Why Use Compression?

The Music Telegraph | Text 2019/07/26 [16:49]

Why Use Compression?

The Music Telegraph| 입력 : 2019/07/26 [16:49]

© Waves Audio



 

 

Why Use Compression?

 

Acoustic instruments, electric instruments, synthesizers, sound modules, and human voices all have different dynamic ranges. When they are put together in the service of making a record, there must be some way of getting the different elements to work together. Compressors are useful processors that help control dynamic range and in so doing, allow the creative engineer or producer to put together very different audio elements into a cohesive whole.

 

 

To Limit Signal Increase

That singer out in the studio is giving the performance of her life. She is nailing the performance. This is magic time!! Upon playback along with the track, you realize she really pushes her high notes and they are much louder than the rest of her range. You gotta have it, but...how? Or that guitarist's open low E is much louder than all the other notes and it really sticks out annoyingly. These are situations that come up all the time. A Compressor can be used in these situations to limit the amount a signal can increase.

 

 

To Reduce Peak-To-Average Ratio

In digital audio, there can be no signal voltage 'overs', meaning there can be no signal louder than 16 (or 24 bits) of all ones. This is measured as 0 dBfs. Beyond this level of encoded signal, you will get only digital distortion. Now, you know to never record signal level beyond 0 dBfs. This means that your loudest sound should be no more than this maximum. But what if the 4-measure drum loop has just one cymbal hit that has a transient at the max level and all the restis much lower? The overall sound power will be relatively low. What you would like to do is raise the low levels and/or lower the loud level. A compressor can be used to do just that. In technical terms it is called altering the peak-to-average ratio. By lowering the peak level you are moving all the levels closer to each other. This will result in a louder signal. It also allows the low levels to be heard in a mix.

 

 

For Creativity (Shaping Tone to Taste)

A compressor can alter the level of a signal at controllable rates and ratios. It can reduce the attack of a sound quickly or slowly, affect the release quickly or slowly, and alter the overall level  change at varying rates. By altering the signal ADSR, you can fatten, thin, sharpen, or dull a sound, depending on your mix needs. Sometimes, by deliberately reshaping a sound's ADSR (using the attack and release controls), you can make it work better in a mix. In addition, all of these characteristics can done over different frequency ranges (with multi-band compressors).

 

What this means to you, the creative person, is the ability to use the compressor as a powerful sound-shaping tool.

 

 

For Fine-tuning mix relationships (shaping/masking issues)

By adjusting the relative dynamic ranges (not the same as levels!) of the various elements inside a mix, you can alter the impact that they will have on the overall mix.

 

 

 

 

 

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