Here's my answer:

I wouldn't say there's anything "typical". For example, two of the best and most successful mixers of all time have drastically different approaches to this: Andrew Scheps loves parallel compression/distortion, Andy Wallace says he almost never uses anything parallel. And these are just two examples.

I personally love parallel compression on drums but the saturation on the actual drum bus, so not in parallel. Same with vocals and anything that I want to be upfront, clear and explosive.

I do love parallel distortion on bass, though. And on hammond organs, rhodes, etc. Basically everything that is more sustained and less transient-heavy. 

And then there's always the exception.

I think it's because using some saturation tools in parallel can cause phase issues and smear the transients, which softens the attack in a weird way and pushes the track back in the mix. This happens if there are filters or crossovers built into the distortion box or plugin, for example.

Most modern saturation tools, like Soundtoys Decapitator, Fabfilter Saturn, tape emulations etc. use some sort of filter and/or let you tweak the EQ and that can definitely cause phase issues, because EQ changes are by definition phase changes. It doesn't always matter, though. It's just good to know about it and check it when using anything in parallel.

But don't get me wrong, I LOVE distortion on drums and vocals! I'm just careful with what I'm using in parallel and often I just put it straight on the channel or bus and destroy it.

I'm usually not gentle with it and enjoy messing things up. Also, the types of compressors I use typically give me plenty of saturation/distortion already.

At the end of the day you can use parallel distortion on anything you want. If and how you use it just depends on the tool (phase) and the result you're going for. 

-Benedikt

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