Compression Part 1 – Controlling

Dynamics
Compression is used extensively in most modern musical styles and is a
great tool to have in your skill set. Compression is a complex tool and
while it is (fairly) easy to get your head around it, it takes a lot of time and
practice to master. Even I still have a long way to go, but I want to share
what I have learnt so far anyways :)

What is compression and why should you care?

Rather than just talking about it, let us use a concrete example instead.
Listen to the following bass line!

I hope that does sound awful to your ears – because it is! The dynamics of
the bass are all over the place, there are really soft and really loud notes
played erratically and it’s hard to get a good feel for the rhythm. If you
look at the waveform of the bass line, you can clearly see the abrupt
changes in volume.

Now if you ever record a track like that, I’d urge you to “flush and re-
record”. Working with a horrible recording makes mixing difficult and your
final sound quality will suffer if you end up processing the signal too
much! However, for the sake of this example, let’s assume you have no
chance to re-record and are stuck with this inconsistent bass line. Good
news is that we can apply compression to even out the dynamics of the
track :)

Essentially, compression takes all sound waves above a certain

volume threshold and reduces their excess volume by a
specified (compression) ratio. It is important to remember that only the
overshoot will be compressed, not the entire signal. This allows us to push
down the peaks of a signal and reduce the volume fluctuations of the
instrument track.

For our bass line example, I will start off with a threshold of -24dB and a
compression ratio of 1:4. This will cause any sound louder than -24dB to
have its excess volume reduced to 1/4th of its original output volume.

The red lines mark the -24dB line that we will be using as our compression
threshold.
Notice that after compression all levels that exceeded the -24dB threshold
have been reduced.

Listen to the compressed version.

You should be able to hear that the overall volume fluctuations of the bass
line have been reduced and the bass line sounds more consistent. Notice
that the overall volume of the signal has diminished. However, by
compressing the peaks of the signal, we have freed up some headroom so
we can increase the gain of the entire signal by a certain amount, called
the make-up gain, to compensate for this loss in volume. I will use a
make-up gain of 8.3dB to bring the level back up to where it was before
compression. Be careful to avoid clipping when using make-up gain.

The following image shows the waveform of the compressed bass line
after the make-up gain has been applied.

Again, here is the audio example. Compare it to the original bass line.

It’s not perfect, but can you hear how much more even the sound of the
bass line has become? Compression is a great way to control the
dynamics of an instrument and even them out. The loudness of the overall
bass line has also increased because we pushed down the peaks and
raised the level of the entire signal up to compensate.

One thing you have to be wary of is overcompression. Too much

compression can lead to a very flat and dead sound and, because you
typically apply make-up gain to make the quieter parts more prominent,
you also increase the volume of any noise in the signal and decrease the
signal-to-noise ratio (which is not a good thing). Here is an example of the
above bass line overcompressed with a threshold of -40dB, a compression
ratio of 1:8 and a make-up gain of 23.5dB.
Notice how our threshold is so low that almost the entire signal will be
compressed and not just the peaks.

The waveform of the overcompressed bass line looks almost like a square
– all dynamics have been squeezed out of it.

Have a listen to this overcompressed bass.

In this example, the life as well as the natural sound of the bass has been
squeezed out of the bass line and a lot of low noise that was present in
the signal has been increased in volume by using too much make-up gain.

While compression has a distinct sound that experienced sound engineers

can pick up on very easily, most people (including me to some extend) will
hardly notice even strong compression. I do hope you notice the ugly
compression sound in the overcompressed example tho ;)
Compressed instruments usually sound thicker, more compact and
punchier, which makes compressors popular to use for kick, snare or bass
tracks. It is also used for vocal tracks, but simply to even out the
dynamics a little like we did in this example.

In order to preserve the natural sound of your instrument track, it is

usually better to compress a signal more frequently by a little bit than to
compress it a lot once.
I like to start off with a fairly high threshold (so little of my signal is
affected) and a small compression ratio (approximately 1:4 is fairly
common) and then adjust your parameters based on what it is I am
mixing. Compression is best learnt through experimentation and feel free
to download the above bass line and play around with it :)

Wait!
Stop!
You didn’t mention the attack and release parameters!

Yeah I know, but I’m feeling like this post is already getting way too long
and those compressor parameters are important enough to warrant a
separate post to cover them properly. I will write about them soon –
promise :)
Compression part 2 – Attack and
Release
It’s been a busy Christmas period, but as promised, here is the second
half of my compression tutorial!

If you are not yet familiar with what a compressor is and what it is used
for, I suggest you have a look at the first part of this tutorial, ‘compression
– controlling dynamics’. If you already know all the basics, read on :)

In the first part we have covered the volume threshold, compression ratio,

and make-up gain parameters of the compressor. Today we will be looking
at the attack and release parameters.

Attack & Release

When a sound overshoots the volume threshold, the compressor does not
instantly apply the full compression to the overshooting signal. Instead,
the compression ratio increaeses gradually from 1:1 to the maximum
within a certain amount of time. This time is called the attack time.
When the sound drops back below the threshold, the compressor does not
instantly stop compressing the sound. Instead, it gradually reduces the
compression ratio until it reaches 1:1 again. This time is called the release
time.

Let’s look at some examples. Assume our signal looks as follows:

Note that I deliberately left out any dB indications on the threshold. For
the theory presented here, the actual loudness of the signal is irrelevant.
If we now compressed this signal with the specified threshold and a
compression ratio of 1:4 while leaving both the attack and release times
set to 0ms, the output would (theoretically) look like this:
Applying compression with extremely short attack time will cause the
signal to be almost instantly compressed with maximum ratio when the
level overshoots the threshold. Applying compression with extremely
short release time will cause the signal to be almost instantly released to
no compression when the signal falls below the threshold. Since sudden
jumps in volume can cause an instrument to sound unnatural or distorted,
we generally want to avoid extremely short attack and release times.
Here is what our compressed signal would look like if we used a little bit of
attack and release time.

 
Notice how the compression gradually increases and gradually releases
when the signal level crosses the threshold. This compression would
sound alot more natural than using 0ms for attack release times, but
whether it is appropriate will depend alot on the style of music and the
instrument you are compressing.

Emphasizing attack

Assume you have a bass track, but the bass itself sounds flat and is
lacking in attack.
If we compress the signal with a little bit of attack time (~ 10-20ms) and a
release time to match the speed of the bass (long enough to fully release
before the next note is struck), we can increase the punchiness of the
bass.

This works by letting the initial spike of the signal, the attack, through and
compressing the rest of the signal. We can then raise the entire signal and
thus increase the relative loudness of the attack.

The signal will have a natural peak when the bass is being struck. We set
the thresold so that this attack crosses the threshold and thus triggers our
compressor. Because we do not want to compress/reduce this initial peak,
we set the attack time to the duration of this peak, if not a little bit longer.
The release time is set to be long enough for the trailing part of the signal
to be compressed, but not so long that the compressor is still active when
the next note on the bass is struck.
Note that only the part of the signal after the initial attack is being
compressed. We then raise the entire signal by using the appropriate
make-up gain and therefore end up with a signal with an increased
attack :) Be careful not to clip your signal when applying the make-up
gain.

Let’s have a listen to an actual example!

Here is the bass drum track we will be working with. To be honest, I do not
find the bass drum to be too terribly flat, but let’s assume we want to
increase the attack a little bit anyways.

In the context of the full drum track, this is what our uncompressed bass
drum sounds like:

Here is the compressed bass drum track. I used a compressor with 10ms
attack time and 400ms release time and a ratio of 1:2. Notice that there
seems to be a little bit more ‘smack’ sound to the bass drum now.

In the context of the full drum track, the bass drum now sounds clearer
and stands out a little more.

Notice that the compression effect is fairly subtle (at least to my ears)
which is due to a low compression ratio and a threshold that only affects
the signal directly below the peaks of the signal. This way the bass drum
maintains its natural feel.

This very same technique can also be applied to cut the reverb of an
instrument. Simply don’t apply the make-up gain and the compression will
reduce the part of the signal after the initial attack.

Increasing Sustain

Compression is also often used to give an instrument more sustain, like a

lead or bass guitar. It works on the exact same principles as increasing
the attack of a signal, but is somewhat the inverse effect.

In order to increase sustain, we want to raise the part of the signal after
the initial attack. We can do this by compressing only the attack and
raising the entire signal, thus increasing the relative loudness of the signal
after the initial spike.
Notice that in the uncompressed signal, the level falls off quickly after the
initial attack. What we want to do is de-emphasize the initial spike so we
can raise the entire signal and the loudness of the signal does not fade
away as fast any more. To do this, we need to set the attack time to 0ms
(or as short as possible on your compressor) so the compressor clamps
down immediately and we need to set the release time to 0ms (or as short
as possible) so the compressor releases as soon as possible and does not
decrease the signal after the attack.

In the diagram above, the initial attack is being compressed, but the
signal below the threshold is unaffected. Now we can apply the make-up
gain to raise the entire signal until the attack is at the same level as
before. The relative volume of the trailing sound has been increased,
adding more sustain to the instrument :)

Again, let’s listen to a concrete example!

I prepared where the bass guitar notes are fading away too fast. Sorry for
the ugly fluctuation at the end of the track, I cut the sustain manually and
was a bit sloppy at the end of the track.

When played together with the drum track from the earlier example you
can feel a gap coming up everytime the bass fades away too quickly,
leaving only the drums playing.

In order to add sustain to the bass I used a compressor with 2ms attack
time (shortest possible), 10ms release time (shortest possible) and a ratio
of 1:2. Again I wanted this effect to be rather subtle, but you can clearly
hear alot more sustain in the bass even though my settings are fairly
conservative.

The track with the drums now sounds fuller and does not contain the
obvious ‘holes’ it had before.

Pumping & Breathing

Compression is a great tool for many things, but there are a few things to
be aware of. Besides potentially making your instruments sound rather
unnatural due to too much compression, another artefact that can sneak
into your tracks is pumping or breathing.

Pumping occurs when the compressor’s release time is so long that, when
the next note is played, the compressor is still active and thus the new
note is not compressed in the same way as the one before. This causes
the overall loudness of your track to fade in and out, creating a pumping
effect.

I have prepared a drum track with pumping. The compressor is activated

by the bass drum kick, but the release time is so long that the compressor
is still active when the hi hat notes are played, creating the feeling that
the hi-hats are fading in. This is pumping.

Breathing is essentially the same thing as pumping except that the

volume fluctuations occur in high frequency noise that may be part of
your mix. It will sound like someone is breathing in the background of your
tracks, which is where the term comes from :)

Pumping is not always unwanted though. Especially in dance/techno

music it is frequently used to give the bass or drums a more vivid beat.

Tips & Tricks

I feel like I could talk (drone) on about this topic for another few pages,
but this has been the longest and hardest post to write for me so far, so
I’m going to leave you with just a few tips and tricks instead.

 It is better to compressor more frequently in a subtle way than to

compress once heavily. Your results will sound more natural
 Before setting up your compressor, have a look at your track. Take
note of the maximum dB as well as the time of your signal attack
and the time between notes. This will make it alot easier for you to
choose appropriate compressor parameters
 For percussive instruments, use a little bit of attack time. This will
avoid making the instruments sound ‘blunt’
 How much and what type of compression is appropriate will depend
on the instrument, the type of music and the effect you’re after
 Some compressors have a hold parameter. This parameter specifies
the time before the compressor is allowed to release again. It ‘holds’
the compression for a certain amount of time
 Side-chain compression is supported by some compressors. It allows
you to use a separate input signal to determine when the
compressor will activate and release
 Ducking is a type of side-chain compression and is often used in
radio shows where the music will be ‘ducked’ under the disc
jockey’s voice when he starts talking
 De-essing is a type of compression where only certain mid/high
frequencies are compressed to suppress overemphasized ‘s’ sounds
in a vocal performance

I might cover some of these in more depth later on, but for now I hope this
compression tutorial was helpful to you and feel free to let me know if
anything is still unclear :)

(Tobias @ SurfacedStudio)