What is parallel compression?

By Dan Murtagh · Updated 9 November 2026

Short answer: parallel compression blends a heavily compressed copy of a part in under the dry original. The dry keeps the punch of each hit; the crushed copy brings up the body, the sustain and the quiet detail between hits. It’s also called New York compression, and it’s used most on drums. Compress the copy hard, then bring it up from nothing until the part thickens without sounding squashed.

How parallel compression works

The signal splits into two paths that run side by side. One stays dry. The other goes through a compressor set far harder than you’d put on the track itself, which flattens the hits and lifts everything quiet around them.

Add the two together and the loud hits barely change, because the dry already has them. The quiet parts come up a lot, because the crushed copy is mostly quiet parts brought up. So the part gets denser while the front of each hit stays intact.

How to set it up

1. Make the copy. Send the part to an aux bus with a compressor on it, or use a compressor with a mix knob.
2. Crush it. A high ratio, a fast attack and plenty of gain reduction. Go harder than you think: the blend is where it gets gentle.
3. Start with the copy off. Bring its fader up until the part thickens, then back off a little.
4. Compare at the same loudness. Adding the copy makes the part louder, and louder usually sounds better at first. Turn the sum down to match before you judge it.

Your DAW’s delay compensation keeps the two paths lined up. If the blend ever sounds hollow or phasey, check that it’s on, and that nothing on the copy, like a hardware insert, is out of step.

What to listen for

• Under the hits: the room, the ghost notes and the ring of the drums come forward.
• The front of the hit: it should still crack. If it softens, the copy is too loud.
• Too far: the cymbals wash, the kit pumps, and the whole part sounds smashed.

A little goes a long way. Flip Crushed copy only in the demo against Dry to hear what the copy sounds like on its own, then Just a little to hear how small a blend still changes the part.

Parallel or a compressor on the track?

A compressor on the track turns the loud moments down. Parallel compression brings the quiet moments up and mostly leaves the loud ones alone. Both make a part more even; parallel keeps more of the attack than a fast compressor on the track. New to the controls? Read what a compressor does first.

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