Really stupid compressor question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris Jahn
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Chris Jahn

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Ok, i of course understand the over all purpose and applications of compression.

But, a few threads back (the one about "metal" attack on the drums) someone gave a response that kinda threw me for a loop.

They said that in order to get a sharp attack on the kick i should try a SLOW attack time. That seemed counter intuitve to me.

The basic fucntions on any compressor are:attack, release, threshold, and ratio, correct?

Mabye im getting fast and slow backwards, and there appropriate aplications.

This is were i sound new, in my mind 3ms is "fast" and 290 or whatever would be slow, ones short, and one is long (fast, slow), is it backwards from that?

Can anyone give some hypothetical compressor settings for some varying
results.

Like for instance (even though i hate nirvana) i know that kurt cobains vocals were supposedly very compressed, what would very compressed vocals look like in terms of Ratio, attack, etc...or what would a tight metal kick drum, or bass guitar look like.

on a side note i know that a technique called "thwaking" was used on cobains vocals, i believe it was somthing like one super compressed track on top of an identical non compressed track in the mix, giving an over all warmer and bigger effect. Heard of this? know how it works? does it apply to other situations?
 
With regard to slow attack accenting the attack:

Imagine a kick drum sound a bit like this - CRACK WOMP

With a fast attack (the compressor switches on fast) you'd get - crack womp

With a slow attack more uncompressed sound is let through before the compressor starts to work - CRACK womp

So the attack is accented.
 
Chris Jahn said:
on a side note i know that a technique called "thwaking" was used on cobains vocals, i believe it was somthing like one super compressed track on top of an identical non compressed track in the mix, giving an over all warmer and bigger effect. Heard of this? know how it works? does it apply to other situations?
Click to expand...


Now, I'm no compression expert but I do know how to use one well. I think this may be called parrallel(fuck I can't spell)compression. I could be wrong but I believe way back when that's how it was explained to me. Anyway I've heard a ton of guys over at gearslutz say they use this method.
 
Yep that technique is called parallel compression. Occasionally you also hear it referred to when talking about vocals as "Motown compression" as variations on using parallel compression on vocals were popular with Barry Gordy's gang. Similarly, "New York compression" is a variety of parallel compression popular for drums and made popular by some of the NY-area studios.

Now as far as the fast attack thing, Chris; "fast attack" on a compressor means that the compressor responds fast and clamps down on fast transients. So, a "fast attack" setting on a compressor actually means that it compresses fast attack transients (like the front of a snare hit), not that it lets them get by.

G.
 
so, to rephrase once again,

attack on the compressor means how quickly it turns the volume down.

so if you ease that back, you let the first part of the drum sound be loud (the *drum's* attack) by having the compresor wait a moment before turning it down.

I am so going to try that parallel compression thing. thanks.
 
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