Keeping level sent to effects consistent

[VotaIdiota]

Okay, this is kind of a complicated question guys, so bear with me.
I've been using CEP for quite a while (since 1.2, actually) and got 2.0 this summer. I've had good times with it and everything, and the real time effects was the thing really needed to make it a competitive product. My problem is this: Say I have a track with compression used as an fx. If I change the volume of the track on the panel on the left, the level fed to the compressor remains consistent. However, if I use the volume envelopes to automate volume changes in the track, the level feeding the compressor changes with the changes in volume, thereby making the compressor relatively useless. My question is this.... Is there a way to make it that I can automate the volume of the track, without affecting the level going to the compressor? Basically, is there a way to make the volume automation happen AFTER the effects on the track?

[scottboyher]

Wouldn't the track volume raise the track and its effects together, relatively? That shouln't effect the compressor or any other effect on the track.

[dobro]

"If I change the volume of the track on the panel on the left, the level fed to the compressor remains consistent. However, if I use the volume envelopes to automate volume changes in the track, the level feeding the compressor changes with the changes in volume, thereby making the compressor relatively useless."

I don't think that's the case.

"If I change the volume of the track on the panel on the left, the level fed to the compressor remains consistent."

The volume of the track on the left has nothing to do with the level fed to the compressor. One's multitrack, one's edit view; they're independent.

"However, if I use the volume envelopes to automate volume changes in the track, the level feeding the compressor changes with the changes in volume, thereby making the compressor relatively useless."

I think that the volume envelope and any compression you choose to apply are independent of each other, and here's why: if you put a volume envelope on a track, it doesn't the change the track one little bit, it just changes the volume at certain places. But if you actually compress a track, you can *see* the track change right before your eyes.

Another way to say it: when you compress a track, you're making permanent changes to the track. But when you're adjusting the track volume with eithe the leftside control or volume envelopes, you're not touching the track at all, just the loudness of it.

[VotaIdiota]

Originally posted by dobro


"The volume of the track on the left has nothing to do with the level fed to the compressor. One's multitrack, one's edit view; they're independent."

I realize that. The column on the left of the multitrack mixer that has volume affects volume AFTER the realtime effects, which is what I want the volume envelope to do as well.

"I think that the volume envelope and any compression you choose to apply are independent of each other, and here's why: if you put a volume envelope on a track, it doesn't the change the track one little bit, it just changes the volume at certain places. But if you actually compress a track, you can *see* the track change right before your eyes."

But I'm not compressing in edit view. I'm putting the compressor (ultrafunk, to be exact) in the realtime fx bank. Here, you can test this yourself. Just generate a tone, any frequency, at a certain continuous volume. Slap a compressor on the fx bank. Play the track and notice the input meter on the compressor. Now, use the volume envelope to take the volume of the entire track down to 50%. Play it again and look at the input meter on the compressor. It should be much lower this time around, which would eventually translate to less compression on those parts of the track, which would then mean that the volume envelope is making the use of the compressor irrelevant.