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

[Uncle Grandfather]

You are the last person who probably needs a compressor, it's like against everything you stand for and your whole aesthetic...

Sorry folks, I trust soni more than most people.

i was influenced by peer pressure....

[Uncle Grandfather]

It can be used and abused many different ways

this. so much this. behind a delay i've gotten cool results where i after I strum a chord, the delays will sort of start to fizzle around edges getting dirtier and into a sort of self oscillation..without getting louder, and without dying off as fast as they normally would. whenever i mute the strings it just stops and i can start all over again. trying to remember what pedals they were. it was a tip i pickup up from a forum. pretty cool effect.

[PetZounds]

I had a Dyna Comp for a little while, but I didn't really get into it. I didn't try using it in any unconventional ways, which may have made me like it more. But I don't really like the idea of having my dynamic range compressed very much, at least not with any regularity. I like it to be quiet when I pick quietly and loud when I strum loudly. Maybe I have the wrong idea about how they're supposed to be used, though?

So I traded the Dyna Comp for a cab (I think it was donovan's at some point or he had a hand in building it or something?) and I'm not sure if the cab even works. Right now it's my coffee table. Soooo that's the extent of my experience with compressors.

[theavondon]

Parker bought that cab from some guy named Boone Staples.

[PetZounds]

Oh, that's right. I remember now.
That sounds like exactly the kind of name a guy who would build a cab like that would have.

I don't think it's even wired up at the moment. I'll have to mess around in there someday and see if it works.

[Achtane]

I love you guys so much.

[fishtankdork]

I fuck with dynamics to much to use a comp. I would like to try one, but playing hard/soft is a big part of my sound

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

using compression doesn't mean all your dynamics are gone. its all in how u set it.

[theavondon]

I love you guys so much.

[patrick]

I have a Boss LM-2 that I got in exchange for a crappy DigiTech pedal. I have it set really transparently; it just makes all the strings sound even when I play chords and brightens my tone a little. It's a small difference, but a pretty huge one.

[rustywire]

I like them for post production.
Compressor shines most on vocals and bass, drums. Not guitar, not synths. IMO YMMV etc.

But plugging a bass directly into an LA2A is magical.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

Anyone use software compressors? Was trying some out when mixing a track some friends and I made for fun. I have no idea what I'm doing

i use the softube fet and the glue. they are both super rad sounding.

Are there any guides for proper use of them? I tried the ones in Audition and some presets worked well. But I'd like to have a firm grasp on how to use compressors in production.

i found this one relatively helpful. more so than others. IMHO guides are pretty hit or miss.
http://downloads.izotope.com/guides/iZo ... hOzone.pdf

there is no one way to set compression, especially for production work.
i think time, a good set of ears, and a good idea of how the sound youre hearing translates to actual listening devices is most important.
also, don't get fooled by loudness vs. punch. sometimes compression is perceived to sound better when in actuality it is just louder.
try to make it sound better, but at the same volume as you previously had it w/o any compression.

[blanket]

But plugging ... is magical.

appropriate use of compression.

[hollowhero]

I don't normally use my compressor, but thanks to this thread I decided to put if after some reverb and it was awesome

[Uncle Grandfather]

I don't normally use my compressor, but thanks to this thread I decided to put if after some reverb and it was awesome

this. so much this.