The ratio is the ‘how much’ of a compressor. Where you should set the threshold is very dependant on the incoming signal, and it can help to have some sort of visual on the signal to see where it’s peaking at. This control is measured in dBFS, with 0dB being the loudest and -∞dB being silence. It says ‘it’s too loud now, time to turn it down!’ The threshold is the ‘when’ of the compressor. But we’ll start with these basic controls and then dive into less common features. Some compressors will deviate from these, some may actually exclude these completely. To understand how a compressor works, you have to know each of the main controls: So let’s take a look at the basics so we can start to use this great tool. Most of the time, compression can help us achieve this effect. Some of these environments may have different sounds going on, so the music needs to poke through in order to keep up. This is especially important in 2020, where music can be listened to in all sorts of environments – at home chilling, when walking to work, in the car, with your friends at the park, in the club etc. The process of evening out instruments and sounds is very important for recorded music, as listeners want a consistent listening experience. Maybe your voice sounds muffled in parts, but clear in others. Perhaps certain guitar strums don’t quite cut through. Maybe a snare punches through too loud and the rest gets buried right after. This can be good, but it means that certain elements in a track might not poke out the whole time, burying them in the mix. Some audio material tends to be very dynamic, meaning there is a large gap between the quiet parts and the loud parts of the sound. Compression reduces this, making it more even over time.īut why would you want to do something like that? Why Should I Use Compression? The dynamic range is simply the difference between the quiet and loud parts of a sound. This reduces what is known as the dynamic range of a sound. How? It reacts to the incoming audio and turns it down when it gets too loud, and turns back up when it’s quiet again. While it can contribute, many producers overlook many other factors involved with mixing and production as a whole, like:Ĭompression is just volume changing over time, really fast. Unfortunately, compression often ends up becoming praised as the holy grail of a fat, full and loud mix. It’s a tool that can be used well, or poorly. In fact, it’s an important tool that I would place in the top 4 most crucial for mixing: Compression as a Toolįirst of all, it’s important to understand that like any audio effect, compression is simply a tool. Otherwise, you’ll make the same mistake I did: endlessly tweaking a compressor, hoping it would fix my crappy songs. Before we dive into the complexities and technicalities of how a compressor works, it’s important that you understand it from an overall perspective.
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