However, you can get an aggressive sound if you drive them. Here, well explain the basic controls of audio compressors, different compressor types, and give you tips to try on your tracks. As you increase the intensity of the compression, listen for which aspects of the signal come out. This also might sound counterintuitive, but sometimes a compressor cant control very large swings of dynamic range in an uneven performance. The Urei 1176 is a FETcompressor. Using compression on vocals is almost always necessary. If your release time is set too short, you will hear the compressor cycling between active and inactive states, resulting in a breathing effect. Doing this, will even out our vocal take and make it sound more cohesive. 
Buuuutt it's good to have some examples to work from. Looking for something to help kick start your next project? To go back to the drum example, compression lowers the level of the loud stick hits, and raises the level of each drums sustaining tone along with the decay of the sound in the room. So below we've left some compression examples you can try out in your music production sessions. They often react more slowly than other compressor types, but this can be desirable. Save it for the mix until youve got enough experience to know youre not overdoingit. Dont overcompress: Rather than using excessive compression at just one point, apply compression modestly at multiple stages throughout the recording, mixing, and mastering process. Release times will be considerably longer than attack times, generally ranging from 4060 ms to 25 seconds. A good way to understand it is to think of the sound of a recorded drum set. It's used by professional mastering engineers for compression, and by mix engineers as glue for a mix bus. If you don't, your audio will be louder and it will become more difficult to hear any difference in your audio. If you cant compare the compressed signal to the uncompressed signal, the ratio is actually :1! Compression on drums can add a lot of punch, and well needed grit, if done right. There are a few different types of audio compression, and each are based on analog hardware compressors. Bass guitars sound good at 4:1, drums at 2:1, vocals also at 2:1 and electric guitars anywhere from 2:1 to6:1. Soft knees are good for vocals, master busses etc. Take a vocal track, for instance. The controls you are given to set up a compressor areusually: Compressors come in various different flavors. It's how quickly the compression is applied to the audio signal. They work by turning the audio signal into light, this is then detected by the sensor, and gain reduction is applied. Well, there are legit emulations of the 1176 and LA2A, and other classic compressors. It sounds best when you're going for a clean, and transparent sound. Applying these techniques will put you on the path to more professional sounding recordings, and give you confidence when using this powerful, but often misused tool. These are used by engineers for different tasks and some sound far better in certain situations thanothers. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Here you can change the input level going into your compressor, if the signal is too low. This tutorial was first published in December of 2008. Insert the compressor on the channel you want tocompress. Set the threshold high and the compressor will only reduce the gain of the most aggressive transients.
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Most compressors allow you to choose either a soft or a hard knee. The PSP Mixpressor2 can be made to sound very similar to things like the Fairchild compressors and also the1176.
Soft knee is more transparent and better for vocals and some guitarparts. In fact, it can be so confusing that I wrote a whole guide on just how to hear compression itself. This makes it good for adding grit & punch. What Are Transients in Music & Why Are They Important? Fast and punchy VCA compressors run the gamut. The PSP Vintage Warmer can sound just like an LA2A. Some compressors express this as slopes in dB per second, rather than time. To give an analogy, compression is a bit like cooking: use too much spice and you've ruined your meal, but use enough and all the flavours combine together to make an incredibly tantalising, cohesive experience. Learn essential functions of popular tube and solid-state compressor varieties, and creative uses for your productions. If the threshold is set so low that the compressor never releases, youre not really hearing what it can do! The attack and release controls shape how the compressor reacts. It uses a slight time delay on the whole song to give the compressor a sneak preview of whats coming. Compression is one of those studio processes that is all too often taken for granted and not used to its full potential. Opto, meaning optical, describes the light sensitive circuits that control the compression amount in opto compressors. It's basically just turning up the un-compressed signal, so the audio compressor can hear' it more & apply compression more accurately. document.write('<'+'div id="placement_291816_'+plc291816+'">'); In many cases, musical compression means youll see the gain reduction needle jumping and bouncing along in time with the beat. Ill unpack how it works and give you the best tips for learning to use it in your own process.
In digital compressors, they often model the different circuitry of old compressor units to recreate a certain sound. The release control can really affect the sound of the compressor. Hot tip: A faster release setting can intensify the pumping sound thats sometimes associated with heavy compressionespecially on drums. Audio compression is the process of reducing the dynamic range of the loudest and quietest peaks in your audio signal. Always trust your ears and listen for what changes compression is making. Tip: Your release time should be set as short as possible, while avoiding the "pumping" effect.
Faster attack times are usually between 20 and 800 microseconds, while slower times generally range from 10 to 100 milliseconds. They have slow response times, so aren't as good for transient control as FET, VCA, or Optical. Never miss out on learning about the next big thing. Experiment to learn your limits: Try using dramatic compression as an effect. Share ideas. In fact, if one segment causes your compressor to work dramatically harder, you should consider using automation or clip gain to control the level that feeds into it. Make sure that any make-up or auto-gain is set to manual. Hot tip: A compressor with an extremely aggressive ratio is called a limiter, since it doesnt let any signal pass the threshold. They allow you to control levels, and when used properly, result in louder, more professional sounding recordings. Here is our free to download, compressor cheat sheet to help you dial in the right settings. To sidechain everything to your kick, you would select the kick audio as your sidechain input. A hard knee will squash the signal straight away, whereas a soft knee will bring the compression in more gently.
LANDR is an instant online music mastering tool. When you first get your hands on a cool compressor plugin it can be tempting to hear it clamp down as aggressively as possible. Design like a professional without Photoshop. A signal exceeding the threshold by 8dB will be attenuated down by 4dB, etc. Digital compression can be used on anything. Make your mail more musical
To make them both heard on a recording, the mix engineer has to manage the dynamics. But even within the same sound, quiet details can be easily overshadowed by the loudest moments. Or even, to completely destroy the transients and blend them in to add grit? Using a compressor can be difficult when you first start mixing. This allows it to catch all the peaks in the smoothest possible way. Look-ahead. If youre looking for information about this type of compression, head over to our guide audio file formats to get the basics. Attack and release determine the timing of the compressor's action. It can cause a mix to sound boxy or lifeless if we don't use it correctly. What Does Tube Compression Sound Best On? Learn how mix engineer Rob Kinelski used UAD plug-ins to help craft a multi Grammy-winning record, Billie Eilishs When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? Ratio specifies the amount of compression applied to the signal. Audio compression is one of the most important tools in your producer tool kit. Slower attack times suit mastering uses and busscompression.
The famed Teletronix LA2A is an optical compressor that many producers swear by for vocals and mix bus compression. Take it off and only use it when you need to. We can then blend the two to get a wicked punchy sound. var plc291816 = window.plc291816 || 0; Your attack is how fast your compression acts. Get access to over one million creative assets on Envato Elements. The fast onset of sound when the stick hits the drum skin is a clear example of a transient. This is where output gain or make-up gain comes into play. Save your compressor plugins for more dynamic sources.
Setting the hard/soft knee would depend on the material. This allows you to check the difference the compressor has made in your sound & determine whether it's needed or not. The higher the number (5:1, 7:1 etc), the more compression will be applied. If that sounds confusing, it might be easier to see with an infographic. For example, if the compression ratio is set for 6:1, the input signal will have to cross the threshold by 6 dB for the output level to increase by1dB. Start listening to your audio signal and begin to adjust the threshold, until you see the compressor working. 4. Compression is pretty subjective to your mix. FET compressors are solid state, and use a component called a field effect transistor to apply compression. Heres some basic tips if youre not used to thinking about your sounds this way: These are very general guidelines so make sure to listen carefully and develop your own intuition for compressor attack and release. When vocalists perform, they have a huge dynamic range, which means their volume can go from high to low quickly. This is done by boosting the quieter signals and attenuating the louder signals. This sound is really getting crushed. Do you need to heavily squash your signal, or just add light gluing to make it sound more cohesive?
Tube compression is a warm-sounding, smooth compressor and sounds best on anything that needs warmth, colour or thickening up. When applying this compression it squashes' you audio closer together, causing gain reduction. VCA compression can sound good on anything, but is most commonly used on master instrument buses to provide glue. The threshold is the level at which the compression effect is engaged. 1. You'll want the output level to be the same volume as the input, so you can bypass and activate the compressor to see how the audio has changed. With such an important process, it can be hard for beginners to get started. They tend to have slower attack and release times, resulting in a more "vintage" sound that can be difficult to achieve with other compressor types. Some have faster attacks, slower releases, some sound warm, some sound transparent and so on. Attack and release are controls for how fast compression reacts & how fast it stops reacting. You might think that cranking the threshold down will increase the intensity of the compression effect.
Faster FET and VCA compressors tend to work well on louder sources, such as drums and percussion. The LA2A, which is an opto compressor, usesvalves. Digital compressors are compression units that use code to either model circuitry of analog compressors, re-creating them in plug-in format, or provide extremely precise, clean and transparent compression. The value which you set this, is the level at where gain reduction will occur (where the compressor starts squashing the sound). Compressors and limiters are music production tools used to reduce the span between the softest and loudest parts of an audio signal. Would you like to provide feedback (optional)? When you're looking to add compression to your mix you need to ask yourself why you're doing it. The higher the first number in the ratio, the more intense the compression. A ratio of 1:1 represents unity gain in other words, no attenuation. So what plug-in compressors can you use to emulate the sounds of the classics? It's the term for the initial burst of energy when a sound starts. Focus on individual tracks and subgroups first, before exploring more complex techniques with multiband compressors and limiters. Now that you have the basics covered, get back to your DAW and experiment with compression. They are great for versatility, and extra added features not found on analog units. Learn More: Tips with the 1176 Collection. On that note, Ill quickly cover a few ways that beginner and intermediate producers can go wrong with compression. Set the attack time. It's often described as how smoothly your compression kicks in after the threshold is hit. Unless, of course, you really want to clamp somethinglike a live bass maybein this case it can work to make it push over the threshold all thetime. When the attack is too fast, the transients will be pushed down too far into the body of the drum to pierce through a dense track. Think of the difference between a soft sound like a whispered vocal and the aggressive crack of a snare. To hear the transients equally with the body of the sound, compression is often necessary. With a 3:1 ratio, the volume is reduced by a factor of 3. Here is the same drum loop processed with the standard Apple Logic compressor with a variety ofsettings. Ratio - how much compression is applied. What Does Digital Compression Sound Best On? The knee refers to how the compressor transitions between non-compressed and compressed states. If you want it to slam in and sound mechanical, then go for a hard knee it's good for drums, bass etc. This refers to the time it takes for the signal to become fully compressed after exceeding the threshold. The Waves RVox sounds very similar to the Urei 1176 and works in a similar way. In certain situations, you'll need to use more than one compressor. The Ratio and Threshold work together. They have a distinct warm character to them, and are smooth. Set your attack and release: attack at around 5ms & a quick release of 20-50ms. Good compression should enhance the basic musical qualities of the song. Host meetups. Its considered an essential task in mixing music alongside equalization and applying audio effects like reverb and delay. If you've ever listened to House Music, you'll know this is an extremely crucial element to getting things to bounce'. 2.
Plug-in compressors often have this feature.
Vocalists often have a huge dynamic range, & can go from extremely quiet parts to bellowing loud. In these situations you shouldnt expect a single compressor to provide enough transparent gain reduction to even out the entire performance.
Optical compressors are compression units that use an electro-optical sensor to apply compression to your audio signal. Input is the level of your audio fed into the compressor. If you do this, you'll be able to hear how it's affecting your music more easily. 2022 Envato Pty Ltd. Be sure to check out our other compressor articles, including The Best Compressor Plug-Ins, Tube Versus Solid-State Compression, and Tips with the 1176 Collection.