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How To Prepare Your Mix Session In 7 Steps
Working with a clean mix session is the foundation for a great workflow in mixing. Find out how you can prepare your mix session in 7 easy steps.
Complete Guide to LOLCOMP – Compression and Tone Shaping Plugin
LOLCOMP is a compression and tone-shaping powerhouse. The unique combination of 5 ready-made compression modes (which really are complete channel strips), controlled by a single dial, and the sonic shaping capabilities of the PARALOL section gives you results that no other plugin on the market can give you. Whether you are a total beginner or seasoned professional, LOLCOMP with will amaze you!
First Of All: What Is LOLCOMP?
LOLCOMP is a unique audio plugin combining 5 compression modes with multiple effect engines into one beautiful box. The compression modes have been designed by mix engineer legend Ken Lewis, who took 5 of his most-used chains from his daily workflow, and put them into this plugin. That means, at the turn of a dial, you have 5 complete working chains that have been used on many hit records over the years, in one form or another.
Those 5 chains are then supercharged by a section of additional tone-shaping modules to further tailor your sound. The unique arrangement of all these components into one plugin gives you results that you wouldn’t get from any other plugin. Recreating these effects would require many plugins both as inserts and sends, and then manually dialing all of them in so they work together.
LOLCOMP does all that for you so that you get great-sounding results quickly, and in the easiest way possible.
The philosophy behind LOLCOMP
Like any other Mixing Night Audio plugin, LOLCOMP follows the vision of “no parameters”. Once you stop using your eyes to make mix decisions and start to use your ears, your music will start sounding better almost instantly. But you can’t do that with most plugins that look like normal gear, because your brain can’t ignore those numbers on the interface. LOLCOMP helps you achieve this effect, and it’s built in a way that you almost can’t make any drastically wrong decisions. You can fully focus on your musical taste and get quick results that help you stay in the creative zone and make better sounding music.
When we started Mixing Night Audio, we wanted to make plugins with a gamified feel to them and depart from plugins that look like gear. I believe when you stop thinking so much and enjoy your work more, creativity and results come easier. They do for me. My vision for LOLCOMP is to provide producers and mixers of all levels with ridiculously easy to use tools that provide fast, jaw dropping results. No matter if you're an absolute beginner or seasoned professional.
The Main Area: 5 Chains To Rule Them All
The top part of the plugin is where the full power of the 5 compression chains sits. While the interface looks simple, there are a lot of things going on under the hood. Multiple effects in series, parameters moving in correlation with all other parameters, and depending on how hard you push the dial and how strong the signal that you push into the plugin.
Here’s what the main 5 chains do, and what their characteristics are:
1) The Smiley [LOL] Chain
The Smiley Chain (aka LOL Chain) is your perfect vocal chain, but it also works great on guitars, synths, strings, pianos, etc. It’s a very musical compression chain that doesn’t introduce any distortion or artifacts. Use this chain whenever you want to bring out the details and feel of a track while preserving the sonic character of the sound. Or, to sum it all up into one point: Push the dial and start smiling about the instant results!
2) The Panda Chain
This is your perfect 808 and bass designer. Control your bass foundation with just a little bit of Panda Zen, or introduce that mid presence when you push it harder. Panda chain helps you dial in your low end so it sits right in the mix. It also helps you get your 808s and basses cut through on smaller speakers in a musical way. Much like Panda has a solid foundation due to years of meditation and kung-fu practice, your basses will be the solid foundation you need for your tracks.
3) The Kangaroo Chain
Kangaroo Chain is your punch chain. It’s great for everything that needs control, while also preserving transients. Use this chain to make your drums hit harder, increase the attitude in your rap vocals, make your brass sections stab harder, and so on. Whenever you need more attack, punch and attitude, Kangaroo is your sparring partner!
4) Peacock Chain
Peacock Chain is a natural beautifier. If you feel your sounds are just a bit dull and lack the necessary sparkle, you might want to run them through Peacock’s plumage and get a more colorful result. It’s the least aggressive chain of the plugin. Peacock gives you gentle compression and makes everything prettier.
5) Dragon Chain
Beware of the Dragon! He starts sleeping in vibrant saturation, but if you get too close to his treasures, he awakens into a fire-breathing destruction machine. This chain gives you vibe and musical distortion. The level of saturation and distortion strongly depends on how strong the incoming signal is. You can use the input fader on the left L to further adjust the character you’re looking for. Just try to not touch any of the gold…you will get burned!
The Main Knob: Your Chain Reaction
Use the main dials at the center of the interface to control each of the 5 main chains. Everything within the chain will react to this dial, and how much you push it. That’s how easy it is to get results with LOLCOMP. There’s really nothing else to do it you just want quick and easy results.
The more you push the dial on each Chain, the more you’ll introduce the characteristics of the individual chain. This way you have maximum control without worrying about any of the complicated compression parameters like ratio, attack, release or knee.
L&L: Input and Output Faders
The two L’s on LOLCOMP host your input and output faders, as well as a VU meter to monitor the signal strength going in, and a Gain Reduction meter to see how much compression is applied to your signal.
Use the input fader on the left L to control the signal going into the compression chains. If you feel that LOLCOMP is compressing too much even on very low settings of the main dial, just reach for the input fader to reduce the incoming signal and have more control over the compression stage.
While there is some Auto-Gain going on under the hood to compensate for some of the internal workings, sometimes the LOL Chains make your signal louder, depending on how hard you push the main dial. While that might be the exact effect you want most of the time, you might want to manually adjust the output gain and reduce or increase it. That’s when you reach for the Fader on the right L.
The Chain Selectors
This section at the top lets you select the chain you want to use. The selected chain will be illuminated to indicate that it’s active.
- Laughing Emoji: Smiley [LOL] Chain
- Paw Print: Panda Chain
- Boxing Glove: Kangaroo Chain
- Feather: Peacock Chain
- Fire: Dragon Chain
The PARALOL Button
Pressing the PARALOL button will toggle the LMAO tone-shaping section on and off.
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The PARALOL Section
The bottom area of LOLCOMP appears when you hit the PARALOL button on the top section. With its filters, LMAO modules and the Mix Knob at the end, this section is home to a powerful array of tone-shapers. Let’s explore what each of them does.
Filters
Adjust both the Lo (Low-Cut) and Hi (High-Cut) filters to taste. For more control, we’ve included the possibility to set the “Pre” or “Post”. In “Pre” mode, they are sitting in front of the main LOL Chain, in “Post” mode they are affecting your audio after passing through the main Chain. This way, you can affect the audio before it hits the compressor.
As an example, you might want to use Pre-mode to roll off some of the rumbling lows in a vocal before sending the vocal into the compressor. Otherwise, the low rumbling frequencies might make the compressor react stronger and lead to stronger compression – which in some cases you might not want.
"L" as in LEVITATE
The LEVITATE module helps you rebalance your audio’s frequency spectrum. Or, in other words: Turn the knob left and make your audio fatter and darker, or turn it right to make it thinner.
The center slider lets you decide where the anchor point of the tilting sits. Once you dial in the main fatness or thin-ness with the LEVITATE knob, play around with the Center slider to fine-tune your result.
Just like the filters, you can also use the LEVITATE module “Pre” or “Post” compression.
"M" as in MASH
MASH is a musical L2-style limiter. Use it to get a second layer of dynamic control and push outside of the main LOL Chains. It’s a simple control, but a very powerful effect. Just turn it up until you feel you hit the sweet spot and you’re done.
Be mindful though: the signal gets louder, and therefore, you might feel that your sound gets better. Try to keep an ear on the actual effect, and don’t go for “over-compressed” unless you want it. Use your track faders for loudness. Use MASH for dynamic control and push.
"A" as in AWAKEN
The AWAKEN module has similar sonic effects to an Exciter, although it technically isn’t one. Boost the main knob to increase the strength of the effect, or in other words, how much you want to shape the sound in the targeted region.
AWAKEN gives you the choice between 2 modes: Lavender and Haze. Choose Lavender to target the mid range, or use Haze to open up the air band of your audio.
"O" as in OXIDATE
OXIDATE is 5 different reverb modes, ranging from intimate room to big bright hall. They are not in order from big to small, but each of the 5 Reverb modes has its very own character. As always, use your ears to decide on the character you want to use!
The main knob in this section is like an intensity knob which gives you control over the strength of the Reverb effect. The center setting is the default. Turn it left to decrease the Reverb intensity, or right to make your signal even more wet.
The OXIDATE module can also operate in “Pre” or “Post” mode. If you put it in “Pre”, your Reverb will be applied before the main LOL Chain, giving you some very creative sonic possibilities. Try the “Pre” setting for yourself and go for heavy compression to hear the effect in action.
The MIX Knob
The MIX knob is your overall Wet/Dry control that mixes your dry signal with everything you’ve done within the LOLCOMP plugin. It affects everything, from the input fader to the last piece of the LMAO section. In other words: an easy way to bring back pieces of the original sound and apply parallel compression to your audio.
The LOLCOMP Preset Menu
To make it even easier for you to get fast results with LOLCOMP, we’ve also included 100 factory presets. These presets show you a wide range of what you can accomplish with LOLCOMP. Browse through the presets to get inspired during a production or sound design session, or use them to get new ideas during a mix that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.
The presets are straight out of the mixing and production sessions of Ken Lewis and Dom Rivinius, and they’ve been named after the original use case. However, we highly encourage you to actually try many of them in various scenarios and find your own favorite combinations, or save your very own presets for future use.
Check out this brief Preset Showcase video
Final Words: LOLCOMP Tutorial
Ok, you now know exactly what each of the elements in the plugin does, and how you can best use them to get quick results that help you make great sounding music so much faster and easier.
In case you haven’t joined the circle of LOLCOMP users yet, you can start a free 14-day trial below, or go ahead and purchase a perpetual license right away.
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