Music bloggers have tried to follow the example of John Peel in championing new music and artists that do not have the multi-million pound marketing machine behind them. They try to open the public’s ears to the beauty that sits outside the Top 40 Charts, and they gain notoriety from finding these bands and artists and giving them their first audience.

With the growth of influence of these bloggers, the question has now become “how do I get featured on your blog?” With our sister site, The Blue Walrus, sitting pretty as one of the top music sites on Technorati, I thought now might be a good time to go over the basics that will give bands the best chance of being heard through the noise of a music blogger’s inbox. Bloggers receive hundreds of emails per week containing new music from record labels, PR folk, band management, and band members themselves – making it more important than ever to try and stand out from the crowd, and following these rules should give you a little help:

Choose The Right Blogs

Don’t just send your email out to very blog under the sun. If you send music to blogs that quite obviously don’t cover your genre then you r are actively burning bridges – no-one like to feel spammed. The idea with sending music to bloggers is not to carpet bomb everyone, but to pick a select few, personalise the message to them and then follow it up. It may also help to target blogs in your hometown or at least home-country – this way you can invite them to shows and possibly get extra coverage of your live show as well as your recordings.
Finding blogs that cover the sort of music you write is as simple as going on the Hype Machine and searching for a similar band and finding the blogs that wrote about them, or do the same using Google’s Blog Search. Once you’ve found a few blogs that might cover your music, then go through their blogroll looking for similar blogs as well.

Cultivate A Relationship With The Bloggers You Choose

Everyone is more likely to write about people that they know, and if you manage to strike up a relationship with the bloggers you send your music too then this can help them read your emails first. If a blogger writes a great piece about one of your favourite bands, then comment on the post or tweet them saying so, or if you’re going to be at the same live show then say hello. This way you sending them your music at a later date will not be “cold calling”, they’ll know who you are and will be more likely to actually read your email and press play. They might even click through your profile and listen to your music for their own curiosity. I’m not saying suck up to the bloggers or give them undeserved praise – simply that most likely the bloggers you submit your music to may well have a similar taste in music to you, and so don’t be afraid of striking up a discussion with them about that.

Keep The Email Short And To The Point

Don’t bother with the niceties of “I’m sure you’re really busy but…”, or “I know you get loads of these but…”, just get to the point – “Hi, we’re a new band called X from Town Y, and we think we have a sort of Z sound with influences ranging from A to B – here’s the links to our Facebook/Twitter/Bandcamp/SoundCloud” and then add your bio beneath that. That first sentence is all a number of bloggers will read as they wade through the flood of submissions – so make it count. Only if they’ve read that and thought it is interesting will they press play on the music and/or get round to reading the bio.

Make Your Music Quick And Easy To Play

SoundCloud provides a great option for bands and musicians to link to their music and make it playable within just a couple of clicks and is the preferred method of receiving music by most bloggers. A basic account is free so there really is little excuse not to offer your music this way. Bandcamp is great as well, and well worth having for those who prefer this method, and also for the ability to sell single/EP/album downloads outside of the iTunes/Amazon ecosystems too. If you are sending an EP or album, then link to what you think are your best two or three songs, and then give a link to download the record as a zip file of mp3s. You can host this zip on Dropbox again for free and downloading takes a single click – the easier you make all this, the better. Never attach mp3s to emails – they will be ignored. Whatever you do don’t lock your music up on Facebook and expect music bloggers to “like” your page to enable the stream or download – they won’t. Ever.

Label Your Music Properly

I can’t remember the number of times where I’ve been sent an album by a band that they have forgotten to add ID3 tags to – and this makes it damn hard to work out which band that was a week later when I’d finally had a chance to listen to the whole record. Make sure the tags on your MP3s work properly, add the album/single art and it is often a good idea to add the URL of your band’s website or Facebook page in the comment section to make yourselves even easier to find. Tools like MP3tag do a very good job here.
If you are using SoundCloud to offer streams of your music (as your should) then use the format “Artist – Song Title” to title your songs. Like the ID3 tags, this makes it easier for people to find, and also helps with the music being picked up properly by the aggregators such as the Hype Machine, Elbo.ws, Shuffler.fm, and Ex.fm.

The Music

This should, obviously, be the most important part. Time is of short supply in the music blogging world, and your song will need to capture someone’s attention within the first 20 seconds. If you have this slow moody build up for three minutes, then no-one will likely actually get to the real start of the track. Yes I know this is utterly superficial, as plenty of great songs take a little bit of time to warm up, but maybe leave those tracks for after you’ve got a little audience ready and wanting more.

Focus On Originality

This should be self-evident, but remixes are a dime a dozen and unless I know and like the remix artist’s previous work, emails just pushing remixes or a cover version go straight in the bin – and I’m not alone in taking this route. Focus on your own material, and if your proud of some of your remixes or covers then play them at live shows or put them up on your SoundCloud or BandCamp, but don’t bother sending them to bloggers.

Add Links

It sounds obvious, and I mentioned it above, but make sure you add links to your band’s Facebook, SoundCloud, and Bandcamp pages – every band should have these. Then if you are on Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube, Vimeo, or have a full website then add them too. If you have a record for sale, add a link to buy the record on iTunes, Amazon, or BandCamp as well alongside the release date.

Add A Decent Picture

Attach a decent picture of the band and/or link to where the blogger can find a few decent photographs that are available for use with their write-up. Decent quality photos as well are a bonus, as some sites tend to publish larger images with each write-up, and good quality photographs can always be edited down.

Add Contact Details

Yes bloggers can reply to the email address you’re sending the message from but for some questions – including booking bands for live showcases – a phone number can be very useful.

Make Sure You BCC

We all know that you are sending your music to quite a few bloggers (not to many though as I said before), but make sure that you BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) everyone when your are sending out mass(ish) emails. If you just CC everyone in then it just ends up as a load of unwanted messages for everyone.

For some other perspectives on this you can’t go wrong with taking a look at what Breaking More Waves and Disco Demons have said on the subject.

Originally publisher as How To Get Music Bloggers To Listen © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

At this point, tablets (almost entirely iPads) are seen as tools to work with alongside a DAW as a touchscreen interface, or for laying down some simple song structures when on the move. But with the launch of Wave Machine Labs’ Auria, we’ve got a full 48-track DAW right there with full support for VST plugin effects.

With the right audio interface, Auria claims to offer up to 24-track simultaneous recording, and AAF support so that users can export the session to their full DAW – although with all this on offer within the iPad you might see people starting to use Apple’s tablet as just that.

Auria may not be able to record MIDI, VST instruments are not supported, and the VST effects will need to be wrapped in an iOS wrapper and bought as in-app purchases – but as a sign of things to come – this is an impressively big step. Wave Machine Labs is also trying to develop the VST standard across the iOS platform which would be useful for all mobile music makers, with PSP involved from the start.

All this for just $50 (£30) looks damn impressive!

Originally publisher as NAMM 2012: Wave Machine Labs’ Auria DAW For iPad © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

As well as announcing the Renaissance and Studio MPC products, Akai has announced the interesting looking MPC FLY. It is essential a 16-pad controller that sits in a laptop-esque case that can also house an iPad 2, and then an iOS app lets you sequence up to four tracks simultaneously.

Here’s a breakdown of the features for each part:

MPC FLY Hardware

• The first MPC designed specifically for iPad 2
• Fitted compartment for iPad 2 provides fully integrated portable MPC solution
• 16 backlit genuine MPC pads with MPC Note Repeat & MPC Swing
• Works seamlessly with the MPC App: sequence & sample editing, effects, EQ and more
• Create beats on the go and transfer to a Mac or PC for further mastering
• Double-hinged case sits upright, lies flat or closes for transport
• Compatible with virtually any Core MIDI app
• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Charges iPad when plugged into wall power

MPC FLY iPad App (Developed by Retronyms)

• Sequence four tracks simultaneously: four-track mixer built in
• Built in sound library of samples and drum kits
• Record and overdub sequences and create and edit your own Programs
• 16-Levels mode: play one sample at 16 levels of attack, velocity, length, and tuning
• Note variation slider allows you to manipulate attack, velocity, length, and tuning as you play
• Built-in effects: delay, bit crusher, master compressor/limiter
• Time correct: 1/8 note – 1/32T with variable Swing setting
• Note Repeat: 1/8 note – 1/32T timing
• Sample using internal mic or line-in and trim and categorize samples
• Sample from your iPod library with turntable interface
• Share on SoundCloud, Facebook or twitter
• Supports WIST, Wireless Sync Start protocol from Korg
• Supports AudioPaste

Originally publisher as NAMM 2012: Akai MPC FLY For iPad 2 © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

Japanese audio electronics powerhouse Zoom have announced the G5 effects and amps simulator at Namm this year, offering 120 effects and 20 amp models all in one small package. It will let users use up to nine effects simultaneously with four large LCD screens displaying the amp and stompbox interface.

Other features include:

• Real tube booster for amp overdrive
• 3D Z-pedal for multi-dimensional parameter control
• Over 120 versatile effects including 20 amp models
• Looper function with 60-second phrase recording/overdubbing
• Integrated drum machine and auto-chromatic tuner
• Balanced XLR output for DI use
• USB audio interface for DAW recording
• Edit&Share software available through free download
• Includes Steinberg Cubase LE recording software

We’ve got no word yet on pricing or official launch date, but watch this space for updates!

Originally publisher as NAMM 2012: Zoom G5 Effects/Amps Simulator © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

The iRig Mix can work between two iDevices, or alongside a single iDevice with audio provided from other sources such as CD or MP3 players – with the iDevice then running the DJ Rig app to tempo match and beat sync. It’s portable size and versatility makes it a great accompaniment to any digital DJ setup, and the ability to use non-Apple audio sources means that a single iPad is sufficient for most party DJ needs.

Beyond its uses for DJing, the iRig Mix also offers a guitar/microphone input that makes it easy to process the audio with other real-time effects apps, and the standard RCA output connectors provide direct connection to PA systems or powered speakers.

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Originally publisher as NAMM 2012: IK Multimedia iRig Mix © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

The USB connected device plugs into your PC or MAC and offers the user unbeatable control within the device, as along with the beautifully tactile hardware toggles, the touchscreen enables a whole host more options. We’ll have to wait until we see the device in person before we can make a decision on whether this is better than hooking up a more traditional controller and then an iPad for touchscreen extendibility – but having the whole device as one is certainly a first and likely a sign of things to come.

Originally publisher as NAMM 2012: ControlTOUCH – Midi Keyboard + Touchscreen © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

Leading music software developers Native Instruments offer their Guitar Rig Pro solution that gives you a huge variety of options for tweaking your guitar tone – offering a very wide range of amps, cabs, effects, and mics. And this is done all through an admittedly geeky but clean interface for €179.

One of the few hardware amp manufacturers that produces its own amp modelling plugin is Peavey with ReValver, originally developed by Alien Connections. It offers some pretty phenomenal emulations of Peavey amps, but you also get a good variety of models of other manufacturers’ gear including effects and stompboxes. Add to that, the draggable rack-based design and the ability to host VST effects and you have a very powerful solution on your hands for £179.

IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube has long been a leader in this field, offering one of the best interfaces around alongside over 160 components making beautiful tones through its suite of stomps, effects, mics, cabs, and amps. At 270 euros it isn’t cheap, but they do offer a free version of AmplitTube 3 which limited to 24 gear modules with others available for later purchase – meaning there is a much cheaper way to get the tone you need for that guitar sound.

Another free option is the suite of LePou guitar plugins which provide a variety of guitar amp and cab simulations both Mac and PC for nada – always something we appreciate here at AudioMelody. If you don’t mind a rather basic interface that comprises of simply a list of faders and parameters to adjust then the freeware Simulanalog Guitar Suite is another great option – it offers five stompbox emulations, two amps (models of the Fender Twin 1969 and the Marshall JCM900 Dual Reverb), and we found the lack of a glitzy interface refreshing.

Of course in our book it is difficult to match the enjoyment offered by the real guitars and ams that you can pick up easily over at our sponsors Sounds Great Music, but the software is now matching the hardware in tone.

[photo courtesy of Kainet]

Originally publisher as Guitar Amp/Effect Modelling VST Plugins Round Up © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

Grab them over at Future Loops.

Originally publisher as Future Loops Is Having A Sale © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

We are going through our software catalogue application by application to make sure we only offer the best and most up-to-date programs to help you make music. So far we have sorted through the audio editors, drum machines, format converters, media players/managers, sequencers, and synthesizers, but are still sorting through the plugin effects and instruments. We’ll get there soon though, earning us back our crown as the leading free music software website.

If you think we’re missing a resource then please submit it and we’ll get it listed.

Originally publisher as AudioMelody Relaunched © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials

Unfortunately you need to be *told* what a compressor does. Furthermore – even after you know what it does – someone needs to explain why the things that it does are considered useful. You won’t figure it out for yourself.

Normally – for non-technical people – the explanations of what a compressor does, are so bewildering that they end up even more confused than they were before: “xDBs in, equals yDBs out, over zDb threshold, according to this graph” etc. etc.

Fortunately, I have a friend who explains it very well, and very succinctly:

“What does a compressor do, Alan?”
“It makes the loud bits quieter.”
“I see… But surely if it just makes the loud bits quieter, can’t you then turn EVERYTHING right up, and make get everything really, REALLY loud?”

“Exactly.”

So there you go. Simple isn’t it? A compressor just makes the loud bits quieter, allowing you to crank everything up to maximum volume. But under what situations would this be useful?

Firstly, there’s the obvious application of making your CDs sound as loud as possible. This trend is starting to get a bit silly, and is beginning to prevent people from producing albums of good dynamic range. Nevertheless, if you master a rock or pop album with no compression at all, then the chances are it will sound pitifully quiet compared to the rest of the CDs in peoples record collections. It will probably sound like it has been severely under-recorded. Compression lets you get a much higher average level onto the CD without affecting the music too much.

A very practical application of compression is in live PA setups such as a rock concert. There is a danger that very, very loud sounds will blow up the loudspeakers as well as risking serious hearing damage for those near the stage. The solution is to put a compressor in place. This makes the loud bits – and in this case only the very loudest of the loud bits – quieter, so as to avoid damage to equipment (and people). Such hard compression of only the very top peaks of music, is called “limiting”, and is so useful that many compressors have a “limiting” function in addition to normal compresson, and so you will have to read the manual if you want to use this feature in addition to using the compressor for additional “normal” compression.

Another example is that many vocalists have poor microphone technique. When they sing quietly, they sing *far* too quietly. When they sing loudly, they are *way* too loud. A compressor can reduce the “dynamic range” of the vocalist to a more managable level, which is why a compressor is sometimes called a “Dynamics Processor”.

Bass guitar is another instrument which can be hard to play consistently throughout a song. Any minor errors in the bass guitarists playing can leave “holes” in the song where the bass seems to disappear. A compressor can help keep the performance at a consistent level.

There are obviously many other instruments and sounds that could benefit from compression at some time.

So, as you can see, there are many applications for a compressor. Basically, in any situation where sound volume levels are getting out of control, a compressor can be used to “tame” the extremes of volume and keep it within a reasonable range, entirely according to your needs. Obviously a very powerful tool.

Using one, on the other hand, is not so simple…

Why? Because a high-quality compressor, with “good” settings, is designed so that you can’t “hear” it working as such – so it’s difficult to tell when it is doing the right thing. There have been red-faced moments for many engineers – including myself – when they have spent many minutes carefully adjusting the settings, proudly declaring them “perfect”, and then realise that the compressor is in fact, switched off. Very embarrasing.

There is also the added problem that the markings on the controls of many compressors are not very accurate. They are only there for a “guide” – and to help you restore settings later, so simply looking at the controls may not be a good indication of what the compressor is actually up to.

Many compressors – including software plugins – don’t even have meters on them, and needless to say, this makes it incredibly difficult to know if they are operating correctly.
Getting Started

Because compressors have many different applications, the way that you use a compressor depends very much on what you are trying to achieve with it. In this article, we will look at four main applications of a compressor which are all quite different. Most applications are just variations on these four different uses, so they should serve as a good starting point for most of the things you will want to do.

The four main applications that we will look at, are:

1. Hard limiting – to prevent speakers or digital recordings from overload
2. Compressing an instrument or vocal
3. Adding “punch” to bass drums and bass guitars
4. Compressing a final mix

In addition, we will look at a specialised fifth example:

1. De-essing a sibilant vocal

But before we get into these, let’s look at the theory behind compressors and what the controls actually do. This is a little difficult to understand at first, so don’t worry if you haven’t “got it” the first time around. It will make more sense after you’ve experimented a bit with a real compressor in front of you. Note that not all compressors have all of these controls, and some compressors are very “minimalist” indeed. If you don’t have all these controls, then look at the compressors instruction manual to see what preset values the “missing” controls are set to.
What The Controls Do

Firstly, in order to compress the volume range of something into a more “workable” volume range, you need to have in your mind an idea of what the lowest “normal” volume level is, and what the “loudest” volume level is, and have a mental idea of how “loud” you are prepared to let the loudest get.

The “Threshold” control, sets the volume level at which the compressor starts to do its work. Below this volume level, the compressor will literally do absolutely nothing. So you basically set the “Threshold” control to the lowest volume level at which you want the compressor to start working. We will discuss in the examples how you actually make this setting. Naturally, if the “Threshold” control is set to maximum, the compressor won’t ever do anything at all because the level of the music is usually way below this level, and therefore remains totally unnaffected.

The “Ratio” control sets how “powerful” the compressor is. At its lowest setting (1:1), the compressor literally does nothing, and is effectively “switched off”. On the other hand, at its highest setting (normally marked 20:1 or even infinity-to-one), the compressor is 100% powerful – so powerful in fact that it TOTALLY PREVENTS the volume level getting even the *slightest* bit louder than the threshold level! Hard to believe? Try it and see. Set the compressor ratio at maximum, play some sound through the compressor and start turning the threshold level down until you hear the effect. If you are playing solo drums through the compressor the effect is quite astounding.

The only problem with doing this is that (naturally) the total volume gets so much quieter, because you are “constraining” it (compressing it) – so very much. That’s why compressors are almost always equipped with a powerful gain control marked “Output” or “Gain make-up” in order to boost the volume level back up to a reasonable level after it has been “squashed” down.

Every time you turn the “Threshold” down, you are “constraining” the sound more and more, and making it quieter, and so you almost always need to use the “Output” control to boost the level back up again. This is a bit irritating, so several compressors have a switch – normally marked something like “Auto gain make-up” or similar – to automatically boost the output as you turn the “Threshold” down. It’s not on every compressor, but it is a nice little feature to have, and saves you fiddling about with the “Output” control all the time. For clarity in the following examples though, I have assumed you either don’t have this switch, or that it is turned off.

So far so good. “Threshold”, “Ratio”, and “Output” are the main controls on an compressor, and “theoretically” give you everything you need. So what are the other controls for?

Well, sometimes – in the real world – things aren’t quite so simple. For example, you can have a vocal that is sometimes too quiet, sometimes too loud, and occasionally, way, way, way, way too loud. Wouldn’t it be nice if the compressor somehow had an automatic “Ratio” control?

That’s why many compressors have a “soft-knee” or “over-easy” control. With the “soft-knee” control turned on, the compressor doesn’t simply and immediately “kick-in” at the level set by the “Threshold” control – it merely “starts” to work. As the level gets louder and louder, it reaches a level where it is finally reaching the “power” of compression that is set by the “Ratio” control.

So if you wanted to control a vocal that was wildy out-of-control in terms of levels, you could switch on the “soft-knee” control, set a “Ratio” much higher than normal, and set the “Threshold” control to the quietest “acceptable” vocal sound level. When the vocal exceeds this level with the “Soft-knee” control switched on, the compressor starts to compress at fairly moderate levels. If however, the vocal gets wildly out of control and attempts to get *seriously* loud, then the compressor starts working much harder to pull it back to sensible levels. It’s a bit like having an automatic “Ratio” control, with the maximum compression “power” controlled by the setting of the “Ratio” knob on the front panel.

Then there are the “Attack” and “Release” controls. So what do these do?

If you’ve followed this explanation so far, you’ll realise that a compressor is a bit like having a smart guy hanging onto a volume control and adjusting it by hand according to the music. But how quickly can this “person” respond? Well, the “Attack” control, adjusts how quickly this “person” is, at turning down the volume when things get too loud. The “Release” control is how quickly that same “person” can turn the volume back up again when things have calmed down.

But why would you want to adjust this? Surely you would want it to be instantaneous? (after all, it *is* supposed to by an automatic system…)

It turns out that in practice, in many situations, you don’t want the volume to be “instantly” cranked down the moment things get too loud. Under certain conditions you can really *hear* the volume being pulled down, and this is very undesireable. Instead, it *sometimes* sounds better if the “person” is a bit sloppy and slow at yanking the volume down. The “Attack” control affects this sloppyness.

What about the “Release” control? Well, in a similar way, if the compressor is too fast at turning the volume control back up again, you can hear it working (the audible effect is known as “pumping”). It just sounds “artificial”. So the “Release” control adjusts the speed at which the compressor “recovers” after yanking down the volume. The exact speed which sounds “correct” depends on the music, so that’s why you can adjust it by hand. The examples following in a moment give some suggested settings, but by all means experiment in order to find the most “natural” sounding setting.

And that leads us to another control. It is a switch, and it is sometimes marked “Automatic” and sometimes marked “Peak/RMS”. So what does this switch do?

Well, as I mentioned before, the “Attack” and “Release” settings really depend on the music you are using the compressor on. But music continually changes. What the “Automatic” or “Peak/RMS” switch does, is to switch on an automatic setting that attempts to “listen” to the music and continually set the correct “Attack” and “Release” settings for you. Of course it doesn’t always do the best job, and that is why you also have manual control if you want it. It is important to realise that with this switch turned on, the “Attack” and “Release” controls are disabled and will do nothing. Some compressors (unfortunately) don’t have “Attack” and “Release” controls at all, and are either set to preset values, or permanently set to RMS (automatic).

There is also an IN/OUT switch (often marked BYPASS). This is essential. It is there so you can switch the compressing action on and off and thus hear the difference your changes have made. To make best use of this switch, you need to set the “Output” control such that the sound appears to be at roughly the same level irrespective of whether the compressor is switched IN or OUT – this allows you to easilly make comparisons by listening.

The final control on most stereo or two-channel compressors is called “Link”. What is this for?

Whenever you adjust the volume control on a stereo mix, you always expect both left and right volume levels to change at the same time don’t you? (otherwise the mix would wander off to one side or the other). That’s what the “Link” control is for. It makes sure that both left and right hand volumes always change in time with each other, so the mix stays “in the middle”.

As an added bonus, the “Link” control *usually* (although, not always) disables one set of compressor controls on a two-channel unit, and takes all of its settings from just one set of controls. This is because on a stereo signal you normally want *exactly* the same settings on both sides – as well as keeping the volume levels equal. This is not the case on all compressors though, so it is important that you check your manual to find out whether you need to set the controls on both channels to be the same, or whether you only need to use one set of controls (the other ones being disabled).

On some compressors, even if one set of controls is disabled, the “Output” controls for each side may be independant (don’t ask me why – it does seem a bit silly) – again, you *must* check the manual, as it is not always easy to tell simply by playing with the settings and listening.

That completes our “tour” of the controls. I hope you understood it. Read it a couple of more times if you don’t, and if you’re still feeling lost, perhaps it might come to you after you’ve tried these examples.

So: Now onto the examples…
Example 1: Hard Limiting

The problem: You are doing a live gig or an important digital recording. You want to leave the music completely untouched, but what you don’t want, is totally unexpected loud peaks causing damage or distortion.

The solution: You want to stop TOTALLY any music or sound exceeding your expected maximum level. This is an emergency situation! But this is also quite simple to do with a compressor. Set the “Attack” and “Release” controls to their fastest – after all, it will only “kick-in” during cases of emergency, and you want it to respond immediately (to prevent distortion), and you also want it to recover immediately (so no-one notices anything happened). Make sure that any “Automatic” or “Peak/RMS” switch is turned off – so that the “Attack” and “Release” controls actually work and are not in automatic mode. The “over-easy” or “soft-knee” switch (if present) should be turned off too.

Then set the “Threshold” control to maximum (probably marked +10Db or +20Db, but on some digital plugins it may be marked as zero). This will prevent the compressor doing anything just yet.

Then set the “Ratio” control to maximum (normally marked 20:1 or even infinity-to-one). You won’t hear anything happening just yet, because the “Threshold” control is set to maximum – effectively bypassing the unit.

Now, play the LOUDEST MUSIC SIGNAL YOU EVER EXPECT TO HEAR through the compressor, and look at the levels.

Now, slowly turn down the “Threshold” control, carefully listening and looking at the levels. The moment you even *start* to hear a decrease in volume or see it on the meters then stop, and back off a tiny bit. You have found your optimum settings.

Just to check, try playing some excessively loud music through the compressor. You will find that it refuses to exceed the maximum level you have set, no matter how loud the input!

Needless to say, if you get a bit silly and try to blast the compressor with INCREDIBLY loud music, you may indeed hear the compressor start to distort (it still won’t exceed that maximum level though!). But this is just unrealistic. You are setting it up to handle only the most unusual, unexpected and extreme cases, which will be well below the level of distortion.
Example 2: Compression of an Instrument or Vocal

The problem: You are working with a fairly good vocalist. Normally when they sing loudly everything is fine – but every now and again they sing their little heart out so much that the recording either distorts, or is simply just way too loud. Unfortunately the vocalist is so unpredicatable that when this happens you don’t have time to adjust the recording levels because it happens almost at random, and is difficult to predict.

The solution: An ideal application for a compressor! Start with a good recording level for normal recording, and with a fast “Attack” and a moderately slow “Release” on the compressor (ensuring these controls are on a “manual” setting). Also switch ON the “Over-easy” or “Soft-knee” button (if the compressor has one).

As before, begin with both the “Threshold” and “Ratio” at maximum. Whilst the vocalist is singing at a fairly QUIET to moderate level, slowly turn down the “Threshold” control until either your ears or the meters detect the slightest faint drop in level. If your compressor has a “Gain reduction” meter it should *just* begin to indicate a change. Turn up the “Output” control until the quiet part is at a good level for you.

Now go to the LOUDEST part of the song and get the vocalist to sing (or play back a recording). With the ratio at maximum, you should now find that – ironically – the sound is far too quiet! Simply turn the ratio control down until the level is just about as loud as seems reasonable. The “Gain reduction” meter – if you have one – will probably be lighting up lots of pretty lamps at this point (unless it is just a boring moving pointer

As a final pass on this example, you might want to get the artist to perform the song once through (or playback a “take” if you are compressing on playback), and at this point you might want to play with the “Attack” or “Release” settings to get the most “natural” sound. Be careful if choosing an slow “Attack” though, as it might allow the compressor to “overshoot” and exceed the levels which you so carefully set previously.
Example 3: Adding “Punch” to a Sound

(normally bass instruments like bass guitar or bass drum)

The problem: The artist is performing a fairly rhythmic pattern, but somehow they don’t seem to be “punching” through the mix, even though their sound is basically quite good. Every time they play a riff you know you really want to “feel” the “impact” – but it is simply not there.

The solution: Although compressors are normally associated with *reducing* peak levels, did you know that they are capable of actually GENERATING amazing peaks?

This technique generally only works with “percussive” sounding instruments like drums, guitar (including bass), and spiky keyboard sounds like “clavinet”, that are playing a rhythmically “pulsating” part.

The technique relies on the fact that the “Attack” control can be used to make the compressor respond in a sloppy way – thereby allowing lound signals to “overshoot” and generate peaks that weren’t even there in the first place!

To do this, start with a moderately slow release, a SLOW attack, and with the ratio and threshold at maximum. The “Soft-knee” or “Over-easy” control (if present) should be OFF.

Play back the quietest part of the performance, and as before, turn down the “Threshold” gradually. You should find a setting where although the instrument is starting to get a bit quieter, it is starting to have more “punch” to it. Use the “Output” control to restore the level to a good volume.

Now go to the loudest part of the song. You will find at these settings that the instrument is – surpringly – too quiet. Turn down the ratio until the sound is loud enough.

Now check out the quiet part of the song again. You might now find that it is not as punchy anymore, and you might have to turn down the “Threshold” some more (and of course boost the “Output” to compensate).

Finally, rehearse the part (or playback), and adjust the “Attack” to give you the “punchiness” you need overall.

The “Release” control is quite critical in this scenario too. If you have it set too fast, you can hear the compressor “breathing” or “pumping” (you’ll know what I mean when you hear it!). On the other hand, if you set “Release” too slow, then you will start to lose the “punchiness” – it is a tricky balance.
Example 4: Compressing a Final Mix

Ooooh! This is the trickiest one of the bunch! You will probably have one of two problems. Either (a) the mix overall doesn’t sound “punchy” enough – which requires slightly different settings to the previous example, OR – (b) you have the more common problem – you simply can’t get your mix to sound “loud” enough compared to other recordings that you have in your collection.

The problem (a): The mix overall doesn’t sound “punchy” enough

The solution (a): If your mix doesn’t sound punchy enough you have to start with some “preset” settings on your compressor as follows:

Start with the “Automatic” or “Peak/RMS” switch turned ON (RMS setting). Music is a complex thing, and a “final mix” even more so. The “Automatic” or “RMS” setting will literally “listen” to your music and try to find the “ideal” settings for both the “Attack” and “Release” controls and disable them. If your compressor doesn’t have an “Automatic” or “RMS” setting, then set both the “Attack” and “Release” settings to medium. In both cases we will end up adjusting them manually later so don’t worry too much.

Set (as before), the “Threshold” setting to maximum (which “bypasses” the compressor), but this time pre-set the “Ratio” control to about 3:1 or thereabouts. Now, whilst playing the mix gradually turn down the “Threshold” level until you start to get a more punchy sound. You will (as always) have to turn up the output to compensate.

When you can hear the compressor making a difference, try experimenting with the “Attack” and “Release” settings. If you previously set “RMS” or “Automatic” ON, then try to match both “Attack” and “Release” to the same sound as “Automatic” and use that as your starting point. The slower the “Attack” the longer the overshoot. Sometimes a short attack will sound good (making quick transients), other times, a slower attack will sound more appropriate.

It’s a good idea to go around ALL the controls in turn, making slight changes until you believe that you have the best settings on all of them. Use the IN/OUT button to compare results with the original – using the “Output” control to match the sound level between the IN and OUT settings, so they are at the same volume – this greatly helps make a good comparison.

The problem (b): You can’t get your mix to sound “loud” enough compared to other recordings

The solution (b): You really need TWO sorts of compression here. Firstly, you need “limiting” set up as per example (1) previously. Turn down the “Threshold” until you can start to hear the limiter making an unpleasant difference to the mix. Then turn it back up a bit, and try to find the position where you have the best balance between cutting down the peaks, and making an undesireable change to the music. In most cases it should be possible to apply quite a lot of limiting without any significant difference to the sound of the track.

Now that you have trimmed off the peaks, you can crank up the “Output” to a much more respectable level for mastering on CD. But you might want your CD to sound louder still. If that’s the case, then apply another compressor BEFORE the limiter and just try some conventional compression as in solution (b) above (but probably with a faster attack). Many mastering compressors have a compressor AND a limiter combined in one unit for this very purpose.

As an alternative approach, set quite a fierce compression (5:1 or more), and switch on the “over-easy” or “soft-knee” button, and with fast attack. Start (as always) with the “Threshold” high, and slowly turn it down until you achieve the balance between a good amount of compression, and best sound quality. Adjust the “Release” control to help minimise how much you can “hear” the compressor working. The speed of “Release” setting is different depending on the speed and type of music – let your ears judge it.

That concludes our four main examples.
Advanced Use

Most analog compressors have a “Side-chain” socket on the back, and now some plugins are offering a similar facility too. So what’s it for?

The compressor works by feeding the sound through the compressor itself, but also by feeding the sound to the compressor “control system”. The control system “listens” to the sound and controls the compressor volume.

The side-chain is a system that lets you insert something – like a graphic equaliser for example – immediately before the compressors control system. Note this is NOT in the main audio path and doesn’t affect the sound as such – just the way the compressor responds. This system lets you over-emphasise a certain frequency that you want the compressor to listen out for. For example:
Example 5: De-essing a Vocal

The problem: You have a vocal, but sounds such as the letters “S” and “T” are sounding really harsh, and burst through the mix too much. You don’t want to equalise them out of the vocal sound, because the vocal sound is actually quite nice apart from those explosive “S” and “T” sounds.

The solution: Using fast “Attack” and quite fast “Release”, set the compressor at about 3:1 and then place an equaliser into the side-chain. Suck out all bottom end, and middle, and apply a boost at around 3 to 6KHz. You will find that adjusting the “Threshold” will control how powerful the “S” and “T” sounds can get. Overdo it and the vocal can sound very strange. Set it so that it gets the “S” and “T” sounds just how you like them.

Note: It is understandable to think that you might need two compressors on a vocal – one to perform de-essing, followed by another one doing “normal” compression. This is not so. One compressor can do the two jobs at the same time! Simply compress the vocal as normal. Then insert an equaliser into the side chain, and apply a small boost around the sibilant region (around 3KHz-6KHz). This will cause the compressor to over-react on sibilant sounds, thereby de-essing at the same time as compressing. Use the EQ BOOST to control how much sibilant sounds are CUT.

It is VERY, VERY IMPORTANT not to overdo de-essing. If you do, the singer will sound like they have a lisp. Or should that be lithp? In any case, once you’ve screwed it up by overdoing it during recording, then there is little you can do to rescue it later – so go easy on it! (you can always de-ess some more during mixing if required).

It’s important to understand that the equaliser you choose to place in the side-chain does NOT affect the frequency response of the sound going THROUGH the compressor, just what the compressor internally LISTENS to. It therefore effects how the overall volume responds to changes in volume at certain frequencies. This is known as “Frequency SENSITIVE compression”. It is also possible to purchase more complex compressors that actually DO affect the frequency response in different bands, and this is known as “Frequency SELECTIVE” compression – there is a big difference between the two, although the names are similar, and even professionals get the two terms mixed up sometimes.

The example above isn’t the only use for the side-chain – and indeed you don’t even have to feed the same sound into the side-chain as you are feeding into the main input. You could for example feed the sound of your voice into the side-chain. In that way you can create a system that automatically fades down music when you speak, and fades it back up when you stop speaking – the same feature that some disco consoles have – except you have full control over the fade in/out rates using the “Attack” and “Release” controls.

In a similar way, you could feed the reverb returns from your lead vocal reverb through the compressor, but plug the dry vocal into the side-chain. That gives you a system where the reverb fades down when the vocalist sings, giving quite a “dry” sound, but returns to a strong “wet” reverb inbetween words and phrases in the song. It keeps the reverb from messing up the vocal in the parts when the words get busy. Such a technique is also useful for controlling the level of repeat “echo” effects at the end of phrases.
Summary

In all of the above examples, the settings and approaches suggested are merely a guide. Your best teacher of compression is your own ears, and the compressors that you own. When you find a setting that really works on a certain instrument, write it down – it will save you a lot of time later when you next record that same instrument. You need to work with your compressor for a long time, and develop a good working relationship with it, until you can really trust what it is up to.

Every model of compressor on sale sounds different. That’s why people talk with great affection about certain old valve compressors, or perhaps a particular model of DBX compressor that they love (DBX are the world leaders in sound compression harware, and make by far most of the chips in the world that achieve it. This means that many compressors not even made by DBX, often contain DBX chips at the center inside them).

Settings vary between equipment. A setting that sounds great on one compressor, often sounds terrible on another. This applies to software plugins too, which is surprising, as one would expect the maths and figures to be identical in each one.

The fact that people have a personal preference for different types of compressed sound, means that there will always be a market for compressors from different manufacturers. There will always be the “classic” compressors that almost everyone likes, and there will also be a number of obscure quirky units and plugins that only appeal to a select few.

Compression is an extremely difficult thing to describe in writing, and you really need to hear compression – in all its different forms – to get an understanding of how it can help you. Never apply compression to something simply because other people do. Apply it because you KNOW that you really NEED it and that you UNDERSTAND exactly what it is DOING to the sound. If in doubt, compress too little rather than too much (it is very difficult – indeed, often impossible – to undo bad compression later), and remember that too little compression during recording can always be made up for when mixing later (at the expense of a little quality).

As always, practice makes perfect, and I hope that this article has gone some way towards demystifying the process for you.

Originally publisher as How To Use A Compressor © 1999 - 2011 AudioMelody - AudioMelody - free music software and tutorials