Expander/Gate

[Bulls Hit]

Can anyone explain in clear english what an expander does?

Also how would it be used as a gate? Let's say I want to remove some string scrapes from a guitar track. Can an expander/gate do this? How about a compressor/gate?

 

[Velvet Elvis]

Bull...

And expander is like a gate that can't close all the way... basically if the audio falls below a threshold, the circuit will reduce the remaining audio by a certain level, but not to absolute silence as a gate would.

For example, I use an expander instead of a gate on my drum tracks... When the snare hits, the signal is wide open, but after it decays to a certain threshold, the audio level is reduce, but NOT muted.... so you can still hear the track.

It could also be looked at like a compressor that compresses the lower volumed passages rather than the higher volume ones.

Hope that helps.

Velvet Elvis

 

[Bulls Hit]

Thanks Velvet.

If I understand you correctly, any audio falling below the threshold will be reduced further by the expander, but not completely.

So if I apply gain during 'expansion', will the gain apply before or after the audio has been reduced?

 

[Velvet Elvis]

You understand it correctly.... an expander is just a gate that cannot close completely.

The gain would depend on the unit, but I assume like a compressor, it would adjust the gain of the entire signal (like a makeup amplifier).

Velvet Elvis