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I keep seeing all these posts on twatter from artists about Compression and seeing all the "DO U EVEN COMPRESS M8" memes and comments...and it got to my head.

I honestly don't know what the fk I'm doing when I use the Ableton compressor. I just drag the threshold around -10 to -20 always, put the the model on FF1, drag the ratio bar up to 3.00 - 10.00, and pull the Knee up randomly..usually the attack is fast..and release also.

I got the sidechaining part down though.

That said..can anyone thoroughly explain how to use the compressor in a non-confusing way. Or post some good youtube tutorials...

It's basically a thing that rides the volume fader for you. If you think about it like that every knob is pretty self-explanatory, ratio is how much to turn it down, attack is how fast you turn it down, release is how fast you bring it back up, and threshold is when you bring it down.

why are you compressing? Im not gonna go into a huge thing about how to compress or how it works or whatever, cos like its late.

But yeah, are you compressing because you feel you should be, or you think the mix actually needs it? Like, how you put the threshold to 10 or 20 almost always, like its gonna depend on the incoming signal where you are gonna want your threshold. if you have a hot signal, then you arent gonna need the threshold down as low, as it will start working higher up. if you only want to compress something slightly then having the threshold down low and the ratio at 10 is a bit overkill really. a ratio of ten is a bit overkill anyway thats pretty much limiting at that stage.

I dont really compress much anyway unless i want a compressed sound with a few things, or i want some snap on drums.

@Hudson yeah I understand what they are for. But I just don't really get how to use it....So a 3.00 Ratio will make 3/10 of the top sound squished down together more? I honestly don't know what the hell I'm doing. Just sounds a bit louder/better I guess.

@skimpi it sounds better. idk what the hell I'm doing exactly

daeMTHAFKNkim wrote:@Hudson yeah I understand what they are for. But I just don't really get how to use it....So a 3.00 Ratio will make 3/10 of the top sound squished down together more? I honestly don't know what the hell I'm doing. Just sounds a bit louder/better I guess.

@skimpi it sounds better. idk what the hell I'm doing exactly

"a ratio of 4:1 means that if input level is 4 dB over the threshold, the output signal level will be 1 dB over the threshold. The gain (level) has been reduced by 3 dB:" - Wikipedia
If you know what it does you should be able to figure out how/when to use it. Stop thinking about it like it's complicated and just look at it as a volume control. It's really just common sense.

hudson wrote:

daeMTHAFKNkim wrote:@Hudson yeah I understand what they are for. But I just don't really get how to use it....So a 3.00 Ratio will make 3/10 of the top sound squished down together more? I honestly don't know what the hell I'm doing. Just sounds a bit louder/better I guess.

@skimpi it sounds better. idk what the hell I'm doing exactly

"a ratio of 4:1 means that if input level is 4 dB over the threshold, the output signal level will be 1 dB over the threshold. The gain (level) has been reduced by 3 dB:" - Wikipedia
If you know what it does you should be able to figure out how/when to use it. Stop thinking about it like it's complicated and just look at it as a volume control. It's really just common sense.

Yeah that helped out but where did you get that "4:1" from? the ":1" part...is the ratio like that always? so if the ratio is 4.50:1 ? or is the Knee the 2nd number?...the ":1" or whatevr you have it at?

I'm r etarded.

Usually there will be a X:1 beside the ratio knob, the second number is always one, the first number is the one you can change. The Knee is a totally different control. Do you know what the word "ratio" means?

If you leave ableton's compressor with the default makeup gain on-- it doesn't sound better. It just sounds louder.

Try out some presets and bounce some samples out and then take a look at the waveform before and after compression.
When A/B'ing with and without compression, match the rms levels (not peak levels) so you don't think louder is simply better.

why does the screenshot of the compressor look different than mine?

RandoRando wrote:why does the screenshot of the compressor look different than mine?

Live 9 Beta maybe.

m8 do u even compress

http://news.beatport.com/blog/2008/09/2 ... mpression/

Threshold – how loud the signal has to be before compression is applied.
Ratio – how much compression is applied. For example, if the compression ratio is set for 6:1, the input signal will have to cross the threshold by 6 dB for the output level to increase by 1dB.
Attack – how quickly the compressor starts to work.
Release – how soon after the signal dips below the threshold the compressor stops.
Knee – sets how the compressor reacts to signals once the threshold is passed. Hard Knee settings mean it clamps the signal straight away, and Soft Knee means the compression kicks in more gently as the signal goes further past the threshold.
Make-Up Gain – allows you to boost the compressed signal. as compression often attenuates the signal significantly.
Output – allows you to boost or attenuate the level of the signal output from the compressor.

do u even parallel compress?

no srsly though Parallel compression is a must

Perej wrote:do u even parallel compress?

no srsly though Parallel compression is a must

It is?

benjaminC wrote:

Perej wrote:do u even parallel compress?

no srsly though Parallel compression is a must

It is?

yeah if you want big ass drums you're gonna have to use it at some point

benjaminC wrote:

Perej wrote:do u even parallel compress?

no srsly though Parallel compression is a must

It is?

Yeah, it thickens them up so much, love it.

Might have to have expiriment then, I rarely use compression these days tbh

theres no really method that is set in stone for compressing. You have to use your ears. You also have to consider what you are compressing when using the compressor. ill give you an example.

lets say your compressing a bass w a lowpass filter and some movement on it. The volume of the sound, where the lowpass is cutting out most of the highs, is probably gonna be the quietest part of the sound. Lets call this the beginning of the sound's cycle, for a reference point. The ending of the sound's cycle is gonna be where the lowpass is letting in those higher frequencies. Logic tells us that the end of the sound's cycle is going to be louder than the beginning of the cycle, since more frequencies are involved in the sound. To balance out the volume of the sound as a whole, your gonna want to bring down the volume at the end of the cycle, to reduce the dynamics. To do this with a compressor, you'll want to set the threshold somewhere above, where the beginning of the cycle's volume is. This way, when the lowpass filter lets in more high frequencies (gets louder), it goes above the threshold, and the compressor will decrease the volume.

the reason I say there is no set in stone way to compress, is because dynamics arn't always a bad thing. Most of the time, if you have a sound with movement in it, dynamics are a good thing. Decreasing the dynamics may help the sound stand out in the mix, but too much compression can make the sound, sound unnatural.

Not sure if that is the explination your looking for. hopefully I explained that correctly.

It's really not that complicated. It's just automatic volume control. You just choose how much volume gets reduced, and how fast the reduction comes and goes.