Post by JOMANS on Aug 11, 2014 23:02:50 GMT
I often get asked about how compression or how a compressor works. Well, a compressor in its purest form is like a gain knob...yes that wee round thing you turn when you want things to be louder (or quiter). Compression in general is used to reduce a signal's dynamic range so it's over all level could be lifted up to make it louder. What's cool about the compressors that are used in audio is that it can be set to do its job automatically + it comes with other processing goodies such as saturation and distortion etc. So here's a PICTURE of a basic compressor.
So looking at the picture above we can see that we have quite a few parameters... But here are the most common ones you'll find in every other compressors out there, I'll explain how each parameter works in order of how I would typically adjust a compressor...
THRESHOLD - This parameter tells your compressor when it should start compressing. Looking at the picture above, threshold is set at -12.9 dB, this means that as soon as the signal goes beyond -12.9dB the compressor will start compressing.
ATTACK - This parameter sets how fast your compressors reacts to the fed signal as soon as it goes beyond the set THRESHOLD.
RELEASE - This parameter sets how fast the compressor lets go (releases ) of the signal being compressed or how fast it eases back from compression.
RATIO - a 1:1 ratio means there is no compression happening because that means for every 1 dB of signal going above the threshold there is also 1dB of output( 1 is to 1). So if you have a ratio of say 4:1 (4 is to 1) , that means for every 4 dB going above the threshold only 1 db is allowed to go through. Take note that settings of 11:1 and above is typically limitting and not compressing.
KNEE - This parameter determines the "sharpness" of your compressor's reaction to the signal. This works in conjuction with your ATTACK and RELEASE parameters. Higher Values will result in fast aggressive compression states, while lower values will result in a smoother transition from compression state to non-compression state.
(MAKE UP) GAIN- This parameter will allow you to "make up" or add in gain to the over-all signal after the compression process, since compressiors typically attenuates a signal you will loose volume so a MAKE UP GAIN is provided so you can basically maintain the signal's volume.
So basically that's it, now that you know what those knobs are for I suggest you experiment with your compressors and see what results you get while adjusting the parameters, try it on different sources, you'll be amazed how much you can scultp a sources dynamics with compression. I'll be discussing the side chain feature of compressors in another discussion.
Enjoy!
JOMANS
So looking at the picture above we can see that we have quite a few parameters... But here are the most common ones you'll find in every other compressors out there, I'll explain how each parameter works in order of how I would typically adjust a compressor...
THRESHOLD - This parameter tells your compressor when it should start compressing. Looking at the picture above, threshold is set at -12.9 dB, this means that as soon as the signal goes beyond -12.9dB the compressor will start compressing.
ATTACK - This parameter sets how fast your compressors reacts to the fed signal as soon as it goes beyond the set THRESHOLD.
RELEASE - This parameter sets how fast the compressor lets go (releases ) of the signal being compressed or how fast it eases back from compression.
RATIO - a 1:1 ratio means there is no compression happening because that means for every 1 dB of signal going above the threshold there is also 1dB of output( 1 is to 1). So if you have a ratio of say 4:1 (4 is to 1) , that means for every 4 dB going above the threshold only 1 db is allowed to go through. Take note that settings of 11:1 and above is typically limitting and not compressing.
KNEE - This parameter determines the "sharpness" of your compressor's reaction to the signal. This works in conjuction with your ATTACK and RELEASE parameters. Higher Values will result in fast aggressive compression states, while lower values will result in a smoother transition from compression state to non-compression state.
(MAKE UP) GAIN- This parameter will allow you to "make up" or add in gain to the over-all signal after the compression process, since compressiors typically attenuates a signal you will loose volume so a MAKE UP GAIN is provided so you can basically maintain the signal's volume.
So basically that's it, now that you know what those knobs are for I suggest you experiment with your compressors and see what results you get while adjusting the parameters, try it on different sources, you'll be amazed how much you can scultp a sources dynamics with compression. I'll be discussing the side chain feature of compressors in another discussion.
Enjoy!
JOMANS
