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Brent Larimore
Member
Hello All:
What is a great resource for learning all about compression?
Thanks up front!
What is a great resource for learning all about compression?
Thanks up front!
bouldersoundguy
Well-known member
You could probably search YouTube. I think someone on this forum made a video about compression using the ReaComp.
What do you want to know? We could probably answer most of your questions.
What do you want to know? We could probably answer most of your questions.
CrowsofFritz
Flamingo!
A compressor essentially makes the loud sounds quieter and the quiet sounds louder. You have four controls on a basic compressor: attack, release, threshold, and ratio. Here’s what they do.
Attack: a control that you can set to let the compressor know how quickly you want it to do its job. A faster attack means the compressor does its job faster. Some people like a slower attack to keep the notes punchy while others like it fast to reduce a large amount of dynamic range.
Release: the opposite of attack. How quickly you want the compressor to stop doing its job.
Threshold: this part is very important. The threshold is a ceiling where, if any sound is loud enough to break through that ceiling, the compressor starts doing its job. Say you set a threshold of -30 dB. This means that, when a sound is louder than -30, the compressor starts to take the sound and, well, compress it, and it does so through the ratio.
Ratio: this is also important. The ratio is essentially the compression. Say you have a ratio of 3:1. This means that, for every 3 dB that pass OVER a threshold ceiling we talked about, the compressor will spit out only 1 dB. The higher the ratio, the more the sound is compressed.
The compressor just reduces a wide dynamic range, but it does more than that. It can shape you sound. It can help tighten up the low ends. It can help with crazy transients.
Whether or not you need a compressor is up to you!
Attack: a control that you can set to let the compressor know how quickly you want it to do its job. A faster attack means the compressor does its job faster. Some people like a slower attack to keep the notes punchy while others like it fast to reduce a large amount of dynamic range.
Release: the opposite of attack. How quickly you want the compressor to stop doing its job.
Threshold: this part is very important. The threshold is a ceiling where, if any sound is loud enough to break through that ceiling, the compressor starts doing its job. Say you set a threshold of -30 dB. This means that, when a sound is louder than -30, the compressor starts to take the sound and, well, compress it, and it does so through the ratio.
Ratio: this is also important. The ratio is essentially the compression. Say you have a ratio of 3:1. This means that, for every 3 dB that pass OVER a threshold ceiling we talked about, the compressor will spit out only 1 dB. The higher the ratio, the more the sound is compressed.
The compressor just reduces a wide dynamic range, but it does more than that. It can shape you sound. It can help tighten up the low ends. It can help with crazy transients.
Whether or not you need a compressor is up to you!
B
Brent Larimore
Member
Thanks for the help guys! Sorry, I just checked back in. For some reason I was thinking
an email would let me know about responses, but now I know to check back in here.
Your replies were very helpful. I have never used compression and think it's time I learn
about it in general.
I have been working on getting original tunes at a general level to not disappear when
compared to a purchased recording that is a bit louder. I have raised them up and they
are mostly all "in the game" now and don't drop down too much. But some are a bit ]
lower than others and I see by looking at the waves that some of them have an overall
lower range but hit the peak at a few spots while others are louder all the way through.
Which brings a question: Is there a typical compression type that would be used in that
situation so those two songs were closer to the same level? There are a list of different
types that come with WavePad but I don't really know what the differences are.
TY!
an email would let me know about responses, but now I know to check back in here.
Your replies were very helpful. I have never used compression and think it's time I learn
about it in general.
I have been working on getting original tunes at a general level to not disappear when
compared to a purchased recording that is a bit louder. I have raised them up and they
are mostly all "in the game" now and don't drop down too much. But some are a bit ]
lower than others and I see by looking at the waves that some of them have an overall
lower range but hit the peak at a few spots while others are louder all the way through.
Which brings a question: Is there a typical compression type that would be used in that
situation so those two songs were closer to the same level? There are a list of different
types that come with WavePad but I don't really know what the differences are.
TY!
Gtoboy
Well-known member
That final stage is a type of compression called "Limiting". Many You tube videos about it. I would look at the IZotope mastering series of videos to get an idea of how to get an even ish level across all tracks
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Brent Larimore
Member
Thank you, Gtoboy!