same here, i was amazed to read something like this
play sequencer
push fx button
push record button
enter trigs,
hold trigs and turn FX parameters to parameter lock FX.
Itās quite easy to pump on a 4 to the floor track. Place your trigs on the kicks and use half cycle LFOs modulating COMP settings.
Also, use very intense settings on those trigs and make them slide trigs, then place a default trig right next to them, you may have to nudge them very close together.
really nice
Hot.Damn. what a machine.
Whoa!! Level up! I feel theres always something new to learn with this beast
I just wanted to put into layman terms what a compressor does.
Information from youtube videos/web can be quite confusing, and sometimes, downright wrong:
A Compressor is essentially a dynamic range attenuator. Dynamic range is not Volume. It is the range of level from softest to loudest. A Compressor makes that range smaller.
How does it make the range smaller?
By attenuating levels that surpass a certain THRESHOLD.
How much does it attenuate?
The lower the threshold is, the more levels surpass it, the more it attenuates.
How drastic is the attenuation?
The higher the RATIO, the more dramatic is the attenuation per level peak.
The higher you set the RATIO, the less output levels are going to react to input level gain raise.
In other words, raising incoming level becomes Nonlinear and the actual level output is shaped or sloped based on the RATIO setting (and, if your compressor has one, the KNEE setting).
So what are the Attack and Release doing?
These are timing settings that modify how fast the compressor reacts to levels surpassing the THRESHOLD ā the ATTACK.
And how fast the Compressor is ready to listen to incoming signals and compress again ā the RELEASE.
Why Compressor settings depend on the kind of sound or audio passes through it?
Because any sound, music track or audio performance has unique overall dynamic range, tempo, and frequency response. This makes it almost impossible to create a āmagicalā compressor setting.
Furthermore, because of tempo and frequency ranges, the attack and release need to be carefully set per sound or track.
Frequency is super important as bass frequencies are moving much SLOWER than high frequencies. Therefore, compressing Bass requires a different ATTACK/RELEASE settings than, say, mid range, high end etc.
And what is makeup gain?
Since a compressor is essentially an ATTENUATOR by lowering the level of high volume elements (anything that raises above the level of the THRESHOLD), it ultimately lowers the volume of anything you pass through it!
To compensate for that loss of volume, we use MAKEUP GAIN to turn the volume up, this time with a narrower dynamic range.
Hope this helps!
Eitan
Thanks, Eitan
Can you help clarify the difference between the compressorās VOL and the MUP (makeup gain) on the AR; furthermore, how do these two things interact?
If I turn up the MUP, I get the loud volume explosion when I mute the kick.
If I adjust the VOL to make up for the loss of volume, no explosion. Ha, I said explosion
Curiousā¦
Compressor Volume refers to incoming signals.
Make Up Gain refers to output signals.
In real world applications there is really no need to increase the incoming level of a signal as it enters the compressor. Unless of course, the sound is so poorly recorded that it has a very low level, and your Console trim and faders are all the way up.
You get an āexplosionā when you mute the kick, because now the compressor is not attenuating as much as it did when you had the Kick on BUT the makeup gain is still trying to raise all this level back
Thanks a million for that explanation; however, the manual says something different
[b]VOL /b sets the volume of the output signal. Range (0-127)S
So if the make up gain effects the output signal AND the VOL effects the output signal; Iām confusedā¦does it even matter?
I think itās a semantic problem.
VOL is probably output volume of DRY (uncompressed) sound.
Make up gain and compressor output are the same thing. the only difference that usually, make up gain is scaled differently.
Yeah, by playing around with it I confirmed this.
The VOL is dealing with DRY uncompressed sound.
You can tell because when you lower it all the way, the compressor is still compressing. You cannot hear anything because the compressor output is down.
The output is really just an ATTENUATOR where 127 is Unity gain.
Itās also can be used to further refine how much dry signal is fed into the Mix knob. So ultimately, itās just one more control to use when setting up gain.
Itās confusing a little but itās definitely not reacting with the compressor.
Very interesting thread.
Thanks teomi for explaining in a very clear way!
Now: there is no magical setup for a compressor, but is possible to get ātemplate setupā that are known to work well after a little tweak. I dunno, for example one for Filter House, one for drum n bassā¦or maybe a different classificationā¦you got the idea.
Sure!
Templates are always a good thing
Thanks again BTW!
Now Iām totally confused - this is from the manual which alludes to the VOL being the compressed output. Iām inferring this statement from their explanation of the MIX control:
MIX (Dry/Wet Mix) sets the mix of the uncompressed signal and
the compressor output signal. The left extreme setting results in a completely uncompressed signal. The extreme right setting lets only the compressed signal pass through. All values in between mix the uncompressed signal with the compressed signal, also known as parallel compression. A definitive Motown compression effect may be achieved at moderate MIX settings combined with high RAT and low MUP settings. Range (0-127).
[b]VOL /b sets the volume of the output signal. Range (0-127).
Ultimately, the VOL is the compressor output AFTER the compression.
You can clearly hear it if you heavily compress a Kick and then lower the VOL. The compressor is still compressing but the volume drops and if there wad any saturation, itās now gone.
Itās a way for you to control the final gain of the compressor without altering the compression.
Itās just another gain stage control. Usually compressors donāt have 2 separate output controls. The Makeup gain is often the output.
Just use it in combination with everything else. Itās not going to alter the compression that is already applied to the incoming signal.
Eitan
So please share your compressor templates
I really donāt have any.
I usually start with 3:1 ratio and work with the Threshold to find the sweet spot where compression begins.
Depending on the frequency of the material and how dense the material is, I set the attack and release.
Slower attack is actually better to achieve Punch or to āhearā the sound of the compressor.
If you want to crush it, than fast attack is better.
Release time depends on the tempo. If itās too slow, the compressor will compress and stay thereā¦if itās too fast then the compressor will pump.
Working with the RYTM I noticed that Parallel compression gives the best results because the Compressor is very aggressive.
Hope this helps.
Eitan
Thanks! This is making a lot more sense to me. I agree, the MIX control is where itās at right now.
Thanks Teomi for nice explanation.
Sorry for discussion the manual here, but I do not understand the comp SEQ.
My template setting is current setting everything at 12 oāclock, attack 3 ms, release A1ā¦this is at approx. 120 BPMā¦standard techno rytm. I use the rytm as my master bus.
But I turn the SEQ off. Mainly because I donāt understand what it does. Also the manual (see below) doensāt make it clear for me.
Can someone explain how it is used best and what for?
Is it so that you should only use the SEQ if you also apply separate out?
SEQ (Sidechain EQ) filters the signal before it is analyzed by the compressor in one of the following ways: ā¢ OFF lets the sidechain signal remain unchanged. ā¢ LPF lowpass filters the signal prior to analysis, making the compressor react mostly to the bass. Use this setting for a characteristic pumping compressor sound. ā¢ HPF passes the signal through a highpass filter before it is analyzed, making the compressor react less to the bass. Use this setting to avoid pumping. ā¢ HIT results in a balanced equalization of the sidechain signal, making the compressor react similarly to all frequencies of the signal.
One thing about the VOL parameter that I noticed is that the send effects remain unchanged when you turn VOL.
It makes for a convenient way to set the dry/send levels ratio. I find the reverb to be too low in volume in many cases, so I use the VOL parameter to make it louder, relatively.
You need to use the Master Volume knob to compensate for the volume reduction, though.