I know how they work and I know the parameters, except for one thing. People say, when describing compressors, that they lower loud parts and raise quiet parts. It's the last part that I don't get. If I put a signal through a compressor with a 2:1 ratio, any part of the signal that exceeds the threshold will be lowered by half.
But how does it raise the low signal, unless I use make up gain? The thing is I thought that make up gain is supposed to be used to compensate for change in volume compared to the uncompressed signal, to not be confused by that change in volume.
Is it really a good idea to compress and then use make up gain to increase volume instead of compressing and then raising the fader on a mixer or sequencer? Or doesn't it matter where it's done in this case?
I understand how, if you lower loud parts and then increase the volume you are in a way raising the quiet part and lowering the loud part. Just checking to see if I missed something else.
But how does it raise the low signal, unless I use make up gain? The thing is I thought that make up gain is supposed to be used to compensate for change in volume compared to the uncompressed signal, to not be confused by that change in volume.
Is it really a good idea to compress and then use make up gain to increase volume instead of compressing and then raising the fader on a mixer or sequencer? Or doesn't it matter where it's done in this case?
I understand how, if you lower loud parts and then increase the volume you are in a way raising the quiet part and lowering the loud part. Just checking to see if I missed something else.