This approach was aimed at firstly people who are having difficulty with compressors and who have a hard time getting them to sound right.  matt has backed up the approach already by saying he got better results instantly.

And of course there is more than one way but why not start with a methodical approach and then modify it to suit. Nothing to stop you tweaking any of the parameters once you get it in the ball park so to speak. I definately do that.

I used to do it Dean's way too for a while as I am sure many others do, but this is faster as well and is capable of bringing you to a good place with the compressor fairly quickly. You might find that even Pro's alike do something similar in the order etc. And even if they are not using the order they are arriving at a similar sound.

Turning knobs until its right does not cut it for me. It relies too much on luck.

Jeff Evans

Turning knobs until its right does not cut it for me. It relies too much on luck.

No,  it relies on you knowing what you're doing.  If you understand what the controls actually do then there is nothing wrong with simply "turning the knobs".

Jeff,
 I enjoy the fact that you took the time to write this up.

 I disagree with some of the technicalities and I work a bit differently.

 For starters I disagree with the premise that a fast attack will destroy the transients... I believe a big ratio is far more likely to *destroy* transients... but of course you are using a big ratio using in step 1(c)... so your practice will tend to reinforce your impression of what happens when you adjust the attack.

 If I was teaching someone how to listen to a compressor I would start with a very fast attack and a medium ratio and slowly reach down to find the threshold while adding some make up gain.

 I had the good fortune to learn to use the very worst sounding compressors out in the field while mixing FOH on systems far too loud to allow for successful solo inspections at the mix position. So it is easy for me to explain that I found it difficult to learn how to feel like the compressor was under control. It doesn't embarrass me to be honest about that... it was a great place to learn.

 If I wanted to fully explain the use of a compressor in this era of DAWs I would demonstrate with a VST like Sonnitus Compressor and use the fantastic visual feedback that a tool like that provides. You can easily see how attack effects the transient and you can see how release effects the pumping or squashing.

 The other thing I would speak about is how attack can be related to tempo and how a suitable attack can be predicted by considering the content your are working on.

 If you are not prepared to predict an attack setting... a visual tool like Sonitus Compressor will be very helpful in learning about tempo and compression settings.

 FWIW, I also own a pair of Purple MC-77 compressors (Urei 1176 copies... very fast attacke) and a Tube Tech CL-1B (mildly fast attack) so I will address my concern from post #4; When I choose to use the La-610 (LA2a style) I have essentially dialed up a slow attack with a content variable release and moved on in the decision making process.

 I think many people start by saying they don't really understand compressors... then they think they have mastered them... and then much later they come to understand that the use of a compressor is a skill that is very hard to master. Personally, I'm still working on getting better at it.

 best regards,
mike

Jeff

I can see that there is a lot of debate going on here about your written technique....

I am a Beginner....Maybe not a youg one (but that is experience of another kind!)

I have had read articles (a lot of them) and have been shown "How To" by people......

but I have to say that I really like this Methodical approach.....With explaination of course.....

Now I understand that I may get jumped on here......but FWIW in MHO ...

THANK YOU for taking the time and effort to put this out here....I have learned and have already gotten better cause of it......so if nothing else you have helped me!

Clifford

P. S. (greedy side showing here......MORE PLEASE!) if you are able to that is...thank you

Not a bad starting place. I would say that there are situations where a fast attack is desirable (but not often). I use fairly fast attacks when doing parallel compression on a drum submix. It can bring out the sustain of the snares, etc. Also when the feel between a drummer and bass player aren't real tight, I can sometimes make it sound better if I squash the attack of the bass and delay it by 3-6 ms. This can allow the the kick transient to define the beginning of the bass note. It also sometimes helps to put both the kick and bass through the same bus sharing a single compressor.

I kind of like Izhaki's discussion on compressors in his book. He talks about compressors in terms of micro-dynamics (the shaping of each note, almost like an ADSR envelope) and macro-dynamics where you are trying more to control track balance. Both are legitimate uses for compressors, but not all compressors are equally suited to both tasks.

I would say that, in most cases, a fast attack is very desirable.

I believe that the instances where one wants to use a slow attack to purposefully let a loud spike sneak thru and then subsequently clamp down on the decay are few and far between, where as using a compressor to compress the spikes at a moderate ratio while ignoring the bulk of the content in such a way that the track sums more easily is a everyday experience.

best regards,
mike

mike_mccue


I would say that, in most cases, a fast attack is very desirable.

I believe that the instances where one wants to use a slow attack to purposefully let a loud spike sneak thru and then subsequently clamp down on the decay are few and far between, where as using a compressor to compress the spikes at a moderate ratio while ignoring the bulk of the content in such a way that the track sums more easily is a everyday experience.

best regards,
mike

 
I would agree with you.....if snare drums were few and far between.  But they're not.
 
Letting the transient slip through, but using compression to bring out the decay of individual drums is a pretty common.
 
While I don't necessarily go the same route that Jeff does, his explanation of the controls is going to be very helpful to those confused with compressors.  Just getting your head around what all the terminology means is pretty hard at first.  But once you fully understand the terminology and how that relates to what each function actually does.....this is when "knob turning" is completely acceptable.  At that point you're making educated movements instead of flying on a whim and a prayer!

Jeff, I think the key piece that's missing from your (initial) discussion is "What are you trying to achieve when compressing?".

I believe some of those who disagree with you here are simply using compression differently - for instance, if you are compressing to deliberately tame transients and reduce dynamic range, you really don't want a slower attack. 

OTOH, if you want compression to "even things out, yet still sound natural", allowing the transients to pass is desirable, and your approach is very logical.

Other times, compression is used more as an effect, or in parallel, where different approaches and fast attacks may be better (or even absolutely necessary).

"Letting the transient slip through, but using compression to bring out the decay of individual drums is a pretty common."

Is it possible you mean to bring down the decay?

I sorta like the body of a snare hit so I might just as likely use a fast compressor like a 1176 type to bring up the decay by bringing down the snap... so I can turn it all up... to bring out the decay.

best,
mike

Several folks are bringing out some good points and differences in viewpoints.  Depending on the desired effect, there are different techniques which can be used.  I like to start with the basics and tweak individual characteristics in order to get the effect I have in mind.  Sometimes, there's some trial and error to get it just right.  The more I understand how the tools work and what the parameters mean, the faster I can dial up "that sound".

Threads like this are very helpful to those who are looking for help in improving their usage of the tools.  Thanks to all who contributed.