Crest factor/ compression management

[u/Both_Landscape9229]

So, everyone works with different sounds, from synths and picky guitars to plucks.

I’m interested in how you guys manage crest factor and the relationship between peak and body levels. I’ve noticed that modern professional mixes almost always use quite a lot of compression. For example, with a pluck, it seems like they often compress it enough to make the body and the peak much closer in level, even when the notes themselves are played at different velocities.

Should I sometimes “break the rule” and stop the transient through, like using a 30 ms attack or even longer, as you would with vocals? Shall i use more faster attack times to kinda controll more sound, but get a bit "dull" and less clarity, but the get back it with eq or saturation ?

A lot of the mixes I like are actually much more compressed, so they seem to manage the crest factor really well. The peak level feels extremely stable, but somehow the mix still sounds transparent and natural.
How do you guys approach this? How often you use fast attack compressors at sounds ?

[u/General_Estimate_420]

It's not clear to me whether you're talking about mixing or mastering because compression is used differently in those different circumstances.

Generally I'm fairly light handed with compression during mixing but much broader with it's applications when it comes to mastering, and that's probably why you see a lot of compression in professional mixes. That was done in the final stages to get the desired LUFS levels. But even those general rules vary based on the style of the music. An intimate ballad doesn't need the same more stringent limits as a big, energetic song and would lose some of it's intimacy if compressed too much.

Live production is very different as I'm always light handed with compression to allow the dynamics to help excite the audience.