COMPRESSION - How To Understand It

[DM60]

OK, I have been doing this 10 years now, this damn compressor thing, I understand and yet I don't. I ran across this guy and I think he does a really good job of showing one how to use compression.

If you already know this stuff, cool, but if you still struggle, I think this is pretty information.

 

[spantini]

What's really nice about this presentation is he's looping the audio instead of turning it on and off while making adjustments. This offers instant feedback on all the compressor's different settings. So many hosts, especially those demoing pedals, amps, etc., are flying solo without a DAW or looper and have to stop playing their instrument to make that adjustment on the gear. Personally, I need to hear that constant audio or my brain fails to fully appreciate the effect.

 

[Gtoboy]

I watched that video the day it came out and I agree with Spantini that the way he did the audio examples made concepts I had read and seen much easier to hear the concepts. In addition to that vid is this one and by combining the concepts I found I could really change the sound of my mixes and give them a lot more clarity, depth, etc.