Hello, my friends!
This week, we will be talking about an effect that is not sexy. It is not obvious. As a matter of fact, if used properly, it is transparent! If used improperly, it can really ruin a mix or an individual sound. I am talking about compression.
Years ago, I was starting a home recording setup. It was just a four-track cassette system, a mixing board a few mics. I went to the local superstore to ask a few questions on what else they would recommend. I wanted an outboard reverb. They insisted I needed a compressor. I bought the reverb because at least I could hear what it was doing! I should have listened and bought the compressor. It could have saved me hours of recording problems controlling vocalists who went from a whisper to a scream. But that's why I am here.
In a nutshell, compression is used to control and shape the dynamics of a sound. It does this by grabbing the signal (fast, medium or slowly), holding the signal (short medium or long) and releasing the signal (length varies). There also is a threshold control that allows you to set the point in volume at which the compression takes place. There also is a ratio control that sets how much the compression will affect the signal using the previously mentioned variables. There also is a hard and soft button. This will help you as an overall setting on whether or not you want it to be aggressive (hard) or easy (soft).
Sounds simple, right? I know, at this point you may already be lost. It took me about three years of critical listening and experimentation to really get a handle on all this. Now allow me to give some