When do I need to use a compressor??

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g string

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I recently started home recording and I have read several articles about compression, but I am still a little confused, so I was hoping you all could help me out.
When is compression needed ?
What do I need to hear to decide whether or not I need to use a compressor.
What is the basic function of a compressor.
Is it used to boost, smoothe out sounds, make them louder, softer??
I am sooooooo confused.
Thanks for your help!!
 
g string said:
I recently started home recording and I have read several articles about compression, but I am still a little confused, so I was hoping you all could help me out.
When is compression needed ?
What do I need to hear to decide whether or not I need to use a compressor.
What is the basic function of a compressor.
Is it used to boost, smoothe out sounds, make them louder, softer??
I am sooooooo confused.
Thanks for your help!!
Click to expand...

At its most basic level, a compressor is used to bring up the volume of a signal. By reducing the the level of the louder occurances, you can bring up the volume of the overall signal without clipping the signal.
That's sort of the basic overall function.

If you're into Wikipedia, here's what they have to say about it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_level_compression

Compressors are also sometimes used to affect the quality of the sound, not just for dynamics. Certain analog compressors have certain "sounds" and by running your signal through them and tweaking the parameters you can get achieve different qualities of the sound. Sometimes you want to "hear" the compression, sometimes you want it to be "transparent"
 
g string said:
I recently started home recording and I have read several articles about compression, but I am still a little confused, so I was hoping you all could help me out.
When is compression needed ?
What do I need to hear to decide whether or not I need to use a compressor.
What is the basic function of a compressor.
Is it used to boost, smoothe out sounds, make them louder, softer??
I am sooooooo confused.
Thanks for your help!!
Click to expand...
g,

Download the hypertext tutorial on compression from the link in my signature. That should answer all your qiestions and more.

G.
 
Thanks for your quick replies. Looks like some good info, I going to go read up on it now........Thanks! :D
 
RAK said:
At its most basic level, a compressor is used to bring up the volume of a signal.
Click to expand...

I would have said "At its most basic level, a compressor is used to even out the level of a signal.", which is to say it reduces the dynamics of a signal.
Another re-write of this statement could be....
"At its most basic level, a compressor is ABUSED to bring up the volume of a signal."

When is a compressor needed? Anytime the dynamics of a track are too wide, causing the track to not be able to sit in the mix. However, in some cases this is better handled by manual editing, or a combination of the two.

What do you need to hear to know it's needed? Usually it's when you try to adjust the fader for the track to the right level, but it's still too loud here and there, and too quiet other places. If it's alternating between jumping out and getting buried, it's usually time for compression.

What RAK was referring to, using compression to bring up the vulume during mastering, is something you should attempt to not have to resort to, which means addressing your dynamics issues in the mixing stage at the track level as necessary.

Sorry to pick on your post RAK. :o
 
You're usually going to want to compress vocals pretty heavily. Often bass and drums, sometimes acoustic guitars.
 
usually you'll want to compress the shit out of everything...


you'd almost believe...if you look/listen to modern-day recordings.
 
Mo-Kay said:
...if you look/listen to modern-day recordings.
Click to expand...
Why would you want to do that? It's like trying to decide how to make a movie by watching "White Chicks" or trying to learn how to be a comedian by watching Andy Dick.

G.
 
Mo-Kay said:
I was being sarcastic, my fellow boardmember.
Click to expand...
Oops, OK, My apologies, I accidentally had my Sarcasm Detector on bypass :o .

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
Oops, OK, My apologies, I accidentally had my Sarcasm Detector on bypass :o .

G.
Click to expand...
You're never far from the Cave around here - I'd leave that thing on if I were you, Glen! :D
 
g string said:
I recently started home recording and I have read several articles about compression, but I am still a little confused, so I was hoping you all could help me out.
When is compression needed ?
What do I need to hear to decide whether or not I need to use a compressor.
What is the basic function of a compressor.
Is it used to boost, smoothe out sounds, make them louder, softer??
I am sooooooo confused.
Thanks for your help!!
Click to expand...

The answer is NEVER! Atleast not until you know what it does. My problem going into the recording game was buying things that I heard about, but never actually grasped on to. Remember that all mixes dont have compression. I rarely use it myself. Leave it up to someone who needs it. To be honest, you can avoid having to use compression, EQ, etc. if you record correctly to begin with. Forget what any old engineer thinks. Instead of reaching for another tool, try to figure out how to solve the problem with what you have. Maybe a better room to record/mix in, a better mic, or a better pre-amp. PERIOD! :-)

Now... if this post helped you out, please be sure to listen to my music @ http://www.soundclick.com/raydio
 
http://www.homerecordingconnection.com/news.php?action=view_story&id=84


just remember to avoid most of the pitfalls associated with compression , Ideally, the listener (average joe type, not an audio engineer) should'nt be able to notice "the effect" ...; not like chourus or reverb , it should be invisible except in the very rare case when pumping is used as a estethic(dance music or similar genre) Remember also that if you think it's sounds good then go ahead and ignore the defacto standards and be creative!! I still reserve the right to proclaim that it's a crushed squashed ,turd, however! :p
 
Robert D said:
I would have said "At its most basic level, a compressor is used to even out the level of a signal.", which is to say it reduces the dynamics of a signal.
Click to expand...

I agree with this completely. You can compress a signal and make it softer, which is typically what happens when you compress a signal. This is why compressors have a makeup gain control, so you can raise the volume to the level you want it.
 
OK guys, I have done some extensive reading, and I appreciate all the tips and explanations you have offered, I feel that I have a decent understanding of how it all works now, so now it's time for some hands on. :D
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
g,

Download the hypertext tutorial on compression from the link in my signature. That should answer all your qiestions and more.

G.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for that! It answered some questions I had intended to ask here.
 
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