Re: need recording tips: compressor
An explanation of the controls:
ok - so i want to learn about applying compression to a guitar track after it's been laid down ... so anyone please feel free to chime in with anything they care to share ... my immediate context is recording riffs for the contest, but also want to learn for general purposes of increasing the quality of my recordings ...i am using a software compressor built into sonar home studio 4.0 ...
the controls i can set are:
gain (-60 to 60) raises or lowers the level of the signal coming into the compressor.
attack (0.01 to 500) how fast the compressor starts working, in milliseconds. With a fast attack, the compressor will squash the initial pick much more. With a slow attack, the compressor will let some of your picking articulation come through before it compresses.
release (50 to 3000) how long the compressor keeps working, in milliseconds. On some compressors, this is known as "sustain", because that is a side effect of the release. With a slow release, the tails of your notes will be sustained longer by the compressor. A fast release lets the notes die off more naturally.
threshold (-60 to 0) level at which the compressor kicks in. Sound below the threshold "escapes" through the compressor unaffected. Sound above the threshold is compressed.
ratio (1 to 100) amount of compression applied. A ratio of 1 is no compression. Higher ratios mean less differences in the dynamics of the track.
predelay (0 to 4) no idea how this setting applies to a compressor ... it's usually a reverb parameter. On a reverb, this dictates how long to wait before the reverb noise begins.
I can also help you with:
- how do i know how to set the compressor?
Now that you know how the controls work, you should have a fairly decent idea of how you want the compressor to behave.
If you want pick attack to be softened, turn down the attack.
If you want pick attack to still be present, turn up the attack.
If you want notes to sustain longer, turn up the release.
If you want notes to die quickly, turn down the release.
If you want soft parts to stay soft, turn up the threshold.
If you want soft parts to be boosted, turn down the threshold.
If you want a bigger dynamic range, turn down the ratio.
If you want consistent dynamics, turn up the ratio.
In most compressors, these settings are interactive, and one will affect the other. The best way to learn about your particular compressor is to experiment by changing one parameter at a time and listening to the effect.
I also recommend checking if it has any presets. If there's a preset named "guitar", for example, have a look at it and see how they dialed it in.
In Logic, I usually grab a preset and tweak it if I feel so inclined.
Hope that helps.
