Limiters and compressors.
I'm sure you've heard of at least one of the two and essentially, they're the same thing.
You don't need to be using this specific plugin to understand what I'm going to be talking about.
If you're curious about learning what everything does in a compressor, this tutorial will walk
you through what all of the controls will do and even a few tips on what you can be
using them for along the way.
Stick around, I think you'll find this one useful.
[How to use a compressor / limiter] [(with any DAW or plugin 2018)]
Hey, everyone, it's Jake from Transverse Audio.
The complexity of compression can range from one of its most simplest forms as a limiter
and to more complicated uses such as sidechain compression, where the compressor will drop
the level of one sound whenever another is played.
[Sidechain compression example]
And multi-band compression, allowing you to compress multiple regions on the frequency
spectrum differently.
[Multi-band compression example]
This compressor, however, is a single-band compressor.
Simply put, a compressor reduces the gain of something based on how loud it is
when it goes through the effect.
[Compressor example]
Limiters and compressors will, however, reduce the dynamic range of your sounds that
you use it on.
So, be careful not to over-compress, it can leave you with results similar to having all
of your mixer tracks set to the same level.
That can really ruin a good mix.
Now, let's get into the effect.
The gain control will allow you to apply post-compression gain.
[Gain parameter example]
This is also known as makeup gain and in the case of this particular plugin, while on the
limiter section, this parameter will apply the gain before the signal is limited.
Saturation on a limiter acts as a threshold that will apply amplitude distortion to anything
within its range.
The threshold parameter will set how loud the input can be before being compressed.
Everything louder than the level of the threshold will be affected by the compressor.
This is good for getting rid of harsh or louder elements of a track that kind of stand out
and may sound unpleasant.
Lowering the threshold to only effect these peaks will keep your levels in check.
Knee is a term used to describe the compression rate.
This is quite similar to the attack but is slightly different.
The ratio determines the amount of gain reduction applied once a sound is louder than the set threshold.
The numbers in the ratio describe how much gain will be reduced based on the input level.
[Ratio Parameter example]
For example, if the ratio is set to 4:1, you will need to increase the amplitude of the sound
by 4 decibels to hear an increase of 1 decibel.
While the ratio is at 1:1, there will be no compression, simply because you need to increase
the level by 1 decibel to get a result of 1 decibel.
The attack amount will determine how fast the compressor will react to changes in the
decibel level of the input.
To compress the signal right away, you can use a low attack time.
When using a higher attack time, on the other hand, you can let the transient
(or the beginning of a sound)
pass through unaffected and the compressor will take longer to reach it's
set ratio of gain reduction.
[Attack parameter example] [Snare-Clap]
The curve setting connected to the attack and release times ranges from 1 to 8
on this particular plugin.
Using this will let you change the tension of the curve associated with the attack and release.
At 1 the effect will be more immediate and at 8 the curve will be longer.
Release time effects the gain of the input signal after it has fallen below the threshold level again.
Changing this value will set the time it will take for the gain to increase until it becomes
uncompressed again.
Lowering the release time will return the signal to its original decibel level very rapidly
while choosing a higher amount will make the amplitude rate slower.
Sustain is a control used to prevent the compression envelope from releasing too quickly.
To sidechain on this specific plugin, you can use this menu here to select the mixer
track that will be sending a signal to the compressor.
You first need to set up a sidechain track in the mixer for a number to be visible here,
unless this was placed in the master track, if so, you'll be able to see all other tracks here.
Let's switch over to the limiter using this option here.
What makes a compressor a limiter is when the ratio of compression is generally at 10:1
or higher.
You should also note that at least for this plugin, the limiter and compressor both remain
active even when switched over to one or the other.
A limiter will quite literally limit the maximum decibel level an element can reach.
This ensures nothing peaks beyond a certain point and is used to prevent clipping.
The ceiling on a limiter determines where this maximum is and the input signal needs
to be higher than the ceiling level for the limiter to work.
[Ceiling level example] [Kick drum]
The noise gate for both the compressor and the limiter on this plugin is used to further
define what will pass through the effect.
The gate is useful to reduce the amplitude of some of the side effects resulting from
heavy compression and when using a lot of makeup gain.
These two buttons on the bottom right will allow you to quickly save a kind of temporary
preset used to do split testing.
Flipping the state will switch between the two states and using the button next to it
will save the current state over the other one.
You may not always need to use a compressor or limiter in your tracks.
If you do, I hope this video will help you get the results you're after.
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