Compression Know-How

  • Thread starter Thread starter hate_me_now
  • Start date Start date
H

hate_me_now

New member
Sup people. I am old to the beatmakin' game, but tryna step it up to the producer level. I make beats through mainly hardware, but I am recording through Cubase SE and I am using a ton of VSTs. I am not up on my compression know-how. I did alot of reading, but I don't know like what I should do with each and every instrument. I know that to a certain extent I wont even need to compress depending on how it sounds. Would I need to worry much about compression if I am taking my tracks to a pro studio to get mixed and mastered? Is there any links that you know about that can give me more knowledge in using compression? Like the ratios and shyt I should use for this type of instrument and that type? Holla back.
 
Thanks for the link. That gave me a little more insight to the use of compressor. Is there a such thing as a graphical compressor? Like you can see where the highest sounds are and see where it need to be cut off at?
 
All this talk about compression.
what is some good compression to apply on 808 kicks?
 
Origianally posted by Deal
what is some good compression to apply on 808 kicks?
Click to expand...

There are no set parameters when applying compression to drums or any sound.

If I were you I would make small adjustments to the compressor knobs and see what they do to the sound.
 
Could someone just explain to me what each knob on a compressor does?

I mess around with em but, I really don't know whats going on.
 
compression basically brings down the louder segments and aplifies the softer segments of a signal and makes the whole signal sound louder and more full. you use compression on drums to "fatten them up" and to increase their volume.

try this for drums: Fast attack, ratio of 16:1 or some high ratio, middle release, and threshold 1 between 5.

there are no certain rules for compression, but there are some general guidelines. . .important thing is to experiment and play around with compression/eq until your drums sound the way you want them to.
 
Deal said:
All this talk about compression.
what is some good compression to apply on 808 kicks?
Click to expand...

808 kicks are notoriously difficult to compress, I'd try messing around with the kicks decay time and attack first, then a bit of eq. You'd probably achieve better results that way. The sonic behaviour of an 808 kick isnt something that necessarily needs much compression at all. Its just the sub bass frequencies on its decay that will prevent you getting your track to play loud, thats why I think the decay time and eq work is far more beneficial than actually compressing. Either way, if you use extreme compression, you'll only end up with a distorted clicky mess anyways.
 
Shouldn't the definition of a compressor be in the newbie forum??
 
Ay yi yi

All good advice, but no one answered the guys question.

So...

The "input" knob should, by it's definition, need no further explanation.
The "threshold" knob is used to set a point that will determine when the compressor will be active. Usually expressed as a negative number...e.g. -10, -15db etc.
The "ratio" is an expression of how much compression will be applied to a signal that passes thru the compressor above the set threshold. I.e., a 2:1 ratio means that for every 2 decibels of signal above the set threshold, the compressor will output 1. A 3:1 ratio (a "higher" ratio) does the same thing, only more so. Higher compression ratios affect the signal much more by outputting even less of the signal above the set threshold. High compression ratios (usually 10:1 and above) are referred to as "limiting", hence the term compressor/limiter. In general, you want to stay away from high compression ratios, especially for vocals. But this is not a hard and fast rule (and truthfully, there are none, just good sense and guidelines) and I have actually used some really wicked high compression to great effect.
The "attack" knob sets how quickly the compressor will react once the input signal is above the threshold. It is expressed in milliseconds. (ms)
The "release" knob sets how quickly the compressor will cease to be active after the input signal falls back below the the threshold. Also expressed in ms.

You have to have some idea, a point of departure if you will, of how to use the tools of your chosen trade. You can't just turn knobs and hope that it's gonna eventually sound right. Someone said "A thousand monkeys sitting at a thousand typewriters will eventually type War and Peace". You can have all the ingredients to make a cake but if you dont combine them correctly, its gonna taste like a mudpie.

There are some really good mags that dedicate the bulk of their editorial to the project studio owner. "Recording" magazine, "FutureMusik" (a UK publication), Keyboard...etc. Even MIX magazine, which is the professional industry publication has a ton of useful tips and techniques engineer/producers at the top of the game. MIX mag has a tendency toward being really technical but you'd be surprised at how much of it you'll pick up once you immerse yourself.

Peace
 
Vocab1 said:
compression basically brings down the louder segments and aplifies the softer segments of a signal and makes the whole signal sound louder and more full. you use compression on drums to "fatten them up" and to increase their volume.
Click to expand...

I thought compression was cutting down on file size?!
 
you never heard of truncation?

Truncate


Or compression?

Compression does mean to minimize things in computer science, data files that is.

But in music to apply compression to a sound wave is to basically squeeze the signal so it does not exceed a set threshold.


Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
The true FP's are the ones that respond to our questions so 'eloquently' and put effort into it! thanks u guys.
 
I dont always do that, LOL

Sometimes the questions get silly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top