question about compression/program levelling

[abdullahrawk]

hey all.... i know this isn’t technically a “home recording” question but i believe the issues involved are similar in scope. i have a (kind of) basic question about using a compressor in conjunction with a small p.a. set-up. i tend bar at a small pub and the owners recently purchased a small sound system so we can play music on the weekends. however, since we don’t have a d.j. it basically consists of someone making a bunch of mix cd’s so no one has to man the mixer for too long. the problem with this obviously, is that the cd’s aren’t normalized (i think that’s what it’s called) and sometimes there are wild fluctuations in sound levels (imagine a track from the original issue violent femmes cd preceding a track from gwen stephani’s latest cd). so i purchased a compresser but can’t figure out how to set the parameters in order to “normalize” these homemade mix tapes so the sound level of the program is consistent. any suggestions? thanks in advance!

 

[wesley tanner]

what compressor did you get? I would experiment with some oddly placed settings-- because more than likely, each song will do fun unto itself, so it's not going to need a release rate that's fast at all, in fact, quite the opposite. I'd start with the release rate as long as possible, the attack fast, and then experiment with threshold and ratio settings. if there's a limiter or wall, I'd probably use it just to be safe.

I wish all tv's and computers and car radios and the like had compressors in them. I love to fall asleep to a movie, but I hate being woken up during commercials and gunshots.

just my couple of pennies