Is there any quick guide for recommend settings on different audio, mainly the attack and release times. But radio would be useful as well.

Kicks
snares
hi hats
guitars
bass material etc also..

drum mix buss settings

Mix buss settings

Again I know it depends on the sound but I just want a quick reference tool for recommended settings thank you

 

you have to learn to memorize it ( what the settings are, as well as what it will sound like
you have to learn what the settings are and what they do

hard knee, 3:1 ratio threshold -2db of transient , attack 33ms, release(decay) 60ms

hard knee, 3:1 ratio threshold -2.5db of transient , attack 40ms, release(decay) 80ms

soft knee, 1:5.1 ratio threshold -1.5db of transient , attack 40ms, release(decay) 100ms

soft knee, 2:1 ratio threshold -2 db of transient , attack 80ms, release(decay) 200ms

soft knee, 2:1 ratio threshold -2 db of transient , attack 80ms, release(decay) 200ms

soft knee, 1:5.1 ratio threshold -1.5 db of transient , attack 50ms, release(decay) 100ms

soft knee, 1:5.1 ratio threshold -2 db of transient , attack 100ms, release(decay) 300ms


In reference to the threshold for all these settings. EX -2 db of transient( means you would see the compressor effecting only 2b of the peaks (not anymore than that)

off the top of my head these are my go to settings. i would then tweak to tempo of song , and fine tine based on the waveform of the tracks, (what it actually needs)

you ONLY want to use compressor to do a tiny bit, (add a second one to also do a tiny bit if you really need it (you don't haha)
a compressor is used a a way to control how your track transients hit, the feeling of it. NOT to use a compressor to do some kind of drastic alteration of the signal.

 

Last edited: Nov 19, 2017

Thanks ! Also what about these

Synths

Piano

Vocals

Also in regards to vocals, what is the 2 compressor chain everyone talks about. The fast Compressor into the slow one.. 1176 into the ?

 

You have to "understand or learn" how compression (or a specific compressor) with different settings sound on specific materials. The best way to do this is take your favourite compresssor and some time and try it yourself. It really depends on the material you want to compress too. This little tutorial might be a good starting point how to find the "right compression" for percussive material. If you try this tutorial with a vari-mu emulation for example and than with a fet or a modern stock daw compresssor, you will get very different settings.

Presets are a nice way to understand the settings and how a specific compressor sounds. Just dial in a preset - check the settings. Because presets are exactly what you are looking for. A list of "starting" settings for different applications for a specific compressor.

Edit - fast compressor into a slow one.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 19, 2017

This is the advice to expand on TruBlood. There really is no predefined settings for kick, snare, hat, etc. Some kicks need compression because they lack punch.. and some need it because they have too much punch. Some hats need to be heavier.. and some need to be tamed. And if using samples or instruments based on samples you'll encounter many sounds that already had a round of compression, and the second stage of compression you apply will vary. In fact, you may need to use your compressor to de-compress. To attempt at a button that just said "Kick" a compressor would have to have a spectral analyzer with a target set to "EveryKickShouldBeShapedLikeThis".

You are way better off referring to a chart that lists "att, rel, thresh, ratio, calibration" and such things instead of a chart that wouldn't know if your kick needed compression because it was pillsbury soft or heavy as a brick.

 

Last edited: Nov 19, 2017

Thanks, I recently bought some heavy Artillery from UAD. THe Apollo TWIN DUO Any recommendations to use? Favorites?

 

And we haven't even started on the parallel drum bus compression/saturation, which is a whole other book.

 

Time to decompress, guys.

 

dbmuzik speaks true. When it comes to compression I feel that one needs to fiddle with the knobs and listen. Presets seem to me useless because there are too many variables from the incoming signal to just throw a general net that will cover a personal need. Delays and modulation effects are probably fine to try a preset to see if it takes you where you want to go, but there are too many things sonically to consider to generalize settings when it comes to compression. I guess you could start at a generalized preset to give you pause to consider your need, but 99 times out of a hundred you will need to adjust all your knobs and or buttons to dial in your sound that connects the dots to all the otber variables in a mix situation so that when you step back you can discern the pretty picture that you have drawn sonically. MJ's post is important as it will help you understand the varied relationships of input, ratio, threshold and the other parameters, but they can only get you to the ballpark, after that you will have to find your own seat.

 

Maybe go through Power Compression Course (Class 8 and above), might guide you in details .
https://blog.music-production-guide.net/power-compression-course/

 

Any analyzer to understand what a compressor does? I mean sth like waveform display. Because lots of analog compressors don't have such things built-in

 

Last edited: Nov 19, 2017

Indeed this one is imho the most complete tuts on the subject.
After this one compression (every aspect of it) will have little secret left - at least on the theory side, although this tutorial also is an invitation to practice, no need for chart of any kind once you understand what you're doing, and you have a solid sense of how playing with the different aspects of a compressor can in many different ways affect your dynamic. You're done with charts once it becomes a tool you're intimate with and you understand the numerous strategies you can have - and how to implement those differently according to your needs, your material and the aims you're after, also the type of compressors you go with. You can play on completely different aspects to achieve the same result (control your dynamic), and weither you would rather play with a low threshold, a high ratio, or fast attack (arbitrary examples) to get where you want to get. At the end of the day you'll make those choices easily once you understand how this specific tool affects the sounds according to which aspects you play with.

 

Thank you my friend Talmi, I hope someday I can share more of my music with you

 

Would have to be an analyzer plugin we can load a plugin inside of so it can measure the before and after to give us a display of the changes in the same window. Given a DAW is already the source plugin host an analyzer could be integrated that does that natively. Best way to do it at this time is put one instance of the analyzer of your choice before the plugin, and one after, and keep both windows open to observe the changes taking place.

 

soft knee, 1:5.1 ratio threshold -2 db of transient , attack 100ms, release(decay) 300ms

soft knee, 3:1 ratio threshold -1.5 db of transient , attack 80ms, release(decay) 150ms

2 stacked first 1
hard knee, 3:1 ratio threshold -2.5 db of transient , attack 33ms, release(decay) 100ms
second one
soft knee, 2:1 ratio threshold -2 db of transient , attack 10ms, release(decay) 150ms

vocal fx buss or group (if you have one) buss compressor settings
hard knee, 4:1 ratio threshold -4 db of transient , attack 33ms, release(decay) 125ms (note this one is parallel compression which means you mix 25 percent wet 75 percent dry
note this is separate from the regular dual stacked compressors for vocals as indicated above. the vocals are the most compressed of all instrument tracks ( the instrument tracks get extra compression from non-compressors like analog modeling but the vocals get direct compression as indicated so that they keep their clarity and really shine in the mix as the dominant force of the song)

compression can also be avoided for the most part and other techniques used to do what compressors do but even better. ( ex. tube preamps, transistor desks, tape machines and many analog devices and virtual analog devices can do a better job than a plain compressor because they are non-linear and softer and more natural sounding.)

 

{There really is no predefined settings for kick, snare, hat, etc. Some kicks need compression because they lack punch..}

they really trying to ask how does one start off using a compressor on each of these types of tracks a type of starting point and there IS starting points that you then custom tweak depending on that exact soundwave in question. for example for a kick you never set settings as
soft knee ,10:1 ratio , threshold -6db of transient, attack 5ms, release 30ms that would destroy any kick drum no matter what but instead the settings of
hard knee, 3:1 ratio threshold -2db of transient , attack 33ms, release(decay) 60ms
will always be a great starting point for any kick at any time ever.( you then tweak the setting to that specific kick of course)

{ I personally use compressor if at all very gently nowadays and use more transparent natural ways instead of compressors.but i answered based on the OP asking about compressors}

 

There already is analyzer it is the gain reduction meter [GR] thought it ruled its own ballistics because the compressor's attenuation circuit generally reacts a lot faster than human perception. Compressors are generally set up to react faster than you can notice on percussive material, even if you are a kung-fu master 12ms is too fast for you to react to visually. Median reaction times for human eye to reaction time are between 240ms - 320ms, with a very small group recording times in 160ms-180ms. You may able to see the signal getting smaller but fatter if you have some +gain on the end of it, but that is what you were after anyway. The great part though is that you can hear differences in sound at a much more granular level than you see them. Best analysis tool is just to close your eyes and focus on the sound.

If you want to just visualize what is going on over time, Compassion and FF C2 have pretty good representation of the GR/T just realize that by the time you see it and understand it, it has already happened in most cases.

If you want a compressor output analysis to see if any harmonics are pushed up or back from the top down that is also going to me tricky as if you can notice them on a non log scale they are way too loud and are heavily affecting the sound to the point where you do not need very much of an ear to notice if you like it or not.

 

An audio file with a prepared noise and your DAW (or any audio editor that can load your plugin):
https://theproaudiofiles.com/video/analyzing-effects-compression/
https://theproaudiofiles.com/video/analyzing-effects-compression-part-2/
But it's not realtime.

 

wait a second... you actually own UAD stuff, and are not sure how to use compression yet?

wow... your addiction is worse than mine had been.

 

If you are creating everything inside your DAW with the instruments you listed, there should be little need for compression, unless you have unintended wildly fluctuating velocity settings. Compression was created to overcome dynamic range of things like real drums, vocals and bass where levels needed to be controlled.