Compression Uncompressed

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SouthSIDE Glen

SouthSIDE Glen

independentrecording.net
I have taken the liberty of creating a downloadable browser-based notebook called "Compression Uncompressed". This notebook contains an in-depth description and discussion of the basics of audio compressors and compression and was written with the rookie and intermediate home recording enthusiast in mind.

General topics covered include an introduction to compression and compressor types, an explanation of compressor controls, an analysis of compression settings, an examination of when and how to use compression, a look at multi-band compression, and a routine for practicing with a compressor.

This browser-based notebook is available for download for free for anyone and everyone who may be interested. No strings attached, other than the usual standard legalese, which can be found in the Readme documentation file at the top of the .zip package. Also found in that doc file will be instructions on how to unzip the package properly and how to make an "autorun" CD-R out of it, if desired. The most important instruction is that when you unzip the package, you must choose the option to have your unzip program retain the encoded folder/directory structure and not have it just unzip everything into a single directory.

So, feel free to grab yourself a copy if you wish. Any general followup questions to the material in the book can be posted here as a discussion that everybody can contribute to. Any personal comments or issues requests to send me big wheelbarrows full of cash can be directed to me in PM or via e-mail ;).

The notebook can be downloaded at

www.lintrophx.com/southside/compression_uncompressed.zip

and choosing the "Save To Disk" option.

HTH,

G.
 
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damn I aint got an unzipper

it's surfin' time again I'm gonna leave ya.................

but I'll be back

one of my things I say to people interested in production is "you can never know enough about EQ & compression"
 
great article. not only very helpful but passed a fair amount of time at work. its a win win situation indeed.
 
That was a heck of a lot of work that went into that.

I do find the green on black lettering to be hard on my eyes. Looks nice visually, but really limits how long I can look at those pages. What about white on black lettering or a much lighter green?
 
Hey Glen, I've started reading your article and just wanted to let you know how much your efforts in this are appreciated. Looks like a lot of great info. Thanks!
 
SonicAlbert said:
I do find the green on black lettering to be hard on my eyes. Looks nice visually, but really limits how long I can look at those pages. What about white on black lettering or a much lighter green?
That "green" has RGB values of Red=0 Green=192 Blue=192. Put another way, both the green and blue values are set at 75% of maximum. Against a black background that is actually a very high contrast (or in our terms, a high dynamic range :) ). Much brighter and it is frankly in danger of beeing glaring. ("Microsoft gray" is 192, 192, 192, and that is *very* bright on a black backgorund.)

I know there can be problems with pure reds (blue and green values set to zero) on black as a signifigant percentage of the population has a weak form of color blindness that de-emphasizes the brightness of red values, but that is just the opposite of this where the red is at zero and the blue and green are both pumped to fairly standard design levels

I had used that teal-on-black color scheme before on a corporate website for a press parts manufacturer a few years ago, and it was rated one of the best websites in the printing industry at that time. I had also used this layout for a previous client-side notebook which received favorable reviews.

I'm not saying you're wrong or anything like that, Al; if you're having a hard time reading it, you're having a hard time reading it. But I have to be honest and say that this is the first time I have received such a mention on that color scheme. It does make me wonder if perhaps the gamma calibration on your monitor might be mis-aligned?

I am open to the topic, though. Anyone else having trouble reading the text? (other than the boring content that puts everyone asleep, of course ;). That's a given. :D )

G.

[EDIT:] P.S. There are a lot of people (like myself) who don't particularly care for reading long texts on video monitors at all, regardless of the color scheme. Just a tip for those interested; one can print the text of any content page in full by right-clicking on the content frame (not on the navigation menu or the title banner or footer) and selecting "Print". It will print out in old-school black ink on white paper.
 
Just downloaded the file. Havnt read it yet but I am thanking you in advance!
 
No problems reading it...
You should probably put the link in your sig, for when this thread dies...
 
mx_mx said:
No problems reading it...
You should probably put the link in your sig, for when this thread dies...
Good idea. Thanks for the tip. :)

DrJones said:
Havnt read it yet but I am thanking you in advance!
Your mistake! You should have waited on that until you figure out whether you actually like it or not.

Once I say "You're welcome", the transaction is finished; no refunds on "Thank yous" :p

...

You're welcome! :)

(you had your chance...)

G.
 
Thanks for all of the time and effort you spent on this. Anyone else having trouble with the pictures not working? Besides that, it's been a good read so far.
 
booyah14 said:
Anyone else having trouble with the pictures not working?
What exactly do you mean by "pictures not working"? Are you talking about the title pictures or "Figure 1", "Figure 2", etc.? And when you say "not working" does that mean you're getting a red X "image not available" or does that mean that when you click on "Figure 1" for example, that the pop-up box with the figure is not popping up?

I can't think of a specific reason for any of those. We tested it on a half-dozen different computers with several browser makes and versions as well as operating systems (though no Macs) before releasing it, with no image or popup problems. All I can think of off-hand it to A) make sure that you are actually unziping the files and not just running them individually from within the PKUnzip/WinZip menu, B) that you unzip them using the embedded folder structure, and C) that if you have some sort of extremely anal popup blocker software running that you try either turning the blocker off or tell it that stuff from that folder is OK (no, I do not have ANY spyware, ads, worms, viruses, etc. hiding anywhere in the package :rolleyes: . )

G.
 
Each figure (picture) does not show up. The icon looks like a paper with a rip through it, showing it doesn't work I assume, haha. Running Mozilla through Windows, so I'm not really sure whats going on either. Either way, I'm still enjoying the reading and thanks again for all the work you put into it!
 
booyah14 said:
Each figure (picture) does not show up.
We've tested it under several Mozilla iterations, including Netscape 7, Firefox 1.0x and Firefox 1.5x, on bot Win2K and WinXp and it installed and ran fine.

Make sure you have image capability turned on in your browser. if so, then that means the booklet did not install correctly. For some reason it's not finding the image files, either because they installed into the wrong directory or because they didin't install at all. You may have gotten a hiccup when you were d/ling the zip file perhaps.

I'd recommend re-downloading the zip file and re-installing it (deleting the old stuff first.)

Glad you're enjoying it nonetheless :).

G.
 
yea, i hate black text on white background, there's nothing like trying to read off of a light bulb for hours on end.
 
I found a typo under Harware Compression Design in Types of Compressors, second paragraph last sentence. Corrected: "Tube compression, however, can be expensive and is generally inferior to VCA for “hard limiting” (very high compression ratios) because of it’s slower response speeds (more about this fast/slow speed thing later) and heavy coloration."

Overall, good job. This is extremely useful to me. I thank you.
 
IronFlippy said:
I found a typo under Harware Compression Design in Types of Compressors, second paragraph last sentence. Corrected: "Tube compression, however, can be expensive and is generally inferior to VCA for “hard limiting” (very high compression ratios) because of it’s slower response speeds (more about this fast/slow speed thing later) and heavy...
Oh, man, what a silly typo...

Note to everyone: Do NOT take your compressor into the shower with you! :rolleyes:

IFlip, thanks for the tip and nice catch! That'll be corrected in a maintenance fix.

G.
 
No problem. Just goes to show that a spellchecker will not eliminate humiliation. :p

EDIT: post number 666. I really am the devil!
 
I've just started reading it ...and already and beginning to understand compression a lot better. Love the diagrams!!! :D
 
Great job G.

I don't know if it will confuse the intended audience, but you may also want to touch on upward compression.

It would also be cool to have some audio examples.
 
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