Help with Fruity Compressor

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SexAnDrugS

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Hello, I am using FL studio and I have a few questions...
As I see it, the compressor is a way to make the recorded vocals sound even and hit the same lowest / highest loudness.

So first off, am I right?
Secondly, do I use the compressor while recording? Or do I just add it to the channel later and set the right settings?

Also, what is the difference between "Gain" and "Ratio"? it seems to me that both reduce loudness, why do I need both?

And lastly, I know that the settings depend on many things, but is there some sort of standard way to start with them and modify while gaining experience?

Thanks alot in advance!
 
Yes I have read it already, but did not fully understand.
Can you please help me with my questions?
 
1st off there is no requirement to use a compressor at all it is just a tool in your box.
Most DAW users prefer to add commpression after they have tracked (in the box) unless you have a vocalist who has no idea....
The difference between Gain and Ratio? Gain is a manual control used to balance the level and fine tune. Ratio is an automated gain reduction eg if set to 1:1 = no reduction 3:1 = 3 x reduction this is used along with the Threshold control.

There is no substitute for good mic technique
It should be "transparent" i.e If you can hear compressor working you are using too much...

Play around with it.....
 
So gain reduces the loudness of the whole track then? While ratio affects only the parts that go above the threshold?

Also, if compression is done after recording, why doesn't my recording change?
I record, I go to the mixer, choose the channel I used to record, add "Fryity Compressor" but w/e I do in the settings, the track doesn't change!

I have read the noobie expel and it shows that the track becomes move evened out, how do I do that on FL studio?

Thanks alot! I appreciate your help very much.
 
SexAnDrugS said:
So gain reduces the loudness of the whole track then? While ratio affects only the parts that go above the threshold?
Click to expand...
That's correct ;)

What do you mean by "track doesn't change" - do you expect visual change somewhere or...?
 
Well yeah, I kinda expected the recording to change..
If I recorded something, then add the compressor to the channel and change settings, I'd expect the recording to visually change, so that all the waves would be the same loudness....

Like the example showed, a before compression and after compression track....


Am I going all wrong about this?
 
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well you can try Fruity Limiter(switch it to compression mode first ;)) - it has nice display which shows you how much you are compressing.
 
Wait, so fruity compressor does every thing right? But juat doesn't visually show the changes?
 
Built-in compressors to me are better when used after the recording. If you have an external compressor, then it'a best being used...actually recommended being used in real-time. Gain is the volume. Ratio is the level in which will be brought down once the volume reaches the threshold. The reason the ratio seems to bring the volume down is because you have it turned down too low against the threshold.
 
When you add a compressor, or any plug-in like that, in FL Studio, it does not visually change your track because it doesn't actually change your track. The recorded track stays the same, but when you play it, it is run through the compressor in real time. Kind of like if you have an actual compressor, and you played through it without rerecording.

It works like this so you can change the settings, mess around, and maybe even decide not to use the compressor, all without permanently affecting your recorded track.
 
Thanks a lot, but one last thing: is it ok that the compressor doesn't actually change the track visually? Because I'm not sure whether it works or not...
 
SexAnDrugS said:
Thanks a lot, but one last thing: is it ok that the compressor doesn't actually change the track visually? Because I'm not sure whether it works or not...
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's cool. It's not going to actually visually change the track you have recorded. But it's working, trust me :)
 
SexAnDrugS said:
Thanks a lot, but one last thing: is it ok that the compressor doesn't actually change the track visually? Because I'm not sure whether it works or not...
Click to expand...

Can you hear a difference? If so, who cares if it changes visually?

The waveform will change visually if you print the track with the effect on it, but I wouldn't recommend that as you want to be able to tweak the settings as you build your mix.
 
Ok everybody thanks alot! You all are awesome for helping and taking the time to explain. I LOVE this forum and the community is amazing. Thanks alot, I'll probably be around :)
 
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