Uncompressed Drum Samples - the Benefits

For true audio connoisseurs, uncompressed audio is an absolute must. Or, at the very least, audio or songs that have only had parts of them compressed, and not to maximize volume but for creative purposes that serve to heighten a song's emotional impact. Compression, at its essence, is a technique that involves certain equipment called compressors, and basically makes sounds that have quiet parts more even in terms of volume.

When considering drum samples, compression can come into the song at a few different stages of the music production process. The earliest stage is probably the sound selection process. A lot of drum sounds (in fact, the vast majority) have already been compressed beyond recognition, mostly to maximize their volume, rarely ever for other purposes, so we end up dealing with sounds that have little room left for subtle sculpting. It can be hard to find uncompressed samples in most editors.

The second stage at which compressed drum samples could greet you is the mixing stage. This is where you would, for instance, apply a compressor yourself over the snare and kick drum samples, to give an example. The difference between this stage and the previous is that you are making the creative decisions here, and not being subjected to the careless maximizing compression of the sound compiler.

Just about every song in the top 40 these days has a great drum samples pattern that has effective compression that cuts through the mix, as this is vital for radio-viable songs in this modern age. While compression is often frowned upon by a lot of audiophiles, it has plenty of creative uses, even in electronic music. For instance, using a chained-in effect to achieve a 'ducking' sound like in dance music is quite popular.

If any of the sounds you pick are necessary but overly compressed nonetheless, there are ways of adding some color back onto the canvas, and one of the first steps you could look at is editing the actual wav sample. You should be able to see the spike at the start of the sample if it does not encompass all of it. Then lower the volume of that section but allow it to blend in. What you may want to do is mix this with a similar, uncompressed sample and set the latter to about 30% mix. This will give the sample some extra crispness, and while some of the same frequencies will be boosted, the overall effect will be much more natural.

One of a few compression techniques for drum samples is the NY compression effect. In essence, it's achieved by combining an original sample with the same sample heavily compressed. Having both allows the volume to be maximized while the dynamics are not totally diminished.