Compressor settings when mastering...

[SenryokuZokyoza]

Hi there, I'm trying to improve my songs quality and polish
them using a compressor, but I have no idea of what to
do with the attack and release knobs. I can feel that
my songs audio quality get better when I run them thru
the compressor but I was wondering about the true
functionality of it. My songs are pop music, so I was wondering,
should I keep the attack short? And, what about the compressing
ratio? Should I keep it low (1:50) or high (3:00)? Are there
some basic compressor presets for pop music?
This will really help me. Thanks.

 

[strmkr]

Read everything here

 

[strmkr]

.............and here

 

[SenryokuZokyoza]

I've already ordered my book, but it didn't arrive yet...

 

[SenryokuZokyoza]

Thanks dude. I've found a lot of articles at www.drtmastering.com and digido.

 

[strmkr]

I want the book too,but can't get my wife to stop spending long enough to squeak out the bucks to buy it.


The best thing to do about mastering is to let someone else do it. A set of fresh,objective and experienced ears are vital in the final step for any serious project. I think it is an excellent idea for any recording engineer to learn as much as possible about the mastering process so you can better communicate with the ME about what you want done,but letting a pro do it in a dedicated facility is going to give you the best results.

 

[SenryokuZokyoza]

Thanks man. In fact, the DRT content is very high level and
complete.

 

[roman]

here's an interesting piece for all ya mastering compressing dudes:

http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/articles/8A133F52D0FD71AB86256C2E005DAF1C



On the compressing thing read this GREAT article:
http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/files/B425578C027460898625661000745390

 

[SenryokuZokyoza]

Thanks dude. I'll read it.