compression/normalization

ORIGINAL: charles kasler

I'm using comp/limiting presets in GT Pro for the master output & it sends the faders into the red zone. I don't understand as I thought it was supposed to keep it fr oveerloading... Can someone explain or point me to a link on just a basic way to use them effectively? Thanks

Each plugin has it's own gain stage and should have a control for that both in and out just like a real hardware compressor. When doing compression it makes soft things louder so you might need to turn down the master output of the comp to stay within the dynamic range you have to work with. You also should have a control at sets what level it starts holding back the volume (threshold) and a control to set how much it reduces (ratio). Those may need some adjustment if it's still letting some peaks get by. There may also be a control called (attack) that controls how fast the limiter reacts and if that's very high it could be too late and let a tiny peak get through.