Download the accompanying video and the MIDI/audio files at bit.ly/cm324downloads
We use compression to iron out undesirable level differences but usually this is coupled with level rides both to add drama and to finesse our mix levels.
Once upon a time, level rides would have been performed live as the mix was printed. Then desk automation and DAW automation made these moves that bit more repeatable, recallable and much easier to execute. Indeed, the ability to draw and edit fader levels to quickly achieve incredibly accurate moves is without a doubt one of the biggest successes of DAW-based mixing.
Nevertheless, knowing when to use that flexibility is a skill, and if you start adding complex automated level changes to multiple tracks at the early
