compression compression compression!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[elicantu]

i have been reading like crazy all the forums about compression and using limiters and stuff...but i just cant do it!!!

i am using the compression plugin that comes with protools 6.4.. and the limiter

i have been messing with them for a while now and no matter what i do all it seems to be doing is making the mix skip the peaks...it doesn't get any louder

how do i set up the compressor and limiter so the song can be louder?

[Robert D]

Compression doesn't make things louder, make up gain does.

[Lomas]

I was feeling exactly like you do, and I found this plugin called Gcomp. It lets you see in real time what you're doing to the track, while you do it. It was very good for learning what things do.

I still suck, but a little less because of this.

Try it, until someone who knows what they're talking about comes around.

[Massive Master]

Robert already nailed it anyway. Compression *COMPRESSES* - It LOWERS volume. Limiting stops volume increase cold. If you want "louder" you have to ADD gain.

[DamnYankee]

Originally Posted by elicantu

i have been reading like crazy all the forums about compression and using limiters and stuff...but i just cant do it!!!

i am using the compression plugin that comes with protools 6.4.. and the limiter

i have been messing with them for a while now and no matter what i do all it seems to be doing is making the mix skip the peaks...it doesn't get any louder

how do i set up the compressor and limiter so the song can be louder?

Where to start...

One of the wonders in a song is dynamics - the loud and soft parts of a song which not only help trigger emotion of the listener, but makes for a pleasing listening experience to your human ear.

Compression reduces those dynamics by limiting the loud peaks and raising volume on the softer parts. There is a myth that Compression makes music louder. It doesn't. It reduces the dynamics (which promotes a phenomena to the human ear called "hearing fatigue".

Once the dynamics are limited (reduced), Gain can be jacked up to distortion/clipping levels to increase volume (which further promotes hearing fatigue).

The "Loudness Wars" started on radio many years ago with the perception that "loudness" attracts listener attention. Sadly, this same myth has now permeated into recording. With all this said, here's a webpage you should take a look at...it's worth a read and will make you a better recording engineer:

http://www.mindspring.com/~mrichter/...s/dynamics.htm

Remember: the greater the dynamics and recording technique, the more you'll get listeners to listen to your entire album (vs. having their ears bombarded to digital clipping and "switching channels" halfway thru the 1st song on your CD).

Best of luck...

[elicantu]

well im sorry i forgot to say this....but i know that you have to use gain to make it louder after you compress it....but the thing is ....it makes the song sound like if it was skipping...listen to this..

www.myspace.com/fallofgomorrah

you'll see what im talking about


...and where can i get that plugin you are talking about?

[legionserial]

Originally Posted by elicantu

well im sorry i forgot to say this....but i know that you have to use gain to make it louder after you compress it....but the thing is ....it makes the song sound like if it was skipping...listen to this..

www.myspace.com/fallofgomorrah

you'll see what im talking about

My explanations of things are questionable, but to put it simply, that is caused by overcompression.

Now for the bit I have trouble explaining....If you have something that creates a peak, like maybe a snare hit for example, and you use too much compression, then the compressor is going to duck the volume at that peak to whatever you have your threshold on the compressor set at. If it's overdone it's going to be really noticeable. That's why it sounds like it's skipping, because the compressor is noticably ...erm...compressing too much... on the peaks. Dont try to get rid of the peaks in the music entirely. Peaks, valleys..in other words dynamics are an important factor in music. If you make your tune so that the entire waveform looks like a block of color, it's not going to sound good, and it will fatigue the listeners ears very quickly.

eeerr.....someone help me out here...I really can't seem to articulate compression very well. I understand it, but explaining it to people is a different kettle of fish.

[DamnYankee]

Originally Posted by legionserial

My explanations of things are questionable, but to put it simply, that is caused by overcompression.

Now for the bit I have trouble explaining....If you have something that creates a peak, like maybe a snare hit for example, and you use too much compression, then the compressor is going to duck the volume at that peak to whatever you have your threshold on the compressor set at. If it's overdone it's going to be really noticeable. That's why it sounds like it's skipping, because the compressor is noticably ...erm...compressing too much... on the peaks. Dont try to get rid of the peaks in the music entirely. Peaks, valleys..in other words dynamics are an important factor in music. If you make your tune so that the entire waveform looks like a block of color, it's not going to sound good, and it will fatigue the listeners ears very quickly.

Well said.

[legionserial]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and post the link in SouthSIDE Glen's signature. I found it extremely helpful and I urge you to check out the section on compression.

http://www.independentrecording.net/

Hope Glen doesn't mind. :/

[XLR]

Originally Posted by elicantu

i have been reading like crazy all the forums about compression and using limiters and stuff...but i just cant do it!!!...how do i set up the compressor and limiter so the song can be louder?

Sounds like you're talking about broadband downward compression.

Don't take my advice because I'm a broadband downward compression hater, but here it is anyway: Loudness is the least important thing re dynamics. Study everything about dynamics in recording... then compression will make sense. But it's complex. You're 15. Take your time.

What helps me is looking at it the same way as an engineer 'riding the faders' or turning the volume down and back to normal on the loud parts.

Look at each parameter like that, threshold is when he decides to turn down the volume (how loud it gets before the volume goes down), attack is how fast he turns down the volume, release is how fast he brings it back up, etc.

That's just what I do anyway. Thinking technically about all the parameters like ratio and stuff confuse me. While I know what they mean, trying to think about them like that while using a compressor just confuses me so I try to keep it simple.

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by danny.guitar

What helps me is looking at it the same way as an engineer 'riding the faders' or turning the volume down and back to normal on the loud parts.

Look at each parameter like that, threshold is when he decides to turn down the volume (how loud it gets before the volume goes down), attack is how fast he turns down the volume, release is how fast he brings it back up, etc.

That's not bad. I think. If it is bad, then I'm an idiot, too.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by legionserial

Hope Glen doesn't mind. :/

Hey, if I didn't want people reading it, I'd take it off the 'net! I don't mind at all.

It's not like I could stop it anyway; there are people all over the net and all over the world that are linking to my stuff, half of which I'd never even know about if I didn't accidentally trip across them while searching for something else. I consider it a compliment.

As to the OP, yeah, you're probably over-twiddling. You just want to contain the peaks a bit. Set the threshold somewhaere above the average volume level, keep your compression ratio in the low-to-mid single digits, set the attack fast enough to clamp the peaks and the release fast enough to avoid unnatural volume effects on the surrounding sounds, and then use makeup gain to bring the new peaks back up again.

If that last paragraph is all Greek to you, then yeah, maybe you need to give that tutorial a read.

G.

[MessianicDreams]

Originally Posted by elicantu

i am using the compression plugin that comes with protools 6.4.. and the limiter

Well everyone's nailed the question, so i'm just gonna jump in a say, go to the Digi website and download the EQ 3 and Dynamics 3 pack.



Its free, its RTAS, it's got a great GUI, and it sounds great!




EDIT: someone give me some fucking REP, i've been waiting for days for it to roll past the 4k mark!