Pro Sound Web: The compressor is a wonderful tool when used properly, however, often the basics of compression are misunderstood, leaving audio that would have been better left untouched.
A compressor is a threshold effect that will squeeze dynamic range. If a sound has dynamics (increases and decreases in volume), a compressor will push them together.
1 comment:
Huh, this probably is obvious for anybody that studies sound technology, but I had no idea that compression works by squeezing the dynamic range and cutting out part of the sound. I understood the usefulness of the compressor as a means of limiting sound volume and clipping, but I didn't realize you could use it to your advantage in order to change the quality of the sound in a beneficial manner. This article makes a good point that a compressor can be used as a vital part of your EQ contour to actually improve the quality of your sound. Previously, I only used a compressor for what this article labels "transient" noises, such as unpredictable spikes in volume, for example when someone eats their mic or a percussion instrument in unusually loud. The article's discussion of analog tape compression was also interesting, because in a world that is now so digital, I had never thought about how analog compression might work.
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