How should I set a compressor for acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, and vocals?

  • Thread starter Thread starter grimy paco
  • Start date Start date
G

grimy paco

New member
I have a FOSTEX VF 160 I am tring the compressor but I am getting different recordings sometimes they sond great sometimes distorded.
Can anyone help my with the better settings for ACOUSTIC GUITAR, BASS GUITAR & most important VOCALS.
I have played with the THRESHOLD/RATIO/ATTACK & GAIN
What settings work best?
THANKS YOUR HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APRECIATED
 
you first need to learn a little bit about the basics of compression so you can ask your questions in a more practical way - try a search for "compression" here, and you'll get about two years worth of reading. Perhaps someone can post a particularly relevant link if they have one.

As asked, your question is unanswerable...
 
littledog can you point me to link that specialises in compression?
I have looked into links on home recording but they don't specify?
Thanks:rolleyes:
 
Paco,

> What settings work best? <

If one setting worked best for everything, compressors would come with only one built-in preset and no knobs. Once you understand what a compressor does and how it works, you'll know how to set the knobs properly yourself. Following is a brief explanation that hopefully will get you started.

--Ethan


A compressor or limiter is an automatic volume control that reduces the volume when the input gets too loud. Originally they were used to prevent AM radio transmitters from distorting if the announcer got too close to the mike. Then some creative folks discovered that a compressor can sound cool as an effect on voices and musical instruments.

The primary controls on a compressor are:

Threshold - also called ceiling - This sets the point at which the automatic volume reduction kicks in. Below that volume the compressor does nothing. When the input gets above that level, the compressor reduces the volume automatically to keep the signal from getting much louder.

Attack time - how quickly the volume is reduced when the input exceeds the threshold. If it's too slow, then a short burst of loud music can get through and possibly cause distortion. So when using a compressor as a tool to prevent overload you generally want a very fast attack time. But when used on an electric bass to get a little more punch, 20-50 milliseconds is often good because that lets a little burst of the attack get through before the volume is reduced. So each note has a little extra "definition" but without the full length of the note being too loud.

Release time - how quickly the volume comes back up after being reduced. If it's too fast, you'll hear the volume as it goes up and down. That sound is called "pumping" or "breathing." Sometimes this sound is desirable, but often it is not. It depends on whether you're using the compressor as a tool to prevent overloading, or as an effect to create a cool sound or add more sustain to an instrument. If you don't want to hear the compressor work, set the release time fairly long (one second or more).

Compression ratio - 1:1 does nothing. 2:1 means if the input rises to 2 dB. above the threshold, the compressor will reduce the level by 1 dB. so now it's 1 dB. above. 10:1 means you have to get 10 dB. above the threshold for the output to go up by 1 dB.
 
THANKS ETHAN this brief discription of compression helped alot.
I will try other setting accordingly and see what comes out.
:p
 
can a compressor improve the sustain of a signal? I mean if I pump up the threshold and release time wouldn't that drag the signal out?
 
Yes. It can effectively be used on guitar tracks as long as you watch the pumping. Also on bass.

On the other side, you can tighten up a ringing drum kit. Especially the kick and the toms. It works well to get a little more punch out of them.
 
You see the buttons at the top of the page? "user CP, register, calendar, members, f.a.q., search, home"

You click the one that says "search"....

when the search page comes up, you enter the word compression in the "search by keyword" field....

Then you see a whole bunch of links to posts that talk about compression.......

It really isn't difficult............... :rolleyes:
 
Blue Bear, you're actually not quite right there. :D


If you enter "compress* AND setting*" as a search string, you get so many hits that you get the message "Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 30 seconds exceeded in /usr/local/etc/httpd/bbs/search.php on line 431" . In other words you get NO links to posts talking about compression settings because there are too many results to finish the search! :D :D :D


Grimy taco, it's actually going to take some work on your part to figure out the settings you need since each situation is different. That's probably not what you want to hear, but it's basically the truth. The key is to learn how you can affect the sound with the ratio, threshhold, attack, and release knobs and then apply that to what an individual track needs (if it needs anything at all). One of the many reasons it takes me so long to complete a song is that I'm new at this (even after two years I still consider myslef new at it) and I do a lot of playing around. even if tracks don't need anything in particular, I still play around with different effects to figure out if they need anything, if so then what, how do I do it, and probably most important of all, what does it NOT need.

You'll actually learn a lot more and get much better results by doing some searching and trying things for yourself. Then when you come up with some more specifici questions people will tend to be much quicker to respond.


Dave O.
 
One more thing ...

Just a follow up to my previous post...

I also intended to post links to sonusman's and Shailat's articles on compression, but I got messages saying that neither link worked. Don't know if they moved, but if someone knows where they are now, I'd appreciate it too. The sounds clips in Shailat's were especially helpful.

These are the links I tried:

sonusman:
http://www.echostarstudio.com/thecompressor.html


Shailat:
http://www.geocities.com/shailat2000/
 
I know trial and error works best but I was hoping most settings were kind of constint.
Example when recording BASS GUITAR the attack setting works best at an extremly low attack.I have started that but THRESHOLD is confusing me there is nothing constant.
THANKS MOST OF YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND AFFERT I WILL CONTINUE TO TRY I HAVE ONLY BEEN RECOEDING FOR 8 MONTHS NOW.
:confused: :confused:
:confused:
 
Grimy,

I'm not sure about the level of sarcasm in your last reply, so I'll handle it both ways. If there wasn't ignore the rest of this paragraph. If there was, I just want to make sure you understand no one who responded was being a wiseass. Well, maybe they were, but they did give you the proper answer. There really is no way to answer your initial question as asked ("What settings work best?").

To answer your specific question about threshold, the threshold is the level at with the compress will actually begin to compress the input signal. Let's say you set the threshold to -20 dB. That means signals under that level will be allowed to pass through the compresser unscathed. As soon as an input signal reaches the level you set in the threshold, the compressor will begin to reduce the level of the signal by the RATIO setting.

Suppose your ratio is set to 2.5, which is a reasonable value to use for, let's say, bass, assuming that the bass actually needs compression. If you assume that I'm playing bass for you, it WILL need compression (I'm no Jaco/JPJ/Geddy/Ox/etc.) Now let's say an input signal comes in at -15 dB. That's above the threshold, 5 dBs above it to be exact, so it will get compressed. Since your ratio (2.5) goes into that 5 dBs two times, that means the 5dBs above the threshold in the input signal get compressed down to 2 dBs above the threshold. The output signal at this given moment in time will therefore be -18 dB.

To sum it up, the threshold is the level at which the compressor begins to compress an input signal. If you want more of the signal compressed then set it to a lower value (to pull a number out of the air, -30 dB instaed of the -20 I used above). If you want to let more signal through unaffected, then set the threshold higher.
 
HEY DAVE O THERE WAS NO SARCASM INTENDED JUST FRUSTRATION.....
I'M A NEWBIE AND DIDN'T NEED EXTRA WISE ASS REMARKS TO FURTHER MY FRUSTRATION.I UNDERSTAND A LITTLE MORE NOE ABOUT THRESHOLD THANKS.
WHAT ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF GAIN HOW WILL YOU KNOW IF IT IS TOO HIGH OTHER THAN LISTENING FOR THE DISTORTION BY THEN IT IS TOO LATE SHOULD YOU APPLY COMPRESSION AFTER THE RECORDING??? OR JUST DO THE TRACK OVER UNTIL YOU FIND A PROPER GAIN VALUE.
THANKS
 
Grimy

There's a lot of knowledge floating around here and generally (in a VERY general sense) the participants here don't get too sarcastic/wise-assy. However, you stated that you have only been recording for +/- 8 months now. Do you have any books on recording? Have you picked up any magazines on the subject? How about the manual for your VF160? Often, they will have tutorials on different parts of the unit. And, usually it is intended for the novice user.
As far as web sites, don't limit your search to "homerecording". Do a search for recording in general or audio compressors.
You don't need to ask "How do I set this?" and not understand what you are doing or why. Read, Read, Read, and then do. That's the only way to learn. Good luck.
Oh, and BTW here's a link to get you started:
http://homerecording.about.com/cs/compressorsgates/
 
Extrememly fast attack times are NOT necessarily the best compression settings for bass - although they MIGHT be, depending on what you are trying to do. For instance, if you wanted to make the bass sound more punchy, a slower attack time would be better.

That illustrates why there is no "typical" compression setting for all situations. Compressors can do many different things - it all depends on what you are asking them to do.
 
Also people forget that no two compressors work alike and a setting one one wont work on another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top