WingsOfAnAngel
Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 3
COMPRESSORS
The basic definition of what a compressor does is Gain Reduction. Of course, when you think of gain reduction, you might just think of turning the volume knob down, however, compressors are far more dynamic than that. In order to understand the dyamics of it though, you must understand the parameters.
Most every compressor has the following parameters:
Threshold
Threshold determines when the compressor is activated. For instance, if you're compressing a wave form that ranges from -6db to 0db, and you set the threshold at -2db, all portions of the waveform that are -2db to 0 db are compressed, while the portions that are -2db to -6db are left unchanged.
Ratio
The ratio determines the amount of gain reduction. For example, if you're threshold is at 0db and your ratio is set at 3:1, when an audio signal plays at 9db, it will be reduced to 3db because 3:1 is as 9:3. (Of course it is not reccomended to mix at 9db or 3db as clipping will occur! It's just easier math!)
Attack
Attack determines how fast it takes the compressor to respond to the threshold. So if the attack is set to 10ms, when the threshold is reached, the original volume of the waveform will continue unchanged for 10ms, and then the waveform will be compressed.
Release
After the waveform dies down below the threshold, the compressor can still reduce the volume, this is determined by the Release parameter. So if the release is set to 140ms, it will take 140ms after the threshold is no longer met for the compressor to stop compressing.
Knee
The knee (or "type") determines what kind of compression you're using. There are two basic kinds:
* Hard - In this mode, the compressor goes straight from a 1:1 ratio to the ratio you set.
* Soft - In this mode, it takes a little bit longer, so it's a bit less drastic.
Think of knee as the envelope of compression, where as the attack and release parameters are more like timing parameters.
Gain
When compressing, some volume is lost (hence gain reduction!). In order to preserve the dynamics you've created with the compressor and also have a signal with enough volume, you adjust the gain knob.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
DRUMS
Drums and percussion are key to a tight sounding track. They provide rhythm in which the other melodies can add to or play off of. Muddy percussion can lead to a dull sounding non dynamic track, which is why understanding compression in this case is extremely important because good compression can lead to a crisp yet punchy drumline, and bad compression can leave you more muddy than when you first started. Most engineers start off with an initial preset to work off of. Set the Threshold and release to minimum, and the ratio all the way up. Start off with the Hard knee to hear more obvious changes while tweaking. Now adjust the attack get the initial sound you want. On drums you want the hits to be there, to lay down the rhythm for the rest of the track, so try setting the attack high and work down until you're happy with the result. Then work on the release. While a quick release causes a very punchy and loud sound that might sound good to you, what we're after is good compression. Start the release quick and then work up until the drum hits (or slices, if you will) meet up with each other. Next we'll take the ratio down to a point where you still get the effect that you made with the Attack and Release settings, but it's not as in your face. And when you're happy with that bring up the Threshold in the same manner. We don't want the entire waveform to be compressed, just the peaks.
While doing all of this, stay focused, listen carefully, and tweak slowly. It's best to do it right once than to have to come back five or six times.
Also see Multiband Compression below.
VOCALS
Vocals should be clearly recieved by the listener, however, it is human nature to have extremely dynamic changes in volume while singing. Bring things together by setting the threshold low and the ratio high, with a quick attack and slow release. You can try the steps above for this too.
Also see Multiband and Sidechain Compression below.
GUITAR and BASS
Here it's important to work hard on the attack, as both guitars and bass have very unique envelopes. Also, the frequencies are important to keep in mind, so as for these, keep the compression light and subtle, it's usually better (in my experience) to use additive gain reduction (the volume knob) rather than multiplicative gain reduction (compressors) to master these.
Also see Multiband Compression below
OTHER METHODS OF COMPRESSION
SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION
Sidechain compression is the act of compressing one signal by controlling the compressor with a different signal. Basically, one sound controls the compressor's parameters and the other sound is affected by it.
This is extremely useful for many things, such as:
Getting a kick to punch through the bass - When the kick is controlling the compressor, set the threshold fairly low, and turn the ratio up a bit. You'll most likely want no attack aad a fairly decent sized release, of course, you should experiment and listen closely!
Getting vocals to cut through the mix - So you want the vocals to be heard over all the craziness in your instrumental? I find it useful to use the vocals to control the compressor in a very subtle manner (You don't want the whole track to drop out under the vocals!) so that you get just enough headroom for the vocal track to be heard.
Experimentation - Use your imagination and try having fun with sidechaining. It can add great dynamics to the mix if used correctly (and be subtle!).
MULTIBAND COMPRESSION
So compression can be extremely useful, but you'll find in some cases that you just won't want so much compression on the highend of those drums, or you want a real snappy compression on the high end of your bass track, or you'll want the mids on the vox track to stay level to keep your track less muddy. Multiband compression allows you to accomplish this by giving you more than one band of frequencies to compress at a time. All the rules stated above apply to this, and you just need to use your best judgements on determining which frequencies to compress, which ones to leave dry, etc. etc.
BREAKING THE RULES
In the world of compression, experimentation is the best way to learn. Take everything I've said here and just keep it in mind while tweaking away at your own leisure. What I've written here is just what I've been able to pull out of my ass from a bit of my own experience. Write your own rules to compression, and don't feel obligated to follow those either!
IN CONCLUSION
Compression is an extremely useful tool to add dynamics (or remove unwanted dynamics) to your tracks. However, like with most other effects, one of the keys to a golden mix is moderation.
I hope you found this helpful and put it to good use,
-B.Ultra&Basic
The basic definition of what a compressor does is Gain Reduction. Of course, when you think of gain reduction, you might just think of turning the volume knob down, however, compressors are far more dynamic than that. In order to understand the dyamics of it though, you must understand the parameters.
Most every compressor has the following parameters:
Threshold
Threshold determines when the compressor is activated. For instance, if you're compressing a wave form that ranges from -6db to 0db, and you set the threshold at -2db, all portions of the waveform that are -2db to 0 db are compressed, while the portions that are -2db to -6db are left unchanged.
Ratio
The ratio determines the amount of gain reduction. For example, if you're threshold is at 0db and your ratio is set at 3:1, when an audio signal plays at 9db, it will be reduced to 3db because 3:1 is as 9:3. (Of course it is not reccomended to mix at 9db or 3db as clipping will occur! It's just easier math!)
Attack
Attack determines how fast it takes the compressor to respond to the threshold. So if the attack is set to 10ms, when the threshold is reached, the original volume of the waveform will continue unchanged for 10ms, and then the waveform will be compressed.
Release
After the waveform dies down below the threshold, the compressor can still reduce the volume, this is determined by the Release parameter. So if the release is set to 140ms, it will take 140ms after the threshold is no longer met for the compressor to stop compressing.
Knee
The knee (or "type") determines what kind of compression you're using. There are two basic kinds:
* Hard - In this mode, the compressor goes straight from a 1:1 ratio to the ratio you set.
* Soft - In this mode, it takes a little bit longer, so it's a bit less drastic.
Think of knee as the envelope of compression, where as the attack and release parameters are more like timing parameters.
Gain
When compressing, some volume is lost (hence gain reduction!). In order to preserve the dynamics you've created with the compressor and also have a signal with enough volume, you adjust the gain knob.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
DRUMS
Drums and percussion are key to a tight sounding track. They provide rhythm in which the other melodies can add to or play off of. Muddy percussion can lead to a dull sounding non dynamic track, which is why understanding compression in this case is extremely important because good compression can lead to a crisp yet punchy drumline, and bad compression can leave you more muddy than when you first started. Most engineers start off with an initial preset to work off of. Set the Threshold and release to minimum, and the ratio all the way up. Start off with the Hard knee to hear more obvious changes while tweaking. Now adjust the attack get the initial sound you want. On drums you want the hits to be there, to lay down the rhythm for the rest of the track, so try setting the attack high and work down until you're happy with the result. Then work on the release. While a quick release causes a very punchy and loud sound that might sound good to you, what we're after is good compression. Start the release quick and then work up until the drum hits (or slices, if you will) meet up with each other. Next we'll take the ratio down to a point where you still get the effect that you made with the Attack and Release settings, but it's not as in your face. And when you're happy with that bring up the Threshold in the same manner. We don't want the entire waveform to be compressed, just the peaks.
While doing all of this, stay focused, listen carefully, and tweak slowly. It's best to do it right once than to have to come back five or six times.
Also see Multiband Compression below.
VOCALS
Vocals should be clearly recieved by the listener, however, it is human nature to have extremely dynamic changes in volume while singing. Bring things together by setting the threshold low and the ratio high, with a quick attack and slow release. You can try the steps above for this too.
Also see Multiband and Sidechain Compression below.
GUITAR and BASS
Here it's important to work hard on the attack, as both guitars and bass have very unique envelopes. Also, the frequencies are important to keep in mind, so as for these, keep the compression light and subtle, it's usually better (in my experience) to use additive gain reduction (the volume knob) rather than multiplicative gain reduction (compressors) to master these.
Also see Multiband Compression below
OTHER METHODS OF COMPRESSION
SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION
Sidechain compression is the act of compressing one signal by controlling the compressor with a different signal. Basically, one sound controls the compressor's parameters and the other sound is affected by it.
This is extremely useful for many things, such as:
Getting a kick to punch through the bass - When the kick is controlling the compressor, set the threshold fairly low, and turn the ratio up a bit. You'll most likely want no attack aad a fairly decent sized release, of course, you should experiment and listen closely!
Getting vocals to cut through the mix - So you want the vocals to be heard over all the craziness in your instrumental? I find it useful to use the vocals to control the compressor in a very subtle manner (You don't want the whole track to drop out under the vocals!) so that you get just enough headroom for the vocal track to be heard.
Experimentation - Use your imagination and try having fun with sidechaining. It can add great dynamics to the mix if used correctly (and be subtle!).
MULTIBAND COMPRESSION
So compression can be extremely useful, but you'll find in some cases that you just won't want so much compression on the highend of those drums, or you want a real snappy compression on the high end of your bass track, or you'll want the mids on the vox track to stay level to keep your track less muddy. Multiband compression allows you to accomplish this by giving you more than one band of frequencies to compress at a time. All the rules stated above apply to this, and you just need to use your best judgements on determining which frequencies to compress, which ones to leave dry, etc. etc.
BREAKING THE RULES
In the world of compression, experimentation is the best way to learn. Take everything I've said here and just keep it in mind while tweaking away at your own leisure. What I've written here is just what I've been able to pull out of my ass from a bit of my own experience. Write your own rules to compression, and don't feel obligated to follow those either!
IN CONCLUSION
Compression is an extremely useful tool to add dynamics (or remove unwanted dynamics) to your tracks. However, like with most other effects, one of the keys to a golden mix is moderation.
I hope you found this helpful and put it to good use,
-B.Ultra&Basic
