Someone recently posted an acronym (like 6 letters long) for the order one would set up the various attributes of a compressor.
 
I thought I had saved the post but now cannot find it, it may even have been in Techniques or the other Sonar forum.
 
Does anyone have that? I thought it was a cool little tool.
 
Thanks!

Well the compressor has:
Attack
Release
Ratio
Threshold
Input gain (some do, some do not)
Output Gain
Knee settings
M/S and Stereo (some good one have this)
 
This spells ARRTIOKM. There you go, here is your acronym.
 
But there is no set order of using these settings. Different people will have a different workflow with compression and there is no wrong or right way.
 

CJaysMusic
 
This spells ARRTIOKM. There you go, here is your acronym.
 
But there is no set order of using these settings. Different people will have a different workflow with compression and there is no wrong or right way.
 

Cool! That's sounds Vulcan and is probably pretty much how I do it :)
 
However, I still liked the acronym the poster used and I wanted to see his order of using a compressor; it was within the last week or so in response to a question on volume, I think. I wanted to compare his style of work with mine just for fun.
 
Thanks, it is good to stay focused on the ears, I know...

I always set the threshold first just to get the meter moving, then I set the attack and release to get the sound I want. Then I go back and fine tune the threshold. I guess you could say I'm something of a TART.

I believe there is a useful setup order and it is this. I wrote a detailed thread on this a while back but cannot seem to find it now. If I do I will post a link to it.
 
ARRT being Attack, Release, Ratio and Threshold in that order. Doing it in the right order gives a much better result. This approach even makes an average compressor sound better.
 
Attack first. Set the threshold low so it is working. Ratio can be anything as well. What we are hearing here is how much you are destroying the attack transient. So the idea is to set the Attack so that it sounds good for what you are after here. Slower attacks are going to let more transients through. Faster attacks are going to jump on the signal quick and destroy that all important leading edge to the sound. In Limiting mode very fast attacks will jump on the signal and do its job well. But in other situations you want that snare crack or kick click to some through nice with slower attacks. In mastering you will generally slow the attacks down to let the attack transients in the music shine through a bit.
 
Release, get a feel for how the comp returns back after its gain reduction. Think groove of the tune. Start by calculating the time per 1/4 note. Start there.
 
Ratio Decide on this now. High for limiting, low for mastering in other places to adjust the amount of gain change. Smaller ratios make the sound bigger and higher ratios can make the sound smaller. I start with lower ratios and work up. Ratios under 2 are interesting as well.
 
Threshold finally this one. Simply lower now for the desired overall effect and how much gain reduction you are after. High slamming gain reductions can be fun too but often low amounts of GR like -2 or -3dB are very good and work very well. Transparent comp sound here.
 
After you have done one run through then go back and do a check on all of things again in the same order for fine tuning.
 
Makeup gain is just there to get the output level of the compressor matching the input level and it is an important control too. You can add gain to a signal at this point too. A good starting point for the amount of makeup gain that is required is add the same amount here as you experiencing with gain reduction. If you going for say -3dB of gain reduction then add +3 dB of makeup gain. It should get you right back in the ball park of the input level.

Well thanks kindly!
 
I am mixing some vocals (and piano) tonight after comping and editing all day and I will give the ARRT approach a go for fun and in the interest of learning new things (now that my neck is capable of moving again).
 
I have been dreaming EQ vids at night all week so I have a suspicion that is where the Lord really wants me to rest my brow for a spell (like Saturday to Wednesday). But for now, its a 4:1 night. Oops, attack first :)
 
Thanks again! Time for fun...
 
And thanks for the quarter note tip as well!