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

["André Donawa" <andre@andredonawa.com>]

Hey Per,

Thanks for this detailed breakdown.
Really useful.

I also like to use a lot of dynamic range in my playing, especially when
it comes to soloing.

I'm fairly familiar with how to use a compressor, as I use them in the
studio and add some to my bass (Boss Multi effects pedal) when doing live
gigs in a more traditional role.

But now that I'm using more effects and trying to get most of my sounds
from one instrument, I was really wondering about having one on my master
output.

Been spending a lot of time just tweeking my tones,EQ and volume settings
in the m9 but I wondering if some compression on the master output would
help any.

I like your concept of playing the compressor, kind of like Jimmi playing
the distortion.

Just realised I can use some compression from my Ultralite to see what it
sounds like, live.

Thanks again,

Andre

On Fri, July 2, 2010 6:14 am, Per Boysen wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 2, 2010 at 9:31 AM, andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>
> wrote:
>> 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?
>
>
> In the past I never used compression. But then I typically chose the
> amplifier and speaker to give the tone and dynamics I like. As for
> speakers I prefer 10" elements because they answer with better
> dynamics on my playing. But most tube amps already compress the tone a
> lot. The part of compression that I don't like, for guitar, is that it
> takes away the of dynamics from the musicians playing. I kind of like
> the option to play over a wide dynamic spectrum and this was the
> number one factor in the days when I did a lot of studio and live
> session guitar playing.
>
> When using a laptop and software for guitar playing I have a different
> view on compression since I've found that it can be set up to work
> well together with your finger playing technique. It's just a matter
> of delicate balancing the sound dynamically, in the compressor. But
> even with software I use much less for compressors guitar than for
> Stick.
>
> However, just as you can learn to play your instrument with good
> dynamics you can learn to play with compression. When learning that I
> first found it very annoying, since I was used to a more acoustically
> dynamic respons, even in electric guitar playing. But with a lot of
> listening and experimentation I found out how to play even with a
> heavily compressed guitar tone.
>
> I think a compressor also is good to make other effects sound in
> different ways. There's a lot of fun experimenting with putting a
> compressor at different stages in an effect chain.
>
> When live looping I always compress the master output, that goes to
> the PA system or amp, no matter what instrument I play as source sound
> for looping. Through this compressor goes both my instrument input
> live sound and the looper output and they balance in a delicate way on
> the edge of the compression. This mean I actually affect the overall
> PA sound with the notes I play on my instrument. If I play very hard
> the looper's "wall of sound" is ducked to make room. And vice versa If
> I play open and ambient music with a lot of space the reverb swells up
> to shine between my notes; it sounds more with less sound ;-))  For
> this "balancing playing and looping" compressor trick I first used an
> RNC (Really Nice Compressor) set to Super Nice mode (yep, funny guys
> there at FMR Audio) but today with the laptop setups I use a multi
> band compressor set to four bands (on the master output). I must add
> that the sweet-spot is very delicate and you have to work on not only
> the final compressor's settings but, actually even more, on the
> bass/treble character of your instrument's live input sound and every
> component through the entire signal path. An easy mistake to do in
> live looping is to use an instrument sound with too much bass energy.
> What happens then is that "punch" and "attack" will be lost in the
> loops you create. Such bad looping will sound even worse with my
> master compression setup.
>
> So guitar compression in live looping is IMHO really about balancing a
> lot of factors all through the entire audio path. I sometimes refer to
> the technique as "reverse-engineered mixing". You have to play the
> sound right in the beginning to make it fit into the mix when layered
> in the looper.
>
> Greetings from Sweden
>
> Per Boysen
> www.boysen.se
> www.perboysen.com
> www.looproom.com internet music hub
>
>



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