Mortar
Bus compressor, inspired by console VCA bus compressors.
Mortar is mix-bus glue: it holds a mix together and makes it feel finished. We made the Ratio and Attack continuous and added Punch, which lets the transients through while the body stays held. It's also the Original tuned for the sidechain input today.
The controls
- Threshold
- Where it starts to work: lower means more compression.
- Ratio
- How firmly: 1.5 to 2 for glue, 4 for control, 10 for obvious squeeze.
- Attack
- In milliseconds. 10 to 30 lets drums punch through; 0.1 to 3 grabs everything.
- Release
- A fixed time, or Auto, which recovers faster after short peaks and slower after dense passages.
- Punch
- Lets transients through while density stays held: more snap without less glue.
- Make-up
- Gain after compression.
Best for
- The mix bus: 1 to 3 dB of glue
- Drum bus: punch and cohesion
- Sidechain pumping in electronic music, keyed from the kick
- Parallel bus compression with the chain's Mix
Starting points
Load Mortar, set these, then adjust by ear. In the plugin, Level match helps you judge the sound, not the loudness.
Mix glue
Threshold -18, Ratio 2, Attack 30 ms, Release Auto, Punch 3, Make-up 2
Drum bus
Threshold -22, Ratio 4, Attack 10 ms, Release 0.3, Punch 5, Make-up 4
Pump to the kick
Sidechain from the kick, Threshold -24, Ratio 4, Attack 0.3 ms, Release 0.1, Punch 0
Hints and tips
- On the mix bus, watch the gain reduction: 1 to 3 dB is glue, more is an effect.
- Slow attack plus Auto release is the classic 'glue' setting.
- Turn Punch up if the drums lose their snap when you compress harder.
- For sidechain pumping, try Key HP around 100 Hz so only the kick (not the bass) drives it.
Chains it works best in
Every Original works in a chain with the others and with members' hardware. These are good places to start.
- Mortar then Kerb: glue, then a clean ceiling on the mix bus
- Plush then Mortar then Spoolhaus: a full mastering-style bus: tone, glue, tape
- Mortar keyed from the kick, on the bass or synths: the pumping, breathing groove of dance music
Sidechain
Send another track (usually the kick) to DigMusiK's sidechain and Mortar compresses to it: the classic pump. Key HP and Key LP shape what it listens to; Key Listen lets you hear it.
Watch out for
- Fast attack on the mix bus: it dulls the drums.
- Lots of Make-up after heavy compression: compare at matched loudness (Level match) before deciding it's better.
Mortar is free
Like every DigMusiK plugin, Mortar is free for registered members: it's part of the platform, so the chains you hand on and send for approval play the same for everyone. Try it in your studio, on your own mix.