When playing guitar in the studio, not all strings are created equal—at least as far as their volume levels go. Compressing your guitar tracks can manage frequency transients and variations in your attack to keep your notes ringing clearly during solos and riffs, every note of your chords sounding articulately, and everything busting out of the mix without getting lost in the band instrumentation.
Many compressors—especially the vintage ones—add coloration to the sound, so make sure the model you choose enhances the guitar part without destroying its natural tone (unless you want that). The examples below are from one plug-in and two hardware units, but the settings can usually be adapted to any compressor, whether software or hardware. You should also note that using compression can lower the overall level of the guitar, but most compressors have a “make-up gain” or Level control to turn the rage back up where it needs to be. As always, use your ears and experiment.
CLEAN ELECTRIC
For a part performed with a Fender Stratocaster and a Fender Super Reverb, I wanted a punchy clean tone with enough definition so that each note in the chord voicings cut through the mix. I choose the Steinberg RND (Rupert Neve) Portico 5043 plug-in for this task, and I set the controls as follows:
• Ratio at 2:1
• Attack at 8ms
• Release at 500ms
• Threshold set so the Gain Reduction meters read between -4dB and -6dB
• Activated Feed-Back for a sweeter, though less-accurate compression sound
ACOUSTIC GUITAR
I was seeking a woody, yet ringing tone with plenty of pick attack when strumming chords for a part mixed under some vocals. The guitar was my Guild acoustic with the L.R. Baggs Dual Source System, and I