Rain
As Bobby pointed out to clarify, though his method may differ from what someone else would do, obviously, whether you start w/ short or long attack, what matters is where it ends.
Same for EQ I guess. Also, to be fair - he specifies on many occasions that the settings he uses in the video are exaggerated for demonstration purpose and that he wouldn't use such extreme cuts and boosts in a real-world situation.
Well said Rain, and also this part:
"As for the release time, you set it to where you don't hear it breathe, which usually works best if it's timed to the track." This makes a world of difference and something I do my best to always achieve whenever possible...or as close to possible. Timing a compressor to the music is something many don't do and they should. Even a 2 buss comp or a compressor on a drum track can benefit greatly from this as well as individual instruments.
I'm one that doesn't usually look at my settings once I start working on something. I have starting points that are good with particular compressors on certain instruments, but once I start turning knobs, I usually don't pay much attention to where I end up. :)
Yeah the eq thing is always going to be hard to get a handle on unless you can show exaggerated situations. For example, I think most of the UAD videos demoing their stuff are horrible examples of what their plugs can do. They either go to the extremes and create sounds that aren't very good or it's so subtle it makes you go "huh...is it really doing anything?" Yet their plugs rock.
I think the best way to explain eq situations is to show the instrument with nothing on it and then with something on it. That said, when you record something and know what you're doing, you wouldn't print the sound anyway if it needed loads of eq other than when you may be sculpting or trying to create a sound out of something. Or, when you have a magical performance that you know you may not capture again if you tried it with another sound, so you tweak it until it's right.
But most times, you won't spend loads of time trying to get a sound to work....at least I don't and neither do the other people I consider great engineers. I mean granted, sometimes you have to work an instrument...but even then, the sound and performance usually stands on its own with little to no processing. Our artistic minds are what can make it a challenge. :)
-Danny