Good question. I’d say we use a fair amount of everything and most key elements in our tracks will have all of these in there. The glue is probably something we obtain most through compression though, whereas saturation is really about character.
Playing around with EQ settings and compression settings on an instrument is also useful to get a feel of how much a certain EQ range affects the signal, so that’s something we do throughout creating our tracks. We’re also always pretty quick to slap a compressor on a sound, just to get a feel of how it would sit in the mix, what function it could have in the track, etc.
There’s always quite a lot going on in our tracks with keyboards, bass, different synths, samples and vocals. Getting all of that to sound good together as a whole is probably one of the most challenging things we’ve had to learn over the years. Glue has been a keyword for us in that respect.
Pro tips from Dam Swindle: Not everything needs compression. Some things are enjoyed best when they’re not loud at all.
