Compressors...do you use one? two? How.

[Uncle Grandfather]

so, do you all use a compressor and if so why? And what happens? And where in your chain or does that matter? Have you ever experimented with putting a compressor in front/behind of your pedals and had something happen that was so kickass and obviously not how the pedal was intended to be used that it blew your load?

Not really wondering about using compressor's for recording, although you bring that up if you want.

All things compressor.

I usually stick a compressor infront of any synth gear/pedal where maybe a pitch to cv conversion is going on to help with tracking, seems to always help.


edit: puttin one after a delay results in some cool new interacton between guitar and delay pedal.

[retinal orbita]

I use a dyna comp script clone that a local builder made for me - I love it. It's typically at the front of my chain and my always on pedal for bass, guitar or noise with the volume at 3:00 PM and the compression at 9:00. Although sometimes when I am making harsh noise I use the compression in various other places as it generates a weird sort of hiss that's very pleasing to me in conjunction with other pedals.

[Uncle Grandfather]

I use a dyna comp script clone that a local builder made for me - I love it. It's typically at the front of my chain and my always on pedal for bass, guitar or noise with the volume at 3:00 PM and the compression at 9:00. Although sometimes when I am making harsh noise I use the compression in various other places as it generates a weird sort of hiss that's very pleasing to me in conjunction with other pedals.

yeah man, indeed they are noisy pedals when not behaving properly. and i love that hiss too i've got an old maestro comp/sustainer and it works technically, but when the note decays the sound starts to tear apart all velcro like while a building kinda gated hisss adds until its this roar of thunder and waves crashing. but all the while its getting quieter and more intense and quieter. i love using that for the closing of a song. this weird decay into silent mayhem

[bigchiefbc]

I have an MXR Bass Comp that I usually turn on whenever I'm playing clean, and turn off whenever I turn on fuzz or distortion. I just like the clean sustain it gives me, and it also evens out the volume level difference between my basses, so I don't have to screw with adjusting volume knobs during a gig. But I think that it sounds squashed and flat when used with dirt, which already compresses your signal anyways.

[retinal orbita]

I would never use one after fuzz, but I'm debating moving my phaser to the front for a smoother effect. I feel like the swoosh kind of overpowers things a tad at the ssettings I like, maybe that's something....

[jrmy]

I used to use an Akai Hexacomp on bass, but it was kind of more of a harmonic exciter than a traditional compressor. It was at the front of the chain, and made everything sound MASSIVE. Alas, something started to go wonky with the individual eq channels, which resulted in a strangely wandering/phased dulling of attack overall. I sent it back to Akai (well, Numark, their US HQ), and they sent it along to their preferred tech... who took one look at it and said "this thing has been discontinued for so long, I have no idea where to find a schematic, let alone figure it out."

At least they covered the shipping. Le sigh.

[Gone Fission]

Ibanez Soundtank compressor after Rat goes a fair way chasing the Fripp "Heroes" sustain thing.

[Uncle Grandfather]

their preferred tech

some tech

[leaves turn]

My comp's in-between pitch shifting/phaser/OD and synth/fuzz. On all the time, using the sustain and blend controls to dial in subtleness‎ or squash.

I used a Warden for a while and loved it, but it got flipped for a Philosopher King.

[Uncle Grandfather]

My comp's in-between pitch shifting/phaser/OD and synth/fuzz. On all the time, using the sustain and blend controls to dial in subtleness‎ or squash.

I used a Warden for a while and loved it, but it got flipped for a Philosopher King.

interesting. i've got the philosophers tone and love the eq and gain. it does have something odd inbetween notes..like a ducking and step up before the compressor kicks back in. its too noticeable for when i'm playing bass, although sometimes i'll use it to good effect playing triplets.

[leaves turn]

My comp's in-between pitch shifting/phaser/OD and synth/fuzz. On all the time, using the sustain and blend controls to dial in subtleness‎ or squash.

I used a Warden for a while and loved it, but it got flipped for a Philosopher King.

interesting. i've got the philosophers tone and love the eq and gain. it does have something odd inbetween notes..like a ducking and step up before the compressor kicks back in. its too noticeable for when i'm playing bass, although sometimes i'll use it to good effect playing triplets.

Yeah, the PK isn't a perfect compressor, and it suffers from being a Pigtronix product: large footprint, awkward jack placement, special snowflake power supply. It's the added distortion and ASDR circuits that put it over the top for me.

[jrmy]

My comp's in-between pitch shifting/phaser/OD and synth/fuzz. On all the time, using the sustain and blend controls to dial in subtleness‎ or squash.

I used a Warden for a while and loved it, but it got flipped for a Philosopher King.

interesting. i've got the philosophers tone and love the eq and gain. it does have something odd inbetween notes..like a ducking and step up before the compressor kicks back in. its too noticeable for when i'm playing bass, although sometimes i'll use it to good effect playing triplets.

Yeah, the PK isn't a perfect compressor, and it suffers from being a Pigtronix product: large footprint, awkward jack placement, special snowflake power supply. It's the added distortion and ASDR circuits that put it over the top for me.

I had a PK, but never bonded with it for regular gigging. That said, it was awesome for suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper-sustained-into-the-noise-floor drones back before I had other means of achieving droneage.

[skullservant]

I seem to gravitate toward optical compressors when I do use them. First in the chain, just to create more sustain and pick up noises when I loop

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

i use compressors alot. on almost everything, almost all the time. you can go hard or you can go soft. each has their applications.

great for smashing drums, great for pumping mixes. amazing at getting unruly sound. that shifts your instruments throughout the mix according to what else is going on. to me, it sounds very organic. like your tracks are living breathing entities. however, go to far, or don't have your levels right and your shit sounds flat and flabby.

i always think of it as shrinking the space which your sounds have to float around. causing them to fight each other to be present in the mix.
when one ducks out, another is waiting to jump in, and you can get this gnarly push and pull.
also use them to get ducking type sounds & huge swells w/ delays and reverbs.

it can be very easy to ruin some shit tho w/ compression, so always be careful!
parallel or NY compression is a great way to squash w/o killing your dynamics.

dynamics are very important!

[ryan summit]

i use a philosophers tone
it made its way to the back of my chain
and i realized thats where my vol drop was comin from
moved it back up front and sounds perfect again
i mainly have it to use with overdrive
for my "clean" lower volume stuff
but mixed with fuzz and everything else
the sustain and feedback just rules so much
so its an always on pedal
unless its a subdued warm situation
but i dont spend much time there