Re: Guitar Compression was :Re: ...reflections...

["Kris Hartung" <khartung@q.com>]

This is tricky and very situational.   "In general", I prefer to control 
my 
levels with my playing, vs. a machine making that decision for me.

However, there are some recording applications where it might make sense 
to 
use compression, only when I am close micing or recording direct. For 
example, these days I have been recording mainly with my artchop and nylon 
string, with just a condensor mic on them.  If I start a song with some 
very 
strong and aggressive percussive style playing (ala Derek Bailey) that 
easily redlines the system, and then back down to some quieter playing for 
the majority of the song, I then have a situation where I have to reduce 
the 
recording level for that intro part, and then one small part of the song 
is 
dominating the dyamic range of the entire song.  Then I have a situation 
where the levels of the majority of the song are too low....in which case 
I 
have to bring them up anyway during the master processs, with compression. 
If someone is doing this for me in real time while I am recoding that is 
differnt, though that is sort of manual form of compression or limiting, 
eh? 
So, you either start using compression during the recording, or you do it 
during mastering.  I prefer to have my initial recording data at optimum 
levels at the start.

Another point.  I like the sound of my guitar in a natural setting, the 
way 
it is heard if you were in the audience.  Air and other environmental and 
human factors serve as a natural form of compression.  So, in the above 
situation, I don't have a problem of an uncontrollable dynamic range.  I 
am 
not redlining my audience. :)   A compressor I think can actually help 
re-produce the sound of your instrument in a natural setting, and I'd say 
this is a valid statement only if you are close micing your amp, or 
recording direct, both of which are "unnatural" recording situations, in 
my 
opinion.  I can make the same argument for reverb, if want to make a 
recording that sound like a typical natural setting, vs. having a show 
inside an AT&T sound proof room that can drive a person insane in 30 min. 
:)

Another point -  I have used a compressor not as a leveling device, but as 
a 
way to change the attack and feel of of my playing.  If set appropriately, 
you can create some interesting sounds.  Some guitarists build this into 
their signature sound.

...just my thoughts, without being totally awake this morning!  Again, 
this 
is all based on my own personal experiences of recording, based on my own 
personal tastes and preferences. Someone can prefer a totally different 
approach, and that is valid.

Kris

----- Original Message ----- 


André Donawa wrote:

> A question for you guitar players. Do you use a compressor when you are
> live looping and do you have any recommendations?

Looking forward to different answers on this one.

Here's mine:
Never use them.

In ensemble playing, and also in live looping the most
important thing about the sound is how loud is it.
If the different elements in the mix aren't at levels
which make the music gel together then overall it sounds *bad*.

If you use a compressor, you loose control of the dynamics.
If you use a compressor all the time you never develop the
skill to control dynamics with your fingers.

When live looping I use a lot of different sounds, and
need to mix them simply by playing at the right level.
That's even true of the ebow, I don't (generally) use any "safety net*
of distortion with it, so the only way to avoid those ultra-loud
ebow clunkers is to learn the technique to avoid them...
...and once that's learned it's really easy to make an ebow
solo stand out from the mix without being over-loud.



Part b of the answer is that I'm somewhat ignorant about guitar
tone in general, so wouldn't know what compressor to use anyway.

andy butler