S2HRECORDS said:
For instance, what is the "knee" and what does it do if I move it up or down...why would I want a fast attack or a slow one...things of that nature. I am basically trying to figure out how to keep the kick/snare prodominant in the song without pushing the levels too hard. I was under the impression that that was why we used compression.
Sounds like what you really need is a good compression tutorial and some tracks to mess around with. But I'll give it a shot...I'll start easy and bring it up, since I don't know how much experience you have with compression.
So, you have several controls. The Threshold is the volume at which the compressor engages. The Ratio is how agressive the compressor will try to keep the output at the threshold volume, based on what the input is. For example, a 3:1 Ratio will allow the compressor's output to rise 1dB over the Threshold for every 3dB the input rises over the Threshold.
The Knee is how strict the compressor holds to the Threshold. A soft knee means the compressor will start to act softly *before* the Threshold, and ease in as the volume passes the Threshold and reach the full Ratio decently past the Threshold; a hard knee will do nothing until the volume reaches the threshold, and immediately apply the Ratio at and over the Threshold.
Attack and Release controls refer to how fast the compressor responds after the volume exceeds and falls back through the Threshold, respectively.
For kick and snare, since they are usually very "punchy" instruments, I like to use the compressor, which theoretically is supposed to reduce dynamics, to *keep* and even increase the dynamic range while still controlling it. I like to set attack and release reasonably fast, but as a preference, I try to make the attack a little slow...to allow the initial punch through, but catch it and control the overtones after the initial stick/pedal hit. Now, for something like guitar/bass, those are much more long and drawn out, nothing real punchy. I go for a slower attack/release for bass, mb a little faster for guitar.
Overall, you really just have to experiment to see what you like, and what each instrument/genre calls for. There are no magical settings; in fact, for a single instrument, they're often very different from one song to the next.
Anyways, hope that helped.