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Re: Compressor



Hi Bill,

On Mon, Oct 8, 2012 at 8:20 PM, bill bigrig <billbigrig@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I am having one difficulty with the explanation. It seems to me that a
> compressor, while decreasing a peak, also decreases the softer sounds at 
> the
> same time. Of course, as soon as the loud sound ends, the soft sound is
> increased. If I am incorrect, Somebody please freel free to clear this 
> point
> up.

Yeah, if both the loud and soft sound are played at the same time,
they will both be decreased in volume. When the loud sound ends, the
compressor will ease up on the signal and the (remaining) soft sound
will get louder.

I've found that a good way to get a feel for a compressor is to mix a
drum loop over some soft strings or a synth pad. If you play with the
compressor settings, you'll start to hear the strings get quieter when
the drums hit. You'll start to get that Daft Punk trademark compressor
breathing sound, and it's a good setup for hearing what compression
can do.

Thanks,
Albert

> ________________________________
> From: Per Boysen <perboysen@gmail.com>
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Sent: Sunday, October 7, 2012 2:14 PM
> Subject: Re: Compressor
>
> On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 9:37 PM, Sergio Girardi <simpliflying@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Compressors are good to make an instrument fit into the limited
> bandwidth of a recording (compared to our acoustical hearing where the
> brain self-adjusts to hear even small sounds in a noisy environment
> and thus increasing the experienced bandwidth). Compressore are more
> important when producing a recording but can do a lot of good to a
> live performance setup as well. Technically a compressor brings up low
> level sounds and brings down high level sounds, but one normally
> tweaks a compressor to make a groove swing better - or for live
> instruments, to make the natural attack envelope of the instrument
> stand out well in the PA system.
>
> A limiter does what its name tells: it sets a limit, a level which the
> signal can not increase over.
>
> Both compressors and limiters are very sensitive to too much
> frequencies in a low or mid range so often you need an EQ before them
> to thin out the sound so the compressor will sound groovy.
>
> If a bus that is summing many instruments is sent through a compressor
> all these instrument's sound affect each other. An example can be to
> but a long 808 type kick and a light hihat pattern through a
> compressor: you will then hear that during each kick hit the hihat
> level is faded down ("pumping" in the compressor).
>
> A gate is good to set a level under which no signal can enter. A
> benefit is that noise is masked out.
>
>> For example, to avoid peaks, distortion, and saturation,what do I need? 
>> A
>> compressor, a limiter, an EQ, or just set the gain properly? Or a
>> combination of those?
>
> Mostly a combination of all that. And correctly tweaked. Applying them
> in a different order may give different results, so experimentation
> with open ears is the way to learn.
>
>> And if I want do get a punchy round kick drum, or a fat powerful dense
>> bass,
>> weather from a sample or from a Synth or beatboxing, what do I need (a
>> part
>> a good sample or synth or voice)?
>
> Having a punchy round kick is not enough, if you don't happen to make
> "kick drum music" :-)  You need to EQ, or arrange, the other
> instruments in the musicalo mix to bring out the "fat", "round" and
> "punchy" aspects of the kick.
>
> You mentioned the RNC compressor. I have one of those and think it is
> good when run in its Really-Good-Mode. I did an A-B test of it a while
> back and found that I get better results with certain software
> compressors, but if your aim is to avoid computers the RNC is a lot
> bang for the buck.
>
> Greetings from Sweden
>
> Per Boysen
> www.perboysen.com
> http://www.youtube.com/perboysen
>
>
>



-- 
Albert Santoni
Lead Developer | Oscillicious
Delicious Audio Tools and Plug-ins

Bring new life to classic sounds with SodaSynth VST / AU:
http://www.oscillicious.com/sodasynth

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http://www.oscillicious.com/beatcleaver