Thread: Compression

I know some on Compression...but i'm no master at it...still gettin the understanding down and everything but I wanted to ask you guys a few questions. What do you usually put your drums compressed at?...would you say a 2:1 ratio is decent or is 4:1 better?

http://audiotuts.com/tutorials/mixin...o-compression/

try this link. I got this page from a thread somewhere in the forum. this should give you some idea.

Very helpful...thanks man I respect that.

Originally Posted by Stress

http://audiotuts.com/tutorials/mixin...o-compression/

try this link. I got this page from a thread somewhere in the forum. this should give you some idea.

That link provided is just what you'll need.

To add, a good way to learn and hear what the compressor is doing on your material is to start it at its most extreme settings then dial it back till you get the sound you want. That technique helped me to learn what compression was doing on different instruments and sounds. I got that from an excerpt of a book called "mixing with your mind." Same technique works for EQ too.

Originally Posted by Stress

http://audiotuts.com/tutorials/mixin...o-compression/

try this link. I got this page from a thread somewhere in the forum. this should give you some idea.

Makes sense to me. I used to use my compressor not knowing the difference. Now I just heard the difference and will try it out to get better results in my music. Thanks

Thats what it is...only thing that I gotta figure out now is the attack and release...I heard somthin about faster attack slower release you get a more harsher blend....and the slower the attack faster release it's more smooth?

honestly - I never put compression on ANY drums

if they ever need a punch - I will put an expander on them - and if they really need a punch - I will put both the expander & a bit-crusher (bit-reducer) & drop the bit rate down to 12-bits - to give them that SP1200 knock

Originally Posted by stupidgenius

honestly - I never put compression on ANY drums

if they ever need a punch - I will put an expander on them - and if they really need a punch - I will put both the expander & a bit-crusher (bit-reducer) & drop the bit rate down to 12-bits - to give them that SP1200 knock

No doubt...what about instruments?...or do you keep things as natural sounding and just add compression in the mastering process?

Originally Posted by Sound Mechanic

I know some on Compression...but i'm no master at it...still gettin the understanding down and everything but I wanted to ask you guys a few questions. What do you usually put your drums compressed at?...would you say a 2:1 ratio is decent or is 4:1 better?

the most important thing to do is use your ears not your eyes....theres no set ratios that will work for the most part....

I agree^. You can have a compression setting that you used in one track and on another it sounds bad. As far as insruments, i like to compress live guitar and strings. It can bring out little sutbleites that you can hear live.

No doubt...I usually go by ears but sometimes can't hear any difference when messing with the release.

Try putting on your headphones and soloing the track. But even doing that sometimes it's hard.

Never tried soloing when messin with the release...i'll have to try that one...good looks.

No problem. When you solo the track you can hear everything goin on with it.

Normally - for non-technical people - the explanations of what a compressor does, are so bewildering that they end up even more confused than they were before: "xDBs in, equals yDBs out, over zDb threshold, according to this graph" etc.

A compressor just makes the loud bits quieter, allowing you after to crank everything up to maximum volume. While bringing down the highest volume you compress your sound into a more "workable" volume range. But under what situations would this be useful?

Firstly, there's the obvious application of making your CDs sound as loud as possible. This trend is starting to get a bit silly, and is beginning to prevent people from producing albums of good dynamic range. I'm sure you realized when you squash everything and compress the hell out of it, you'll/can get a loud but lifeless sound. Nevertheless, if you mix/master a HipHop, R&B, Rock or Pop album with no compression at all, then the chances are it will sound pitifully quiet compared to the rest of the CDs in peoples record collections. It will probably sound like it has been severely under-recorded. Compression lets you get a much higher average level onto the CD without affecting the music too much.

There are many applications for a compressor. Basically, in any situation where sound volume levels are getting out of control, a compressor can be used to "tame" the extremes of volume and keep it within a reasonable range, entirely according to your needs. Obviously a very powerful tool.

There are compressors for free (plugins) right up to units that cost several thousand dollars. Like a Neve or SSL compressor which you can find in any decent studio.

So do any of yall use different compressors for different things like the article said-i.e. this compressor is good for vox and drums while this one is better on guitars & etc... or do you use one compressor for whatever u use it for?

I read this and all but for me tho...i'm so much more of a learn with a hands on type of experience...can't really grasp it until i've touched it...i can do all the experimenting i want but if what i'm doin ain't really sink'in in i'm really just guess-which is sometimes good but i need a foundation to base my experimenting off of...with that said tho the article is definately eye opening...especially with the audio examples...maybe i've been over compression'in somethings...but usually don't compress my snares/claps & kicks cuz most of what i use i think has been already compressed...so when i use the compression i use (ratios and all that) they sound heavily compressed

don't use compression to make things louder, if you really want it louder than use a limiter. when you use a comp for loudness what you're doing is squashing the peaks. the best way to use it is for flavor and that's when the type of compressor comes into play for best results.

do your own experiments with various 2 bar loops i.e. bassline, kick, snare, and full drums and use a comp at different settings i.e. fast attack slow release, slow attack/fast release, etc and route the results via recording on another track so you can hear the results and a/b them. take note of what the compressor type and try to find a different type and do the same for that comp.

stillwell has two comps that behave differently, the rocket is kinda 1176'ish while the major tom is their version of dbx. except for a 2 second nag screen, the plugs can be used without limits. also check the transient designer, which can bring life to a beat especially drum samples. matter of fact, get all their plugs.

Originally Posted by Stress

http://audiotuts.com/tutorials/mixin...o-compression/

Maaaaaaan, there's a lot of good info at this link besides compression

Originally Posted by silent-medley

So do any of yall use different compressors for different things like the article said-i.e. this compressor is good for vox and drums while this one is better on guitars & etc... or do you use one compressor for whatever u use it for?

Yes. The trick is to listen at low volumes (sounds opposite right?). When you listen at lower volumes u can really hear the difference that the compressor is making on the sound.

Be careful though, when you compress, your bringing peaks down but you're also bringing your noise floor up. If your using sounds from drum packs, or even sampling off of a record, chances are those sounds have been compressed or limited many times over already. So if you use any type of compression or limiting (which is really just an extreme compressor) its most likely only for effect.

Compression is a tricky aspect of music.......u can either make a track soung great with the proper settings or destroy it by squeezing the life out of it .........when it comes down to it.....you have to rely on your ears!!!

Originally Posted by Way Da Future

Compression is a tricky aspect of music.......u can either make a track soung great with the proper settings or destroy it by squeezing the life out of it .........when it comes down to it.....you have to rely on your ears!!!

Very true when it comes to science of sound frequency.

Originally Posted by Way Da Future

when it comes down to it.....you have to rely on your ears!!!

It always comes down to your ears!
Sometimes you better not look at the meters on the console nor the DAW.
It's a syllogism: Music has to sound good and not to look good rums3: