This one's questioning what I thought I knew about compressors.

I have a compressor on the bass buss, fed from 2 kick tracks & 2 bass guitar tracks.

At one point during the song there's a pause of about 5 seconds in which the bass guitar note rings out. This is a fairly upbeat rock/guitar tune.

I can hear compressor working and the bass note doesn't stay at one level, it's up and down in time with the gain reduction meter on the compressor.

I've set the release as long as it will go (1400ms) but it's not long enough to maintain  a consistent level.

The compressor is the TRackS3 singles Classic Compressor.

Should i look for something with a longer release or am I simply not doing it right?



Cheers!!

If you simply want to create a sustain effect on that bass note I'd suggest a level envelope.


If you want to consider the applicability of 1400ms as a release duration I'd point out that 1.4 seconds is only a portion of 5 seconds.

A very useful thing is to equate the release duration to the tempo of the song so that you may relate it to note durations.

For example 1400ms is almost exactly a 1/2note at 86bpm.

What tempo is your song at?

If you want the effect to last for a 1/4 note, or whole note, or etc. you can work it backwards to figure out how long that is in milliseconds.


But the question remains; are you trying to use a compressor to create sustain on the tail end of a bass note?

Compressors turn stuff down... if you want to turn the level of that tail up just turn it up with a level, or trim, envelope and you'll have full control of the sustain.

best regards,
mike


 

Thanks Mike.

I seem to have resolved most of the issue simply by using a different compressor with a much longer release time.

I'll bear in mind about what you said about relating the release time to the song tempo. Most of it is, I think, 120bpm but it's 6/8 throughout.

Got your calculator handy?

Hi Bristol,

If it's 120 1/8th note beats per minute then the 1/8 notes are 500ms long.

best,
mike

My first thought was... throbbing bass line... yup that needs to be in the coffee house..... but on a closer examination.....mebee not.

If the compressor is audible... you can hear it working.... plain and simple it's turned up too much, and the attack/release thresholds are off. 

Unless you are going for a certain effect, the compressor should be un-noticeable in the music. If it has some presets, try starting with a preset as a nice starting point. Most presets are designed to take you to a relatively safe starting position, and you can twist the knobs from there. You can always start over of it gets too far off base. 


If you hear it pumping in the music you got some hairy settings dialed in. 

I guess, for me, I am having a hard time imaging how using a compressor with an extremely long release can be a practical benefit.

I think, perhaps, that I understand how it might enhance this particular sustaining note, but what happens to all the other content on the track?

Are there passages of successive notes elsewhere in the track where the compressor is clamped down and smashing them into mush?

all the best,
mike

Ah - all I do there Mike is automate the release so that it only gets lengthened during the sustained note section.

Hi Bristol,

Thanks for explaining. That seemed like one of the possibilities.


best regards,
mike

If the compressor is audible... you can hear it working.... plain and simple it's turned up too much

Oh, you pathetic dinosaur, still carrying the torch for natural dynamics. I'll bet you sing in tune, too. Don't you guitar-slinging primates understand that compressors are rhythm instruments?