..:: Tarekith's Guide To Dynamics Control ::..

[contakt321]

Thank so much for the compression guide, I put it to use mixing a track last night.

I seriously appreciate all of your guides and recommend them all the time.

I just sent you a donation, it's the least I could do - you are a great resource for this forum.

Cheers!

[tigali]

Well done again, Tarekith. Appreciated.

[Tarekith]

No problem, glad people are finding it useful.

In general, would you say it was easy to read and wasn't too confusing? Trying to demonstrate a technique like compression when there's no single right way to do it was more difficult than I first thought!

[Jekblad]

i feel like it was a good confirmation for some stuff that i *thought* was right.

The best part for me was where you explain how u go about setting the comp, long attack instant release, and then work from there. This allows you to hear the compression as is starts to happen right?

Anyway, yeah easy to read. I'd like a MUCH bigger font but i took care of that in fire fox. Just seems easier to read that way for me.

[Kent_in_CO]

Not confusing at all - it's just one of those topics where you have to take the time to understand every sentence. But what made it really useful is being able to follow along with your files in Live. A lot of these changes are so subtle; I'd completely miss them without comments about how, for example, the decay of the hats sounds different with a faster release.

If you ever feel compelled to do another tutorial, I'd be curious to see your own approach to writing a tune. You seem to be a fairly prolific songwriter, and I'll bet people could find some useful tips and info in your methods. I've learned a lot from Tom Cosm watching how he writes his own tunes. The idea isn't to tell folks "this is how you should write a song," but just to provide a different perspective and fresh ideas. That sort of thing can be especially helpful when you're stuck in a creative rut.

In any case, nicely done bro - donation coming your way. Keep up the good work.

[tigali]

Easy to follow, especially if you copy the wavs into Live and "play along". Very helpful indeed.

[Nick the Zombie]

Very nicely put together, like all your guides. I get questions through my site all the time about this stuff, so I'll definitely be sending them your way.

[ethios4]

Thanks for writing this up, and thanks for all your helpful input to the community!!

[v00d00ppl]

good read...thanks.

[Sibanger]

It's always good to re-learn stuff you think you know about.

I wish I read this a couple of years ago. Thanks for your efforts Tarekith.

[sunrahrahrah]

+1 & thank you

[peeddrroo]

nice guide.
i think there's a mistake though (i wrote to tarekith about it, but he doesn't seem to want to correct it).

in the threshold chapter, when he writes

With the threshold at 0dB, the compressor is not acting on your audio at all, it's passing through the compressor untouched by any dynamics control

it's only true if the signal is under 0dB. for signals greater than 0dB, the signal gets compressed.
fwiw

[abort]

Thanks Tarekith you the man.

I might have some questions for you later.

[Tarekith]

nice guide.
i think there's a mistake though (i wrote to tarekith about it, but he doesn't seem to want to correct it).

in the threshold chapter, when he writes

With the threshold at 0dB, the compressor is not acting on your audio at all, it's passing through the compressor untouched by any dynamics control

it's only true if the signal is under 0dB. for signals greater than 0dB, the signal gets compressed.
fwiw

I didn't correct it because in the context of what I'm talking about in my example, it isn't a mistake. There's a lot of situations where a signal other than the one I'm using in my examples will produce different results, I didn't have the space to cover every possible scenario.

If anyone has any other questions of clarification they'd like, feel free to post in the thread versus PM's. Thanks!

[peeddrroo]

nice guide.
i think there's a mistake though (i wrote to tarekith about it, but he doesn't seem to want to correct it).

in the threshold chapter, when he writes

With the threshold at 0dB, the compressor is not acting on your audio at all, it's passing through the compressor untouched by any dynamics control

it's only true if the signal is under 0dB. for signals greater than 0dB, the signal gets compressed.
fwiw

I didn't correct it because in the context of what I'm talking about in my example, it isn't a mistake. There's a lot of situations where a signal other than the one I'm using in my examples will produce different results, I didn't have the space to cover every possible scenario.

If anyone has any other questions of clarification they'd like, feel free to post in the thread versus PM's. Thanks!

ok, no offense, i'm just trying to help.

in this case, you should state that what you write is only true for a specific signal.
but really, i wouldn't write in a compressor tutorial that

With the threshold at 0dB, the compressor is not acting on your audio at all

at least, replace "your audio" by "this signal", it's a bit confusion otherwise.
my 2c