hi… I know that adjustments to individual tracks in the mix depend in what your goal is, but could someone offer advice on compressing cymbols? I want the cymbols to sound consistent when using monitors as well as when listening on a phone speaker. I struggle with balancing cymbols more than anything
What sort of “cymbols”?
Do you mean acoustic drum kit cymbals? If so, how have they been recorded? What is your mic set-up?
I’m using the drum program Hygrogen, so the samples are done by someone else, not sure who… It is a ride cymbol
Compression is one of those things you just have to experiment with. You might try the limiter. Limiting is a kind of fast compression and there are fewer settings to mess-with and mess-up.
Maybe compression isn’t the solution. Maybe EQ will help, or maybe reverb, or maybe it’s just a bad sounding cymbal or a bad drummer. When you listen to a live band the cymbals are not compressed. 
Usually nothing is compressed live except for overdriven guitar.
And, you may need to make a separate mix for the phone.
Just adjust the level in Hydrogen so that it sounds well balanced with the drum sounds.
I’ve never really looked at any settings in Hydrogen except volume…i could get a closer look…thx
DVdoug…thx. why create separate mix for the phone? All the references I’ve heard sound great on both full range monitors and phones. If it’s achievable I’d rather have one mix