A compressor can sometimes be a misunderstood piece of equipment. If you want to use compression to its full potential and bring your recordings to a higher level then read on. Tweaking compression settings feels like a delicate process, but understanding settings and terminology found on a compressor will put you in complete control of your recordings.
Dynamic range refers to varying sound levels, for instance a vocalist who is recording a quiet passage decides all of a sudden to let out a loud scream. In this case the vocal recording has a lot of dynamic range from quiet to loud. Now taking our vocal example and adding compression would mean squishing the entire signal so that the dynamic range is less pronounced and then taking that signal and boosting it say by 30db. This in essence has made the quiet parts louder, allowing the quiet parts to still stand out in a loud mix.
There are very common controls found on a compressor that control input, output signal strength as well as controls to help with smoothing out the signal processing. The first control is the input gain, which determines the amount of signal that will be moved to the input of the compressor. The second control is called threshold, which determines at what level the compressor will kick in. For example if you set the compressor threshold to -15db then once signal passes that level it will start to attenuate and any level below -15db will stay unaffected. Output gain control is the setting that determines the signal strength that will go to the output of the compressor. This basically means the amount signal is boosted once dynamic range has been shrunk. turn this knob up and watch as sound starts to poke through a mix. These controls main job is adjusting dynamic range there are other controls like ratio, attack and release which gives options to make a smooth transition so things still sound natural.
The ratio settings on a compressor represents the ratio between input and output gain. For example if you use a ratio setting of 4:1 then all your doing is for every 4db increase at the input stage signal will be reduced by 1db. This goes for every ratio, 2:1 would mean for every 2db increase in input would result in 1db decrease at the output. Know that you have chosen a ratio you can play around with threshold and input/output gain to get exactly what your looking for. The last two controls help control the attenuation giving you a smooth transition. Both settings are calibrated in milliseconds and determine the speed your compressor will kick in or turn off once signal has gone above or below your threshold. Instruments with long sustains can benefit from a smooth transition so there isn't an obvious change in dynamics.
Dynamic range and compression are found everywhere, from TV commercials to top 40 radio. Have you ever been watching TV and when commercials come on you have to turn the TV down? That's because the commercial has been heavily compressed because the logic is louder recordings will stand out more. this also applies to top 40 music where it is a competitive market to have there songs grab the attention of the listener for long enough to have the song stuck in there heads. Hopefully these two examples of compression in action will give you an idea of what compression does so have fun and experiment.
Dynamic range refers to varying sound levels, for instance a vocalist who is recording a quiet passage decides all of a sudden to let out a loud scream. In this case the vocal recording has a lot of dynamic range from quiet to loud. Now taking our vocal example and adding compression would mean squishing the entire signal so that the dynamic range is less pronounced and then taking that signal and boosting it say by 30db. This in essence has made the quiet parts louder, allowing the quiet parts to still stand out in a loud mix.
There are very common controls found on a compressor that control input, output signal strength as well as controls to help with smoothing out the signal processing. The first control is the input gain, which determines the amount of signal that will be moved to the input of the compressor. The second control is called threshold, which determines at what level the compressor will kick in. For example if you set the compressor threshold to -15db then once signal passes that level it will start to attenuate and any level below -15db will stay unaffected. Output gain control is the setting that determines the signal strength that will go to the output of the compressor. This basically means the amount signal is boosted once dynamic range has been shrunk. turn this knob up and watch as sound starts to poke through a mix. These controls main job is adjusting dynamic range there are other controls like ratio, attack and release which gives options to make a smooth transition so things still sound natural.
The ratio settings on a compressor represents the ratio between input and output gain. For example if you use a ratio setting of 4:1 then all your doing is for every 4db increase at the input stage signal will be reduced by 1db. This goes for every ratio, 2:1 would mean for every 2db increase in input would result in 1db decrease at the output. Know that you have chosen a ratio you can play around with threshold and input/output gain to get exactly what your looking for. The last two controls help control the attenuation giving you a smooth transition. Both settings are calibrated in milliseconds and determine the speed your compressor will kick in or turn off once signal has gone above or below your threshold. Instruments with long sustains can benefit from a smooth transition so there isn't an obvious change in dynamics.
Dynamic range and compression are found everywhere, from TV commercials to top 40 radio. Have you ever been watching TV and when commercials come on you have to turn the TV down? That's because the commercial has been heavily compressed because the logic is louder recordings will stand out more. this also applies to top 40 music where it is a competitive market to have there songs grab the attention of the listener for long enough to have the song stuck in there heads. Hopefully these two examples of compression in action will give you an idea of what compression does so have fun and experiment.
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