Mix bus compression

SonicScoop's Justin Colletti is a mastering engineer and educator.

He wrote an in-depth article on mix bus compression and IT IS fantastic. It covers the different effects it can have on a mix, it dispells a few myths and it refocuses the overenthusiastic mixer. Here's the summary of the whole article (taken from the post itself):

1: For a more organic feel, try low ratios like 1.5:1 or 2:1 and compressing no more than 1 dB. (Maybe 2). Use slower attack settings, and release times allow your compressor to just barely reach full recovery between beats.

2: For a more processed sound, try higher ratios like 3:1 or 4:1 and compressing up to 3-4dB in the loudest sections. Know that faster attack times will smooth out your mix, while faster release times will give you more “grit”, “pump” and aggression. Slower release times can make things smoother, but can get counter-productive quickly if you take it too far and don’t let the compressor recover at all.

You can find it here.