Some One Help Me Understand Compression Please

[CampO]

Ok Basically Ive Read many Articles about COmpression and Eq mixing Posted on the Web (many by Wings) but I still dont fully Understand how to Use it Effectively

Basically I got a Bassline and When I play on the Next OCtave it Starts to Clip So I turn it Down it still Clips turn it down More and its just has no Presents .

Then I Throw on one of Those Master Class Compressor Units thats in Reason 3 And I just Fiddle around with it but At no Point am I Satisfied with the Results Unless I get the Bass Nice and Thick but when I Get it Nice and THick it Begins To Clip SO FUCk I duno Wat To Do .


Really Wat IM lookin TO get From this Post is maybe SOme guidelines to Get Certain Sound levels , Tones , or Watever Else out of the Compressor ( Thresolds, Ratio , Attack ,Release )

Also If there is a Standard Setting For Kicks and Snares you guys Could Tell Me That would be Great

 

[chase]

What do you mean by when you play on "the next octave?" Are you talking about sound level or the octave on the keyboard? Just asking to know so I can be of help.

 

[2_nice]

if you want it louder turn down all the other elements in your mix....

 

[Equality 7-2521]

a compressor is an amplifyer whos gain decreases as its input increases. the ratio defines how much the gain will decrease compared to how much is input. the threshold determines the input level at which the compressor compresses. the attack determines how fast the compressor jumps on the signal which exceeds the threshold you set. the release time determines how long it takes for the compressor to return to full gain after the input signal has dropped below the threshold you set.

so...

if you feed a singnal with a dynamic range from -25 dB to 0 dB (dynamic range of 25 dB) into a compressor with the threshold set at -8 dB and the ratio at 2:1 (2 to 1), the dynamic range of the output from the compressor will be from -25 dB to -4 dB (dynamic range of 21 dB) because for every 2 dB exceeding the threshold, the gain only increases by 1 dB (2:1). So now you can raise the level of your sound ("make up gain") by 4 dB before you will experiance clipping.

The idea of a compressor it to squash the dynamic range so that you can raise the level without it clipping but if you squash it too much, you will incur artifacts in your sound. for example if you set the threshold very low and the ratio very high and the attack and release both very fast, you will hear a pumping sound because the compressor is pulling down the volume and letting it back up again rapidly whenever the signal exceeds the ratio.

as a general rule, when you are compressing transients (drums n shit) you should use fast attack and release times. if your attack time is too slow, the sound will have already passed before the compressor has a chance to jump on it. and if the release is too slow, the compressor will compress the decaying part of the transient which isnt even obove the threshold in the first place. so with the attack your looking for the right "thickness" of the hit. with release your looking to compliment the groove of the song, kinda like swing. the threshold and ratio should be set so that you squash the dynamic range enough to be able to turn up the overall level of the sound but dont incur artifacts like pumping or loose the effect of the settings you made with the attack and release.

compression is a bit of a dark horse. there many experianced engineers who still dont know how to compress properly despite understanding exactly how they work. i am one of them. i understand what every control does but am still working out how to put it into practice and pull the sound i want. and thats what you have to do, educate yourself on what the controls of a compressor do and then go and experiment with them.

if that shit didnt make sense, let me know and ill try to explain better...

 

[classic]

a compressor is an amplifyer whos gain decreases as its input increases. the ratio defines how much the gain will decrease compared to how much is input. the threshold determines the input level at which the compressor compresses. the attack determines how fast the compressor jumps on the signal which exceeds the threshold you set. the release time determines how long it takes for the compressor to return to full gain after the input signal has dropped below the threshold you set.

so...

if you feed a singnal with a dynamic range from -25 dB to 0 dB (dynamic range of 25 dB) into a compressor with the threshold set at -5 dB and the ratio at 2:1 (2 to 1), the dynamic range of the output from the compressor will be from -25 dB to -10 dB (dynamic range of 15 dB) because for every 1 dB exceeding your threshold, the gain decreses by 2 dB. So now you can raise the level of your sound ("make up gain") by 10 dB before you will experiance clipping.

The idea of a compressor it to squash the dynamic range so that you can raise the level without it clipping but if you squash it too much, you will incur artifacts in your sound. for example if you set the threshold very low and the ratio very high and the attack and release both very fast, you will hear a pumping sound because the compressor is pulling down the volume and letting it back up again rapidly whenever the signal exceeds the ratio.

as a general rule, when you are compressing transients (drums n shit) you should use fast attack and release times. if your attack time is too slow, the sound will have already passed before the compressor has a chance to jump on it. and if the release is too slow, the compressor will compress the decaying part of the transient which isnt even obove the threshold in the first place. so with the attack your looking for the right "thickness" of the hit. with release your looking to compliment the groove of the song, kinda like swing. the threshold and ratio should be set so that you squash the dynamic range enough to be able to turn up the overall level of the sound but dont incur artifacts like pumping or loose the effect of the settings you made with the attack and release.

compression is a bit of a dark horse. there many experianced engineers who still dont know how to compress properly despite understanding exactly how they work. i am one of them. i understand what every control does but am still working out how to put it into practice and pull the sound i want. and thats what you have to do, educate yourself on what the controls of a compressor do and then go and experiment with them.

if that shit didnt make sense, let me know and ill try to explain better...

It dont get no better then that....

 

[StressWon]

a compressor is an amplifyer whos gain decreases as its input increases. the ratio defines how much the gain will decrease compared to how much is input. the threshold determines the input level at which the compressor compresses. the attack determines how fast the compressor jumps on the signal which exceeds the threshold you set. the release time determines how long it takes for the compressor to return to full gain after the input signal has dropped below the threshold you set.

so...

if you feed a singnal with a dynamic range from -25 dB to 0 dB (dynamic range of 25 dB) into a compressor with the threshold set at -5 dB and the ratio at 2:1 (2 to 1), the dynamic range of the output from the compressor will be from -25 dB to -10 dB (dynamic range of 15 dB) because for every 1 dB exceeding your threshold, the gain decreses by 2 dB. So now you can raise the level of your sound ("make up gain") by 10 dB before you will experiance clipping.

The idea of a compressor it to squash the dynamic range so that you can raise the level without it clipping but if you squash it too much, you will incur artifacts in your sound. for example if you set the threshold very low and the ratio very high and the attack and release both very fast, you will hear a pumping sound because the compressor is pulling down the volume and letting it back up again rapidly whenever the signal exceeds the ratio.

as a general rule, when you are compressing transients (drums n shit) you should use fast attack and release times. if your attack time is too slow, the sound will have already passed before the compressor has a chance to jump on it. and if the release is too slow, the compressor will compress the decaying part of the transient which isnt even obove the threshold in the first place. so with the attack your looking for the right "thickness" of the hit. with release your looking to compliment the groove of the song, kinda like swing. the threshold and ratio should be set so that you squash the dynamic range enough to be able to turn up the overall level of the sound but dont incur artifacts like pumping or loose the effect of the settings you made with the attack and release.

compression is a bit of a dark horse. there many experianced engineers who still dont know how to compress properly despite understanding exactly how they work. i am one of them. i understand what every control does but am still working out how to put it into practice and pull the sound i want. and thats what you have to do, educate yourself on what the controls of a compressor do and then go and experiment with them.

if that shit didnt make sense, let me know and ill try to explain better...

damn man,,,,,that 's wassup bro. I love this place.

 

[CampO]

Aight Lol I jsut Got Home FroM a Busy Day Of Helpin My Popz Move I aint Read your WHole Post Yet EQ but It Seems ON point From the Comments That Followed

 

[The Konductor]

Understood. However, once you understand the controls and what they do or are supposed to do to the sound, how can you hear it. I mean, I compress my drums mostly just because it seems to give it a more punchy sound. But when I mess with the controls I can't seem to hear exactly what they are doing to the sound. Can it be my M1 Actives? Does my hearing just suck? I took a hearing test many years back and I had perfect hearing.

 

[Equality 7-2521]

alot of the time, if done correctly, you cant actually hear compression.

compressors were designed to work in conjuction with how the human ear operates. we hear average level, not peak level. in other words, if we are listening to music has lots of very short lived but high peak-level transients, we percieve the volume to be lower than music which has a higher average level but a lower peak level. a compressor is supposed to squash the dynamic range so quickly that the human ear cant detect it too much and so we can still hear the transient e.g. the point at which the stick hits the snare.

however, if you experiment with extreme compressor settings, you will clearly hear what each function does.

for example, take a long piano note.

if you set the ratio high, the threshold low, the attack fast and the release as slow as possibly, it will almost sound like a reverse piano note because the compressor is kicking in early & quickly (low threshold & fast attack respectively), it is compressing alot to start with (high ratio) and it is slowly allowing volme to rise as the duration of the note continues on (slow release). can you see the picture in your head of what it would sound like?

so if you understand what the controls do, you can get a bit of an idea of what they sound like. the tricky part is finding the right settings for the sound your compressing because every sound is different. i mean, there are general recommended settings for common sounds but from there you will need to tweak it a bit to get it spot on.

if you still cant hear what your compressor is doing, compress the sound in solo (always check compression in the context of the whole mix though) and get yourself a good pair of headphones as they define artifacts n shit more clearly than a pair of monitors will in a bad room.

 

[Shonsteez]

Sounds like that schooling is helping you out E - I noticed a dramatic jump in technical terms once u started those classes...thats awsome bro, sounds like they have some well informed teachers....