Building a multi-band bass compressor

[ghostsauce]

Well after doing a lot of reading I came to the conclusion that multi-band compression really is the way to go for a bassist... but there just doesn't seem to be anything around for DIY.  So why not make one, right?  Let me bounce the idea off of you guys:

I was thinking wiring it to a 3PDT, then sending the signal through a crossover (low-pass and high-pass filters) and from there sending the two signals through seperate compression circuits, and then reuniting them just by tying the two output wires together and tossing that back through the 3PDT.  I haven't decided on which compressor(s) to use yet, I'll probably just let Chris pick between the DIY ones I see floating around here.  I can run both off one power supply without any extra figuring out, I think.  

I don't see a reason not to do this, but I'd love some feedback

[Mike Burgundy]

I'd include a mix stage. For convenience's sake (not to mention face plate space for knobs) a lot of thought will have to go into the setup of the different compressors. I don't think you'll want to adjust threshold/knee/ratio/attack/release/gain for each comp. These are chosen "presets", the final device probably sports "comp" and "vol" period.
I've been throwing this around in my head for a while as well.
Keep in mind this will quite easily  turn into a huge heap of components *fast*.
I wonder how steep the filtering should be to be effective - 3rd order at least (?). There were other benifits to 3rd order which I cannot recall just now. Hey, it's the weekend ;P
If you want, pm me an email adress and I'll send you a really interesting Polyphony article on a dual band 572 compander-based comp that Mark Hammer graciously sent me.

[sebsongs]

Wouldn't it be possible to take something like the Electro Harmonix Attack EQ and build two simple compressors into it?
It has a split audio path with one low pass and one high pass filter. It then mixes with the dry signal to get the possibility to mix between these three.
I'm thinking you could put in something like a Orange Squeezer after the two filter stages...

/Sebastian

[Mike Burgundy]

My (mental - lots of musing for now) take on this has always been to go for compressors that are fairly transparant and multiband processing to achieve en even more natural sound and response. On the other hand - why not? The OS colouration, but with more natural dynamics. Another flavour, nice. Running with that - why not two (or three) different circuits with different responses? Something like an optical limiter (slowsh) for the low end, and a quicker FET or OTA comp for the high end.
Three THAT-based comps would make a very studio-like compressor, but using more lo-fi ones would definitely create a unique sound.

[ghostsauce]

I've been thinking a lot about this project, and I'm having a hard time figuring out which compressors to use. I need something transparent on both, but I'd like it to be pretty easy to build if at all possible.. I don't really want to make something extremely complicated. Any suggestions?

[pedalgrinder]

try using a tda7052a with a low pass and high pass filter on the side chain so you can adjust which one triggers it more