Hi Guys,

just wondering why compressors, amps and pedals are so popular on the sister site. So many ppl give them a like once they are released.
-Why there are so many types of compressors and why they are so loved? Did they not do the same at the end of the day?
-What is about all the pedals and amps? I assumed this stuff is for metal/rock guitars. Is there any other purpose outside the rock genre? Is there any difference to the standard effect plugins?

I dont get it

Thanks.

 

how long have you been a musician/producer ? because you said "I dont get it"

If it's long enough and you still doesnt get it, it's kinda bad IMO. wrong career path kinda bad. You don't have to like or do what everybody else does, you just have to understand what it is all about as a self-assuring thing that your skills developed in a healthy way. What you are going to do with the information is always up to you but again, understanding it is important.

If you're new, you'll slowly get it. There isn't one definite, one-liner answer to that. It is equal to the possibility of explaining the whole idea of a complex thing such as geopolitics to an 8 years old. It takes years. Slowly the boy will grow up, learn and make sense of it his own way, along the way if he has what it takes, he doesn't have to, but if he wants he'll get there eventually.

short answer, it's a new toy. we all love a new toy

 

Most compression behaviours can be covered with 4-5 compressors, or fewer if you get one of the 'build your own compressor' type of plugins like TrackComp, MCompressor, Molot or Presswerk.

I believe that most people, within the same category of compressor, like the 'signature' saturation/distortion qualities more than they do the actual compression attack/release/... behaviour, irrespective of what they say.

As for effects pedals - doesn't matter if a reverb comes in pedal form, works just fine on any material.
As for other pedals and amps - saturation/distortion is used on pretty much everything. You don't specifically need a guitar amp or pedal. Some people just like that particular sound of that particular pedal on their vocals.

If you're asking about pedals used on guitars - let's just say guitarists are very peculiar when it comes to perceived sonic qualities from pedals.

 

That's a bit complicated, here's a few things i can think of as to why it happens:
1-Functionality: Some compressors just allow you to do more things.
2-Simplicity: Some compressors can get you to the desired result with fewer movements and controls.
3-Tone: Analog emulations usually are more than just compression. the frequency curve is different, the harmonic content is different, and that changes from emulation to emulation too.
3-Familiarity: Sometimes you're so fmiliar with a compressor that you know what it's gonna do and it's what you need. This happens a lot with analog emulations that you "know" what they're supposed to do. If you know what an 1176 is going to sound like and you need that exact effect, why would you load in a comp with 100 controls? That's an oversimplification and it's highly contextual but you get the point.
4-We monkey. We like shiny things. we like new toys.
5-a combination of two or more of the above. Maybe you love your SSL bus compressor emulation, but another one comes out next week that has more controls and lets you do more shit, or it has less control, or it just has a different tone for some reason. Maybe it's the exact same but you like the GUI more.

what Xorome said.

Also, consider that, if you work on the production of other people's stuff (of any genre), eventually you'll receive guitars or bass tracks that need to pass through some amp sim for whatever reason. Then we go back to the same thing about the compressors. Some amp sims/pedals will offer more control, some will make it sound okay quicker, some you're just familiar with, etc.

 

I think you should go read a cooking website with recipes and user comments. Imagine the amount of repetition if they made everything with the same 10 ingredients, or less. Go to an art supply store and pick out 5 colors of paint, and that's all you can use. We may have lots of options, but they are only options within the same umbrella categories. So we delve into all the details and minutia.

1. Modulation effects
These modify the source audio signal with another signal, generally an oscillator. Includes choruses.
2. Time-based effects
These include processes where some form of time manipulation occurs to the signal. Includes reverb, delay, and echoes.
3. Spectral effects
Spectral effects alter the frequency information of an audio file or the position of these files in a stereo or multi-channel mix. Includes equalization and panning.
4. Dynamic effects
These alter the dynamics of an audio signal- the change in amplitude over time. Changing the signal amplitude will also change the shape of the signal waveform, which is signal distortion. This includes distortion.
5. Filters
Includes band-pass filters, bell curve filters, envelope filters, high-pass filters, high shelf filters, low-pass filters, low shelf filters, and notch filters.

list text from: https://academy.wedio.com/audio-effects-2-2/

 

I see it like that: there is a kind of boomer people that love to have a well-equipped garage, with every type of mechanical tool, each carrying out a specific task. More than often they don't even use them, but just knowing they have those tools makes them feel protected.
We have the same mental drift, but with plugins.

 

Last edited: Nov 1, 2023

Maybe he's just a newb?

Depends. They all are dynamic tools, as transient designers, gates, up- and downward expanders and limiters are, but they can differ vastly or just by a small amount.
Pure digital compressors should be clean, have sufficient amount of parameters and a wide range for their values. They should have a nice and useful GUI with easy access and good visibility.
Analogue emulations on the other hand are a completely different story. You can have 50 of them and not find a matching pair sound-wise, they all can differ. Attack and release times and slopes, ratios, knees, GR limit and of course added harmonics.
On top of that they can come with very different amount of parameters and their values.
So, yes, in terms of analogue emu comps, there's a good reason for the huge variety.

Since pedals and amps are analogue emus aswell...

 

I dont know for sure, that why I asked.

 

Ok, I could be pedantic and ask where's the question mark? But I'm not going to do this ... er.

 

I'll answer it anyway..

 

Thing thing is yeah, you always have a pretty basic amount of gear/software that you use on a regular basis, know well and could probably use exclusively without requiring anything else- but it's always nice to check out new things because you think hey, maybe there's going to be some thing magical about it that'll just take everything to a new level! And of course it doesn't and you fall back on the same stuff you were using in the first place but that's how the accumulation happens...
And as to why are so many new things coming out all the time when they probably could be replicated with things that already exist is that for people that aren't really comfortable digging deep into their gear sometimes it's very helpful to have something come out that nails (or claims to) a specific sound for them right out of the box with no tweaking.

 

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the OP to ask about pedals. They can be tricky. The more you use them the more nuances you discover. Besides, some pedals might play well with some pedals along the chain but not so much with others. For example, on a bass amp they could be very useful. Sometimes you have a bass guitar that doesn’t sustain well on a certain amp, or it’s too pokey for the speaker(s) the amp has. In that case, that one-knob compressor in an amp can compensate for that chracacter of a given amp. On a venue I play weekly, there’s a Warwick amp. I engage the compressor with the knob at zero because just engaging the circuit makes my bass a bit brighter and characterful.

 

About guitar side (amps, pedals ...) there is not only the sound, but PLAYING feel.

The first time i tried profiling tech (Kemper, Mooer MNRS 2.0, THU Rig Player ...), it was a new level of FEEL.
Dynamic was so realistic it was like a real amp for the first time in decades i used digital modelers and sims.
I played real all tubes for years before.

BUT if you only listen to the final result ... you will not hear a big difference between a 15 years old plugin and the last one.

I'm a lot less picky about compressors, EQ ... because i don't mix that much now.

 

Thanks Guys for the input
...and yes I'm new to this biz (again). I already produced 15 years ago with limited access to equipment and now I'm restarting and learning stuff. Most from the scratch as my producing skills in the past were not very fancy and I did not had the right attention and knowledge.

 

My solution was to LIMIT myself on purpose.

Like using a "limited" suite (compared to Waves, Plugin Alliance ...) : FabFilter
You get almost all you need for mixing and mastering. And with the same interface and workflow.

Sometimes, i add some "spice", like KNOCK (Plugins That Knock) to enhance bass content.
But frankly, less is better until you reach enough level to really NEED the "new stuff".

I prefer to invest into headphones, monitorings, room acoustic ... than loosing time and money into the "new stuff".
May be to gain 1% in the final result.