where you should start. It all depends on what your background is and where you would like to take your music. If you already play an instrument, then you’ll want to probably get a hardware interface to play and record your instrument into your computer. It sounds like you already have Reason, so you have the virtual instruments down. You might want to consider Record (also from Propellerhead Software). If you don’t have the cash for that, then you might want to try Reaper software: http://www.reaper.fm/ which will allow you to record your instruments.

      Also, if you’re using Reason, I would recommend getting a good USB Midi Controller which allows you to input notes and play the reason devices from a tactile interface. Look up Novation’s line of SL Controllers: http://www.novationmusic.com/us/products/midi_controllers/ In my mind they have the best controllers out there and they are not too expensive and will do the job well. Of course everyone has their own preference. Korg makes good controllers as well. You should definitely try them out at your local music shop before you commit. That’s something you MUST do in my opinion.

      I would also recommend a good field recorder if you want to record your own samples. Anything above and beyond that depends a lot on what you want to accomplish. That might be all you need. But you might want something more than that. But whatever you do, start with what you know and figure out where you want to go (what your goal is). That will determine what comes next in your purchases. Oh and you might want to consider a good set of monitors and/or headphones if you don’t already have them. Those are the big purchases in a nutshell.

      Good luck!

  3. Recently found the site and very helpful it was. Top man for doing all of this. Helped me with the Kong Machine alot.

    Will defo keep checking back for updates etc.

    Thanks again

    Gav
    UK

    1. GS,
      Thanks for posting your comment. I appreciate the thoughts and I’m glad that the posts are helping you out with Kong. I’m working on a few new ideas this week, so hopefully will have some more interesting stuff coming next week.

      All my best,
      Rob

  4. Hi mate back again, Videos have been of great insight into some great new tricks etc. I was wondering if you have done any videos on Mastering, Mixdown etc.

    More so that im making stuff and i am obviously using EQ on all my sounds etc Compression etc. But really i need to know stuff in a little more detail. For example an 8 bar loop. Lets say its your Drum patten. KICK, SNARE,CLAP, HI HAT. How would you best EQ them etc. As alot of the time i always seem to have my kick punch threw just that little too much. I mean i am learning about freq cutt off points etc if that makes sense. I have quite alot of finished product’s and always making new bits but i am kind of put of from making more as i am not getting the full potential out of my previous work.

    What i am really asking is the best way to EQ drums to get the best possible sound.
    Thanks again for all the videos always a great watch

    1. Hi GS,
      Mastering and EQ are such difficult subjects to write about because they are so very subjective. It all depends on your taste, genre of music, style, etc. And there’s really no right or wrong to any setting or any way you work. The only crucial things to keep in mind is to ensure you don’t have any two instruments or multiple instruments’ frequency range clashing. Other than that, anything goes. Some will also say to make sure each mix has a wide frequency so that you have a nice mix of high, medium, and low frequencies in your songs. But even that is not always necessary or true. It really depends what you want to do with it all. I can recommend a really good series of articles on the Props site called “Record U” which has a few killer articles on EQ and mixing. I suggest starting there.

      In the future I might put together a few videos and tutorials to show what you can accomplish using the M Class devices, but that might be a while before I get to it. And lastly, I’m going to tell you what I tell everyone: Experiment, Experiment, Experiment! Try out all the different settings to see how everything works together. And also load up the Mastering Suites that ship with Reason and Record. They have some really nice ones. My favorites are the “Dance,” “Kompact,” and “Light&Wide” Suites. But try them all out, and open them up and see how they are set up. This is a great way to learn the differences in the sounds.

      All my best,
      Rob

  5. Thanks alot for the info. When i have something done ill stick a link on here so you can have a look etc. Always supporting and loving the videos!

    Cheers mate

    GS

    London/Uk

  6. Over the next week or so i will send you a link of the track i am working on. Moving more towards rnb etc. It’s just a matter of the mastering as before. I mean im at that stage where im getting bit’s done and have some opportunities for the song’s being used by good artist’s but for me they have to be beyond perfection when it come’s to the mixdown and final end product.

    A bit mad to some but it has to sound as good as possible or it is a wasted effort to me. I will give you a shout soon and let you know

    Thanks mate

    GS

    1. gs,
      while I don’t mind listening to tracks, I would ask that you keep things on topic. This blog is not to promote tracks. It’s a shared resource for new and creative ways to use propellerhead software Reason and Record. If you need some advice or help on an aspect of the software, please feel free to contact me. But no track postings ok? I don’t place any advertisements on this site, and I ask that you do the same. Thanks for your cooperation.

  7. Thanks a bunch for all of the info. I’ve been a Reason user since 2.0 thru 3.4. Now have made the jump all the way to 5.0 and Record 1.5. Talk about overload!! I am spreading the word about your site.

    thanks again…

    3re’

  8. hi,
    love the site. Some really good tutorials on here. I was after a bit of help. Ive been trying to get some good drum and bass bass sounds mainly a good reese. I found thsi tutorial but when I do it it does not sound the same as on the video. Thought you may like to give it a try and maybe post a patch if succsesful. I dont know where im ghoing wrong or if the tutorial is missing smoething,

    Woudl be a massive help the link is http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-make-drum-bass-basslines-reason-4-300940/

    thanks and keep up the good work

    1. @Mr.Pitch,
      Well it goes something like this. . . Reese Bass Combinator – See if that Combinator works for you. You’ll have to add in your own notes. The author of that tutorial was adding his notes somwhere in the C1-C2 range I believe. Let me know if that fits the bill.

      Rob

  9. Thanks rob,

    Sounds pretty good. Still sounds a bit funny on the high notes. I dont know how to describe it. can you tell me if a midi controller may change the sound much as I am just running basic into a technics stereo. I like what you have done with it though, I see you added a pattern matrix which gives it more of a pulse I think. Thnaks a lot for taking the time to have a look at this. I will definately be using this patch

    Ian

    1. @Mr Pitch (Ian),
      Yeah, I know the sounds probably won’t translate that well up to the higher end of the keyboard. That’s why I say you probably want to stay in the C1-C2 range. I would imagine it is the same for the person who put together this video.

      The reason I added the Matrix into the patch is because I had to mimic the automation he put in on the ECF Filter frequency. Since I wanted this all self-contained, I couldn’t use the Main Sequencer as he did in the video. So I guess if you really want to be true to his video, delete the Matrix and automate the Frequency knob on the ECF as you like. Or just draw in your own pattern on the Matrix and keep it there. It’s your call.

      The midi controller shouldn’t change the sound at all. However, that all depends on the controller’s ability to map midi from the controller to the Reason software. Things like aftertouch and velocity response can be different from controller to controller, but things like pitch and the mod wheel should be pretty standard across the board.

      However, your speakers and system will affect how things sound for sure. Try listening to it through a proper monitor system, or a few different systems (headphones, car stereo, a friend’s apartment who has high end speakers, etc.) and you’ll begin to see the differences. Then you can relate those differences to your Technics stereo and see if it is bass heavy or treble heavy. That’s what I would do.

      And thanks for the challenge. The biggest hurdle doing this was creating the patch as I was watching his video. He kept jumping around from one setting to the next, tweaking settings really fast, and then going back and re-tweaking them. So it was a bit of a struggle to keep my attention focused and make sure I got his patch correctly recreated. I think I’m pretty close. I hope 🙂

      Enjoy!

  10. rob any idea why when i use the matrix-combinator and the dr rocto rex..after i make a few patterns in the matrix…i copy them to the track but when i hit play..its doesnt play say one matrix pattern on block one then the diff matrix pattern on block two…it only plays the pattern that the matrix is lit up on….its like its stuck

    1. @Gary,
      The matrix can have 2 different types of lanes: Note lanes and Pattern lanes. In the main sequencer, you want to right-click over the matrix lane and select “Create Pattern/Loop Lane.” Then draw in a note clip. This will create a clip with Pattern A1 selected. If you click on the drop down arrow over the “A1” designation in the clip, you can select any of the Matrix’ 32 patterns to be played for the duration of the clip. For the sections of the track where there are no clips, the Matrix pattern will not be heard. Make sense? PS: this is all in the Manual… you should probably have a look at the section on the Matrix. Rob

  11. thanx rob your the man.. it did work..im sorry i didnt have a manuel..maybe it was in the help section though

    1. @Gary,
      If you have a “legal” copy of Reason or Record, you have the manual. It’s automatically installed with the software. If you don’t have a “legal” copy of the software, you should probably get one my friend. Not cool to work with a cracked copy. Not cool at all.

  12. Hi rob,

    I want to start making my own samples with the kong drum machine.Either using my voice or maybe an mp3.I really have no idea what the first step is..I cant seem to find that in the manual.

    Amy

    1. @Amy,
      Reason 5 PDF Manual, page 262. Chapter 15 is all about how to Sample in Reason. Try that out. Also, I have a video tutorial on the subject of sampling, which shows you how to route the cables on the back of Reason, so that you can easily sample anytime you feel inspired while you’re working on your song. The idea is to create a split at the top of the Reason rack, where one output goes from the main mix out to your soundcard (the primary outputs), and you split another set of cables to go into the sampling input. That way, what you hear in your Reason song can be sampled (more accurately Re-sampled). Here is the article / video on that: http://www.reason101.net/101-creative-reason-projects/32-working-with-live-re-sampling/ — keep in mind, all the devices in Reason that allow sample recording (NN-XT, NN19, Kong, and Redrum) work similarly. The only thing you need to set up is the routing, and you’re good to go. Of course, you have to set up your mic as an input that Reason accepts, so that you can get an outside source sampled into Reason. For that, I would consult the manual. Good luck! I hope this all helps.
      Rob

  13. Hi Rob,

    I’m doing the dr. octo-rex tutorial with the arpeggiator.For some reason it seems to be routed right but the arp never seems to be running even if its receiving notes.Loop playback is off and the video was followed word for word but i must have missed something

    Amy

    1. Amy,
      I don’t doubt you followed the tutorial word for word. But did you constrain the notes from C1-C#3. That’s probably the most important part, and possibly where you got tripped up. And the order in which you apply the “Note Adjustments” is important as well. First, you Alter the notes in order to randomize them. Then you make the notes a little longer by putting them side by side and then adding a little more length. Finally, once this is done, you MUST Randomize the notes starting at C1 and going upward (under Transpose Notes). This is because the Rex loop slices are played slice by slice starting at C1 and going upward (depending how many slices are in your Rex Loop). Is it possible that all your note data is below C1 or above the area where there is no slices, in which case you won’t hear any sound being affected? Send me your entire Reason (.rns) file over at webmaster@reason101.net and I’ll have a look at it and send it back to you when I have it working (along with some notes on where you may have been tripped up).

      All my best,
      Rob

  14. Hi Rob,

    I think my problem might be that the Dr. Octo drum patch i loaded isnt the same u loaded. I might need to experiment more.
    The arp is making only minor actions when its activated like its only skimming the drum beat.So i might need to play with the tool bar a bit more and ill send the file when i can if i don’t figure it out:)

    ~Amy

  15. before stating just have to say really appreciate the stuff u doing here man.
    Sorrry if this has already been asked but. i’ve seen a lot of different uses for the reason but i was wondering if it was possible to make a car / motor bike engine sound using synths ect. and be able to control the revs using the pitch or mod wheel. would be a massive help i need this patch for a project i’m doing

    1. @Asante,
      I would start with the Noise Oscillator in Thor. Working with that Oscillator, you can create some convincing Engine-type sounds. Also, my friend EditEd4TV has a refill called “Reasonable Help” and I believe there’s a patch in there which does this. Check with him about it. You can find this refill online here: http://baumanproductions.com/reasonablehelp.html Aside from the Engine sound, you’ll learn a lot about programming in Reason (if this is your thing). But shoot him an email and ask him about it. Hope that Helps. And thanks for the comment. I try my best here at Reason101 to provide some useful information for the Reason community. Rob

    1. Cole,
      I’d be happy to take a look at what you have. Shoot me an email at webmaster@reason101.net. If you have an article you want to share and it’s got some cool tricks, I could put it up in the “Contributions” section. Or if it’s just some patches you want to share, I could post them in the “Patches” section. In any event, send me what you have along with your thoughts and I’d be happy to take a look. Just give me a few days, if not a week or more, as I have some other things in the works currently. But I will get to it.

      And thanks for thinking about contributing. That’s very nice of you.

      All my best,
      Rob

  16. Hi there,

    Rob what do you think is the best way to put in automation.Let’s say you want reverb on block one and not block two.Just by- pass all the time then draw it in in block one with enable and whatever else u want?Drawing it in is a bit diffacult because it doesnt alway’s do excatly what you wish it to do.

    1. @Miguel,
      The best way to add automation is to use a MIDI Controller. That way you can use a physical knob or fader to add automation. Set up the MIDI Controller so that it is “Communicating” between the controller and Reason, then “Record” your automation into the track in question. For example, if you are automating a Combinator Rotary, make sure the track’s “Record Enabled Parameter Automation” button is enabled (in Red in the main mixer. Then press Record, and start to move the knob or fader around to record your automation. You can draw it in as well, but that may or may not be faster, depending on what you feel more comfortable with.

      Hope that helps.
      Rob

    1. Carmen,
      There’s a few ways you could do this. I have one video online that shows how it’s done. But it’s probably easier for me to just tell you.

      Open a Dr. OctoRex and load up a loop in slot 1. Then click on the “Slice Edit” button.
      Select the “Out” label just below the slices.
      Now you can select different slices to be output to different audio outputs. If you flip to the back of the Rack, you’ll see all the separate output jacks from the Dr. OctoRex. Simply send these audio outputs anywhere you like through any effects you like, and then back to a mixer channel.

      There you have it. Different slices processed in different ways. Simple right? I actually go over this in the following tutorial:
      http://www.reason101.net/101-creative-reason-projects/35-glitch-box-redux-r4-5/
      so have a look there and see if that answers your question.

      Note: If you need more outputs, either copy the Dr. OctoRex and send some of the slices out of the first Dr. OctoRex and the other slices out of the second Dr. OctoRex. This might start gettting a bit complicated, but you can do it.

      OR you can load a Rex file into an audio track and use the slice tool to slice it up into bits and put each bit on their own audio channels and then process separately.

      OR you can load a Dr. Rex file into an NN-XT where you can send to 16 separate outputs for separate processing.

      And then there is Kong.

      Explore explore explore.

      hope that helps.
      Rob

  17. Hi rob, i have my dr octo outputs and effects going and its working other than one thing.I’m routing my effects only one slice at a time..but if i want the entire patch with the effects..its alot of work..{routing slice at a time}..if i click on the ‘out’ like you said in slice edit mode it only by- passes that slice.. there must be something i missed in order to get the entire effect on the entire patch.

    ~Carmen

    1. @Carmen,
      The “Slice Edit Mode > Out” is tied to the audio outputs on the back of the Dr. OctoRex. Refer to the manual for more information about this. Essentially, There are 10 outputs on the back of the rack (4 sets of L/R PLUS the main audio left / right output). Now when you are in the “Slice Edit Mode > Out” selection, you can “paint over” each slice with your cursor. Take your cursor and draw over a single slice going from the bottom to the top (drag your cursor) – notice that there are 5 positions that can be selected: 1. No selection, 2. slice is filled a quarter of the way up, 3. slice is painted over half way up, 4. 3/4 way, and 5. fully shaded.

      Ok… these 5 positions correspond to the 5 pair of audio outputs. No selection = Main Left/Right output; 1/4 = Output 1&2; 1/2 = Output 3&4, etc. etc.

      Now you can select one or more slices to go to any of these audio outputs you wish. The loop will still play back normally from start to finish (assuming you haven’t edited the “Alt” parameter), but as each slice is triggered, it will be sent to the output you’ve determined for it based on it’s output setting. Make sense so far? Good.

      Now, if you think about it for a minute, you’ll see that if you want to process each slice with different effects, you have a limitation of 5 slices for each Dr. OctoRex device (in a Stereo configuration), or 10 slices in total (for a Mono configuration). To process more than 10 slices with different effects, you need to jury-rig it so that you have multiple Dr. OctoRex devices playing the same loop at the same time; using the first Dr. to process the first set of slices, the second to process the second set, etc. etc.

      So the real question is this: do you really need to process each and every slice in a loop differently? If so, there’s a lot of work and jury-rigging involved. However, if you have a 20-slice loop and you want to process 4 slices in one way, 5 slices in another, etc. you can easily do this in a single Dr.

      Now, this all doesn’t even touch upon using a loop in a Nurse Rex module inside a Kong. But there’s another idea for you.

      Oh and one last thing. This conversation is probably getting very specific so let’s take it into email if you need more clarification than I’ve provided here. Just shoot me an email directly (link at the top of my blog), and we can discuss it further offline. And if you’re STILL having problems, send me over the file you’re working on so I can take a look and we can both be on the same page. But first, try to understand what I’ve written here, as well as reading the User manual on the Dr. OctoRex and how it works.

      All my best,
      Rob

  18. thats rob im going to mess with that on my day off…..and by the way i like the track ‘severed’ i heard and i checked out’ tackhead’ good stuff

    1. Thanks Carmen, I appreciate you checking out my tracks. And Tackhead was a pretty great group of folks back in the day. They did some awesome and innovative music for their time. I don’t think they quite got the recognition they deserved.

      Good luck with the Dr. OctoRex adventure. It can be quite interesting when you start messing around with that Slice Edit Mode. 😉

  19. Rob, do you have any tutorials on some of these combinators like: ‘ freeze stutter run’ under the ‘create effect’ ..they look pretty wild ive been messing with them.
    ~just wondering

    1. @Carmen,

      Unfortunately I don’t. But if you open up the effects, you can see how everything is routed, so you already have a tutorial inside the patch itself. Why not take a look and study how its set up? Most likely, it sounds like it’s using the Echo’s Roll function right? Or is it a DDL delay line? I haven’t looked at the patches, I’m just assuming based on the name. Maybe I’ll do a tutorial down the road about “Freeze / Stutter” effects, but setting them up should not be that difficult. So have a look inside the Combinator and see if you can figure it out first.

      All my best,
      Rob

  20. Hi there, Im sorry i didnt see your responce it was on the next page…but i basicly mess with the Knobs and do make some progress…even other ones like say the “chop-tron” sounds awsome..i mess with the features but it doesnt do much i must be missing something;)

    1. @Carmen
      Possibly. Did you check to see how the CV is routed and how the audio is routed, as well as how the Combinator is programmed? Those hold the keys to explain how most patches work. If you are unfamiliar with any of these concepts, you should consult the Reason manual. This does a pretty good job of going over the basics.

  21. Hi there,

    Rob ive been making some beats with the arp and the redrum and ive been having fun turning the gate function all the way up and the effect it produces but i have a problem.If i automate the gate in say block one a certain way sometimes ill want a differant automation is block 2 but ill get the same automation in both like one overrides the other. I dont have this problem when i draw it in only when i automate with knobs (which i like better cause of the control). Is there a way to seperate those automations?

    thanks
    Brian

    1. @Brian,
      I have a feeling this has more to do with the RPG-8 than it does with Blocks overriding each other (which they shouldn’t). So my quick answer would be to duplicate the devices, and set one set of devices to automate in Block 1 the way you want, and set up the second set of devices to automate the way you want in Block 2. Try that out first and see if that doesn’t get you where you want to go. The Redrum will stay the same (with the same drum sounds in both), but the RPG-8s will be set differently in each block. That’s my initial thought. Let me know.

  22. Hi Rob,
    Did you know if you want to use The echo for a long echo – perhaps a vocal repeating for a long time, you can add the breakout effects whenever you like by sending the breakouts to the ins and outs of a line mixer, and adding the effects as auxiliary send effects of that line mixer, and then turning the AUX knob on the line mixer – but you need to be VERY careful with that AUX knob as it is very sensitive.
    Delayed double triggered echo anyone? 😀

    1. @Jagwah,
      That’s an interesting approach. Hadn’t thought of that. You can also put a few echoes in series through the Breakout jacks to extend your echoes. Selig showed us a way to do this on the Propellerhead Forum. I might do a writeup on extending echoes and include both of these ideas. I’ll have to play around with it a bit first. And also have a few more tutorials to put together. But thanks for that idea.

  23. hi rob,i just hooked my keyboard up to reason 5 and it seems to work fine accept for one thing everytime i record it seems to register almost short stacco like notes no matter how long i hold them on the keyboard i must have it on some wrong mode or something

    greg

    1. @Greg,
      I’m not sure what might be causing that. Did you consult the manual for both the keyboard and reason? Did you ask around in the Reason forums? When it comes to specific MIDI hardware issues, you’ll probably get a quicker answer there. Good luck.

  24. Ok so I’ve recently been exploring the wavetable osc for thor…we have modern talking, and more that will satisfy all of our needs as far as robotic sounds go. I’m going to put up some tutorial videos on how to use these and make a vocoded synth that will fuck your songs up and make you sound like kill the noise, skrillex, and excision, I just got into rapping so I’m not much of a dubstep guy anymore, though I still love it, I’ll be making patches for thick ass reese basses, scary growls, liquidy wobbles and maybe a few ambient pads along with tips to mix them into your song like a pro and keep the beef that they provide, I will probably be selling a patches pack for like $5 or $10 USD, you guys are gonna show up the ableton users with no problem now hahaha, i have hardly anything on my soundcloud but I’m going to put a sampler track up to show you guys what is possible with Reason

  25. I have a question along the same lines as the previous drum eq/compression question. I love to use the Scream Tape Distortion effect on my drums. The warmth created by the compression is lovely. I have found that using this eliminates the need for parallel compression. Unfortunately, when I do this (from what I know), I have to EQ each individual drum sound prior to running them all through the scream tape compression together. I have read many articles that state it is better to EQ after you compress however. Using the scream tape compression on each individual drum sound would allow for this, but it would not give the desired effect of squeezing everything together. So here’s the question, is there any way to run a group of sounds through one effect together and then have them split back into individual tracks?

    1. Nope. Once you take the entire group and merge them into one audio signal, you can’t then split them out again. But what you could very easily do is process each drum sound using multiple Scream devices set the same way but applied individually to each drum, then EQ each one individually and then merge the whole thing after using a submixer. That would effectively give you a similar result (not exactly, but close).

      Also, another point. It’s perfectly valid to EQ before you compress, and I can think of several circumstances where you want to do this. In fact, I would probably apply EQ before compression, and not the other way around. My preferred chain of events is as follows: EQ > Stereo Imager > Compressor > Maximizer. Not to say this is always what you want. However, I don’t see any reason to compress before EQing. So try putting the EQ after the drum, getting it to sound exactly the way you want with EQ, and then send it through a Scream tape compressor and then on to the Mixer. You might find this gives you a better sound. If you compress before you EQ, you’re compressing unwanted sounds, and then carving out those unwanted compressed sounds afterwards. But if you EQ first, you remove all the unwanted sounds, and then apply compression only on the sounds you want to keep.

      So I’m not sure where you’re reading that you should compress first. Personally, there’s very few situations I would do that, unless I’m going for a very specific type of sound for effect, rather than for mastering purposes.

      Hope that helps.

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