Compression 101 - November 1998
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Compression 101
Drums
Engineers often compress drum tracks just to get a nice punchy sound in the mix. the
settings below sound good on a rock snare drum:
Threshold set so that all drum hits are compressed (around -3dB)
Ratio set for 4:1
OverEasy® engaged
Attack set around 8 o’clock
Release set around 9 o’clock
By turning the threshold down even more, you can “squash” the snare drum as
much as you want. Turn the attack up (longer) to get more stick out of the snare
drum, and turn it down for a synth pop slap.
Bass
Since bass guitar forms the foundation of most Rock and Jazz music, it’s important that the
level of the Bass doesn’t jump around in the mix. Also, adding compression to bass tracks
(or almost anything else) can make it “punchier,” generally a good thing in rock tunes. Try
the settings below on a rock bass track:
Threshold set so only the peaks are compressed (around 0dB)
Ratio set for 4:1
Hardknee engaged
Attack set around 9 o’clock
Release set around 10 o’clock
Electric Guitar
Funky rhythm guitar parts love compression. Not only does it make the part punch out the
mix better, it evens out the volume of the muted strums.The following setting, with its low
threshold and high ratio, gives you lots of compression for punching up a funky rhythm
guitar part:
Threshold set for constant compression (around -3dB)
Ratio set for 6:1
OverEasy® engaged
Experiment with turning the Threshold up or down for a thinner or chunkier
tone.
De-Essing
Occasionally when recording vocals, the letter “s” seems to jump out louder than the rest of
the part. This is because sibilant letters, especially the letter s, have more high frequency
energy than other letters. This can cause tape recorders or other components to distort,
even though the level may not seem very loud.
Moving the microphone can sometimes eliminate this “sibilance,” but often a de-esser is
required.
Many compressors allow you to perform de-essing on a track by using a sidechain. By
placing an equalizer in the sidechain, you can set the compressor so that only certain
frequency ranges trigger the unit to start compressing.
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