What makes you decide to compress?

[jamoo]

I guess it's all in the title. Is there anything in particular that motivates you to use compression or is it automatic? I think the popular understanding here is that it's used to excess in contemporary music, but it also seems popular.

My experience:

- compression on rhythm guitars kill the dynamicism. (nay vote)

- the compression settings I have on my software compression alter the sound so much it feels like a tweak effect. (nay vote)

- compression on synths isn't necessary. they're synths. (nay vote)

- compression on electric bass is vital, particularly for getting a steady level between strings and tempering the occasional strong attack. (yea vote)

[tiger vomitt]

i almost never compress rhythm gtrs myself, unless i want them to sound nutty. i love compression on acoustic guitar.

it's true, synths rarely need it. unless it's a synth bass kind of thing. then you can play with the attack in a different way than the ADSR will sound. it can get it feeling more like a bass guitar, which may be good or bad, depending on the situation.

i compress bass maybe half the time. it depends on the player and the sound im going for. if im recording myself, i dont usually compress unless it is an effect. i have a friend who, needs a bit of help playing evenly (i.e. 300 db gain reduction). so he gets compressed to disk, then magneto, then another compressor. sometimes.

drums, totally. bass drum, snare, OH, whatever...percussion too. im talking about with digital recordings. on tape..ehh it's another story. better tube pres usually need less compression too. and if im mixing thru an analog mixer, as opposed to an all digital mix, i need about 50% less compression in general. and 80% less on most vocals.

but usually vocals get medium squashed.

mixing compressed sound with the natural sound is a fantastic thing.

[neemer]

I like compressing acoustics, but just very little. Just enough to smooth it out a bit. Unless it's some fingerpicked thing where one note is plucked so hard it blows your eardrums out and you can't hear the next note. Just to smooth things out a bit. And vocals, if I'm doubling vocals, I tend to do one totally uncompressed and one completely smashed. I use the uncompressed one as the main vocal and the smashed one gets blended in. It tends to add a bit of focus to it, or so it seems to me. But I just turn it up enough to give a bit of edge (for lack of a better term) to the vocals. Just makes it a bit focused. Other than that it just depends on the situation. Well, bass generally gets just a bit, too. But then sometimes.....

[Slider]

For me it's as simple as "I think this needs some compression".
I almost always compress vocals on the way in and sometimes on the way out as well.

Distorted guitars don't need compression very often, But sometimes it can give them a certain sound in the attack of the pick and bring up the tail of the sound..
On bass I usually compress the DI on the way in and leave the amp or sans amp to be compressed later.
Drums usually get pretty squashed, unless i'm going for a Neil Young or Bowie kind of thing.
sometimes I compress the tracks, the drum bus, and the mix bus!
Sometimes none at all.

I love 1176 on strummed acoustic gtr, but hate the weird pumping of a 160A, which is great on bass.
Different comps sound good for different tracks.

You eventually just learn what you like on different material.
I think compression is confusing for people starting out.
Some compressors are really obvious (distressor, 1176, fairchild 670) and others are more subtle.

[jamoo]

Drums usually get pretty squashed, unless i'm going for a Neil Young or Bowie kind of thing.

Hmmm. Bowie drums? I'll have to listen more carefully.

I think compression is confusing for people starting out.

I want to be ace, now, darn it...

[ladewd]

I have to compress analog synths most of the time. Due to certain filter settings, the volume is not linear up the entire keyboard. I always compress bass, unless the bass player is an absolute monster. I always run a little compression on vocals and alot if the singer has no microphone technique. I find compressing all drums definitely alters the sound to a great degree, and offers a rather large palette of tonal variations, so I always experiment with it. I will only compress Rhythm and lead guitar when the situation requires it.

CA

[HuskerDude]

I tend to use a very tiny amount of compression on a lot of things, rather than compressing anything too heavily. I like to compress guitar solos just a bit, they obviously have to be dynamic, but using the LA-4 just seems to give it a bit more presence.

[Professor]

I don't think that compression is overused as much as I think that it is most often used improperly and tastelessly.
I see three basic reasons for deciding to use a compressor though I'm sure you could add others:
1. to control the dynamic range of an instrument (like keeping the bass player level through a tune).
2. to pull things forward in a mix (like getting that vocalist to the front of the band).
3. as a special effect (getting that pumping & breathing going).

The trouble is that it is important to adjust the settings of the compressor to achieve those 3 basic uses, and lots of people get them confused.

Kick drums should be compressed to control their level, but they shouldn't be pulled forward to compete with the singer.
Snares could be pulled slightly forward, but should still be behind the singer - snares are not the star of the show.
Same for rhythm guitars, basses, etc. and anything that needs to support the sound without dominating the image.

I usually describe compression as the opposite of reverb in that just like we have a pan control to swing from left to right, we use reverb and compression to go from front to back. That's really simplified, but it is a good starting point. Of course, compressing strongly on something like vocals and then adding reverb can give that much desired effect of getting the singer up-front so it sounds like he/she is very close but singing in a large space.

I tend to compress on any style of music and any instrument that I think needs it, and will often place very, very light settings (-30 threshold, 1.2:1 ratio, +3 makeup, and that sort of range) on every instrument just so there is a consistency of texture among the instruments. Rock vocals will get treated stronger, but usually something like 2:1 ratios at the worst, keeping that threshold down in the -15 to -20 range for a smooth on-set. Even classical and jazz gets compression treatments, and I love setting a consistent volume & light compression for a piano in a jazz tune, but then grabbing just the solo inside the computer and 'doubling up' the compression to add another 3 or 4dB when the piano should "come forward" and the drop back as a rhythm.

So, I would say that while you shouldn't 'over-think' the right and wrong times to apply compressors, you should think more thoroughly about the settings you dial in. Do the math and see what that high ratio, or high threshold is really doing. -30 at 1.2:1 is a 5dB drop for a 0dB peak, and -10 at 2:1 is also a 5dB drop, and -6 at 6:1 is a 5dB drop, but one of those is going to be far more smooth and subtle than the others.

-Jeremy

[dokushoka]

The main thing that forces me to compress is bad musicians. Exception is with vocals, but even then, I've tracked some very well trained singers that had tremendous control and didn't require compression!

[tubemonkey35]

I use it mainly to control dynamics, as it was intended and only if something really needs it.

Next on the list is using it as an effect or color box. I just run signal through a certain box because I like how it washes the sound; I'm not actually compressing at this point, just running through it for that vibe.

Great Interviews have been done in TapeOp with regards to compression:

Michael Brauer: Sept/Oct 2003 No. 37 A MUST READ!!!!!+++++

Andy Johns: Jan/feb 2004 No. 39 (his 1176 tricks) He uses one 1176 as an amp into another etc...

I hope this helps.

[LeedyGuy]

I think what we may be talking about here is compression versus limiting. In my head, limiting is the reigning in of unwanted transients and to keep something smooth and balanced and compression is something i do to a snare drum to make it "pop" out in a mix and really mess with the attacks and releases to get it to come out and be loud and present, but not overbearing, just always heard and clear among the muck that is some rhythm guitar playing and a pilke of background vox. Also, i "compress" electric bass to make it punchy and to make it MORE transient and make it groove harder sometimes, but i "limit" clean electrics and acoustic guitars so they arent so spiky. I would use the same plugins for each task on the DAW (compressor) but the philosophy in my head is different.

Does this make sense?

[loudmusic]

This is gonna sound dumb, but I only recently really figured out limiting.

Wow, it's neat. And I'm just using the ones in the software I have... I can't wait to get some nicer outboard comps/lims!!!

Pointless reply, sorry.

MB

[@?,*???&?]

What makes me compress?

Low humidity.

The act of mixing.

Things that move around dynamically in an obscenely uncontrolled or uncontained way.

[neemer]

I think kentothink hit the nail on the head.

[super skoda]

It seems like I've only started to understand compression in the last six months or so. I think there are two basic ways that I've been using compression:

1) To limit the dynamic range on vocals and some acoustic instruments. I haven?t ever used it on bass but it seems like a good idea.

And

2) To get things to sustain longer. Just yesterday I was recording a tambourine and I was trying to get it to kind of ring like a bell. Setting a quick attack short decay time mellows out the initial hit and allows the overall volume to come up.

As a side note, the only compressor I own is the one that came with pro-tools. The default compression level is 3:1. But I don't think I have ever used it higher than 1.5:1. Like the Professor pointed out, a little compression can greatly change the dB level.