Compressor Question

There are many types of compressors and different applications for them. But it is my understanding that a compressor reduces the overal dynamic range of a wave form. Essentially making the quiet parts louder, and the loud parts quieter. The ammount of volume it increases or decreases depends on the ratio you have the compressor set to. A 2:1 compression ratio is quite common and will give you a soft ammount of compression. For every decible the signal goes over the threshold it will reduce it by 2. The threshold is the level where the compressor kicks in. You can set the level to -6db so if your signal goes above that, it will kick in and compress the signal however you have it set to work. The attack setting determins how quickly the compressor takes effect, and the release is how quickly the compressor releases it's effect. If the compression you use is too heavy, you may hear a "breathing" sound. You can hear the levels fluxuating up and down, almost like a sucking sound. If you don't use enough it simply won't do much of anything. If the max level the transients hit in your mix is -3dba, then setting the threshold to -2dba won't really do anything.

Hmm, sorry if that doesn't make sense i'm not an expert that is just my understanding. hopefully someone can add to this, or change any mistakes.

It's used a lot of vocals to make the whispers as loud as the screams. That is an analogy i hear a lot.
 
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