Hi Clifford good to hear from you. Yeah thanks for the kind words about some of my ideas. It is hard at first to really hear compression effects. 

Some have asked me for example with my approach of doing ARRT (Attack, Release, Ratio, Threshold) what do you do with the other parameters while working with the first parameter.

Well I start with the fastest Attack setting so the compressor is going to do the most damage to the front edge of the sound. Ratio can be high and start with the threshold  at maximum so compressor is doing nothing to the sound. Now we lower the threshold so the compressor is well and truly working.  Back to the Attack. It should be smashing the front edge transient and making the snare say sound horrible. Now we slow the attack down to get the sound nice and cracking again. That is where the attack ends up. Do it on a snare track and you will hear what I mean.

Release demands different type of instrument. Bass is a good one for getting into Release settings. The original thread talks about how to set Release. If it's a whole mix then you are listening for something slightly different. In mastering this parameter tends to effect how in your face the mix ends up. 

Ratio and Threshold in a way are easier to set. They can be a bit hard to hear as well. In mastering they effect the evenness of the mix and how much of that professional glue you are starting to pour over the original unmastered mix dynamics. Smaller Ratios make things sound big and visa versa. Threshold also determines how much rms level your mix is going to gain as well.

I just find the mags interesting because although I am mostly familiar with a lot of what they may talk about eg effects there are always signal paths and fx ideas I never thought about and are well worth trying. I see them as input for new ideas and concepts.

Jeff Evans


Hi Clifford good to hear from you. Yeah thanks for the kind words about some of my ideas. It is hard at first to really hear compression effects. 

Some have asked me for example with my approach of doing ARRT (Attack, Release, Ratio, Threshold) what do you do with the other parameters while working with the first parameter.

Well I start with the fastest Attack setting so the compressor is going to do the most damage to the front edge of the sound. Ratio can be high and start with the threshold  at maximum so compressor is doing nothing to the sound. Now we lower the threshold so the compressor is well and truly working.  Back to the Attack. It should be smashing the front edge transient and making the snare say sound horrible. Now we slow the attack down to get the sound nice and cracking again. That is where the attack ends up. Do it on a snare track and you will hear what I mean.

Release demands different type of instrument. Bass is a good one for getting into Release settings. The original thread talks about how to set Release. If it's a whole mix then you are listening for something slightly different. In mastering this parameter tends to effect how in your face the mix ends up. 

Ratio and Threshold in a way are easier to set. They can be a bit hard to hear as well. In mastering they effect the evenness of the mix and how much of that professional glue you are starting to pour over the original unmastered mix dynamics. Smaller Ratios make things sound big and visa versa. Threshold also determines how much rms level your mix is going to gain as well.

I just find the mags interesting because although I am mostly familiar with a lot of what they may talk about eg effects there are always signal paths and fx ideas I never thought about and are well worth trying. I see them as input for new ideas and concepts.

 
Jeff
Yep.. But like I said, I am still a beginner at it.....However, say like if I solo an instrument like a snare, I can and do hear the effects of compression very clearly...however how compression effects that instrument while the track is playing...I um still have a ways to go...But I at least have a start.......I am just a little heavy handed still.....but with time and pratice I will get better....
 
sometimes when working I find that if I close my eyes while turning the attack and threshold knobs will force me to use my ears (instead of my eyes) to listen to what is being done to the signal.......I can always then visually check when I reach a sound that I like.....
 
For instance right now I am trying to set up some of my own  PreSets for my Superior Drummer Kits and focused on my ear listening rather than my visual ......One trick I am starting to use is I compare my settings (for let's say a snare) with a name artist's preset and I'm finding that I am not that far out of the ball park......in fact one trick I learnt just this morning was that my vol levels between the Top and Bottom heads are more of a culprit of descripency than my compressor settings.......Can't wait to get home tonite to try this out and adjust them......
 
Anyway.....sorry to ramble....but yeh, right now I'm am learning so much especially on the technique side....and I do agree with you on the Magazine idea's....They are a nice souce for additional idea's plus ya even get samples to fool with....or to give you idea's....
 
just my 2 cents.....
Have a great day sir
Clifford

I think with any compression getting the EQ of the sound right before the compressor has always been a bit of my thing. With a snare sound, when I put a mic on a real snare I start by getting the snare sound right first (snare drum tuning) then using a dynamic mic perhaps. It might need a little EQ after as well. 

But with top and bottom snares I don't tend to record the bottom snare myself but if it's present in a multitrack I will listen to it and try adding (a very small amount) some of it in to the main snare. It can add a nice crack to a snare sound but use it wisely I say. I have never liked the sound of it on its own and that should tell you something. I know I rave about Sonor drums but the snares are amazing. The sound is easily captured with the top snare mic only.

With Drum VST's and things like that I start by tuning the snare drum (and all the other drums too) because you can and that is always a good thing to try. I don't compress individual sounds often but rather compress a drum buss in total.

On the whole closing your eyes and using your ears approach, I love it. I use it with lots of things. Attack for example I'll push the attack to one extreme (eg short) with my eyes closed or not looking, then I'll push it back to the opposite extreme (eg long) and then kind of keep bouncing back and forth, slowly making those bounces less and less until it settles where it wants to settle. Kind of like a pendulum. You get it swinging and it goes back and forth till it slowly comes to equilibrium. In this case, equilibrium is the correct sound. I like it because you hear the full capability of the setting, you can hear exactly what happens in both sides of the extreme to tune your ear into the effect and this lets you hear the subtle positions well as your ear is already tuned to what's happening.

I love it with applying eq too. Finding the right frequency I'll sweep up and back up and back and it'll just tell me where it wants to sit. I find you can get very accruate positions that way.

As for the approach of starting at one extreme and slowly pulling back till it sounds right, you might get a different result than if you started from the opposite extreme and pulled back till it sounded right. Your ear tunes quickly to one aspect of the effect so when it feels right, you have no ear for the converse side of the effect, and you might not get it right. Going back and forth gives you kinda like an average from both extremes and can kick it spot on.

I use it a lot when color balancing in photo shop. I don't know what to look for with colors, so go back and forth till it just looks right, ignoring the original position. More often than not, I land right back on the same place I started, and that tells me the color is already perfect and doesn't even need to be adjusted in the first place! But I don't have the experience to have known that before.

At least that's what I find works well for me! I call it The Pendulum Method :)

I watched the "free" chapter, and he discussed 4 different compressors...

The Waves C-1
Logic's compressor, that comes with the program
Sonalksis compressor, and
T-Racks CL compressor (Classic)

He talked about controls and gave examples using each one..

It was somewhat generic, but quite informative...
I have several of the Groove 3 vids...including Effects Explained,
which, as was mentioned, is somewhat generic also...

I would like the Compression Video and the Reverb Video
and when they have sale on them BOTH at the same time
or a package deal I'll pick them up.

cclarry


I watched the "free" chapter, and he discussed 4 different compressors...

The Waves C-1
Logic's compressor, that comes with the program
Sonalksis compressor, and
T-Racks CL compressor (Classic)

He talked about controls and gave examples using each one..

It was somewhat generic, but quite informative...
I have several of the Groove 3 vids...including Effects Explained,
which, as was mentioned, is somewhat generic also...

I would like the Compression Video and the Reverb Video
and when they have sale on them BOTH at the same time
or a package deal I'll pick them up.

Thanks cclarry, I'll keep an eye open for a sale as well.