It does one thing, and it does that one thing very well. We can create exaggerated compression effects that may sound weird but actually function very well musically. If, for example, we set the threshold above the loudest peak of our signal no other parameters will matter because the compressor simply won’t be doing anything. On vocals, in particular, a fast release will bring up all the mouth noises and breathes — and this is why pumping is sometimes interchangeably referred to as “breathing.” Or, perhaps, it’s because fast release times will bring out ambient noises which can feel like the sound is “breathing” in and out. Slow attack is between 25 and 100 milliseconds (ms). Get 65% Off Mix Essentials. (And no, I’m not talking about turning up the gain…) 5. If the release is exceedingly fast it’s actually possible to get amplitude changes within a signal’s wave shape. Slowly bring the attack time up until you start hearing a clear click–– the attack of your drums. This lets your dry signal be the main source of low end. This is particularly true of vocals. One of the keys to getting our ear around it is to overuse the compression to really hear what it’s doing, and then back it off a bit to where it sounds appropriate. Let’s say we want our compressor to act exclusively on the low-end boom of the kick, rather than the whole of the kick sound. if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement("script"); s.async = true; s.type = "text/javascript";s.src = 'https://servedbyadbutler.com/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());} At 1:1 there isn’t any compression happening. s.src = 'https://servedbyadbutler.com/app.js'; If we set the attack and release slow, and turn the threshold down low enough to act on both the attack and sustain of the kick, we can actually exaggerate the punch by reducing more of the sustain than the initial transient. Or, we can use compression to emphasize the punch. In fact, you’ll probably be telling other people they’re doing it wrong! Of course that leads us back to those nagging questions: How much attenuation are we doing? If our sidechain has an EQ in line with a low-pass filter, we can remove the click of the batter head from the detector. Why it works: The first compressor will be slow and natural-sounding. They’ll take your mixes and masters to the next level. It’s like a little robotic finger on a volume knob that reacts to an incoming signal. Very often the best parts of a performance are in the subtleties, and very often the subtleties are, well … subtle. Wish you could find new, creative ways to use compression with more confidence? This setting would be more akin to peak limiting and could be used to make sure there is no overloading of our signal path from the occasional kick that was hit a bit too hard. Are we having the attenuation happen fast, slow, somewhere in the middle? The ratio works relative to the threshold. Make your mail more musical The threshold refers to the amplitude level in which the compressor acts. In the digital world we’re not subject to the laws of physics. Some are more transparent. This means that the loudest parts of a signal and quietest parts become closer together. In the latter, we often want to create a deliberate audible pumping effect. The ghost notes that the drummer is playing on the snare, the pickups and bends in the bass, and the emotive tails in the vocal lines contain a lot of feel and emotion. Medium-Fast Release — tune it to the feel/groove of the song by ear. Matthew has mixed for a host of star musicians including Akon, SisQo, Ozuna, Sonny Digital, Uri Caine, Dizzee Rascal, Arrested Development and 9th Wonder. Traditionally, however, compressors will have external controls that tell the attenuator what to do. Here we can set the attack fast and the release fast to reduce the transient attack of the kick — proportionately emphasizing the sustain. Compressors are funny creatures. Lower ratios (like 2:1 or 4:1) mean you’re applying low to medium amounts of compression. Compressing the room mic gives you a cool aesthetic effect. We put together the ULTIMATE compression tutorial for you here. Wonder when to use compression in your mix? Apply some light compression on your dry signal if you need to. the ULTIMATE compression tutorial for you here, 2 Effective Ways to Use Parallel Compression, 5 Tips for Parallel Compression on the Whole Mix, 5 Effective Ways to Use Compression in a Mix, 16 Free Resources for Learning to Use Compression, Black Friday Extended! Think Prince’s “Kiss” or Billy Squier’s “The Big Beat”. That big, boofy, monstrous, windy kick comes from over-compressing a normal, innocent kick. We just sent a download link to your inbox. handler: function (opt) { Similarly, the gain reduction function will not work linearly, but rather will respond asymptotically to signal level above the threshold.