"In a nutshell, multiband compression (or any multiband processing) splits the audio signal into frequency “bands”, and processes them separately, without affecting the others.
That’s it !
So, for example you might choose to apply particular compression settings to sounds
only up to around 160 Hz – to help control the bass end without causing pumping in the high frequencies, for example.
That’s multiband compression – and a multiband compressor is just a plugin or piece of hardware designed to make doing that as easy and powerful as possible. (Well, in theory, anyway – in practice lots of multiband processors I’ve tried are actually very fiddly and confusing to
set up, unfortunately.)
There are lots of benefits to this approach – it’s easier to lift the average level without pumping and distortion, you can be much more aggressive with EQ, and there are some clever techniques that allow you to sculpt the sound to an amazing degree.
And that’s why
multiband compression is useful in mastering – you can apply surgical processing to only one part of the audio, without messing up the rest. This is exactly the kind of control a mastering engineer needs – to subtly enhance or radically re-shape a mix."
If you’ve ever been confused about multiband compression(like I have) then check out the course here. Learning to work the multiband compressor will definitely help out your masters.
In addition to learning how to approach the EQ side of mastering, this One-Day Sale bundle is a steal at 30% off.
But if you don't grab it now, the discount won't be here when you get back.