Great tip on fine tuning compressors

[snoretex]

hey all, try this - get a compressor on a snare, not lower the threshold so it's doing 30 dbs of gain reduction or so, put the ratio up as high as possible and turn the attack and release time to zero ( oh and obviously turn on auto-gain or boost the level so you can hear what's going on)... Now, the compressor will be hammering the shit out of your snare, and generally making it sound awful - what you do now, is adjust the attack, and you'll instantly be able to hear the transient that you're letting through, so you can adjust just how much you want to taste - now start lengthening the release - up until the time that the sound starts to dull, and then back it off a bit - it should be moving in rhythm with the track now, so the compressions over before the next hit comes in... now you have the attack and release set as you want them, back off the ratio, and then the threshold - eh voila! a perfectly set compressor... essentially this technique acts as a way of 'turning up' the compression effect so that you can hear whats going on better... Also, a tip for logic users, make sure the comp is set to Peak mode, and also that your Knee control is set to 0...

[VirtualMark]

nice tip!

[Depone]

Good tip for beginners and more advanced people alike! Its goot to hear exactly what your compression is doing, even if the way you described was quite extreme.

Quite a few people dont hear the subtleties when using clever compression. For me, the best type of compression isnt a side-chained pumped up comp, but one you didnt realise was on in the first place.
I use them to sculpt my sounds like a transient shaper, as well as general levelling of some sounds like pads.

[Sinisterbeats]

nice tip, the force is strong in this one :vader
(excuse to use vader smiley)

[snoretex]

glad you guys found it useful!

[paradigm_x]

Mixing with your mind whut