Ableton Forum

When the signal drops below the threshold, the release time starts. Simple as that. The compressor can't try to work more (a.k.a. finishing the attack phase) when the signal to stop working (a.k.a. currently no signal above the threshold) has arrived already.

In your case, when the attack is set so long that the release would kick in "too early", the compressor will not reach it's phase of working at the maximum ration at all. Thus making it pretty ineffective. Shifting the release time to later doesn't help in this situation to preserve the sound that you had created before changing the attack. It will alter the sound even more.

What you should keep in mind when using compression, also via sidechain, is the fact that short attack and/or release times can alter the waveform of long waves instead of just touching their volume. That means that you will get distortion in the low end. A short attack time makes sense for sidechain compression but as soon as you can hear distortion it might be too short. That's the only technical thing to bear in mind. Besides of that, as the others said before: if it sounds right there is nothing to worry about.

mharris wrote:

ze2be wrote: Got it?

Nope, because you didn't explain the scenario that I asked about.

We all know what a compressor does and what attack and release are, the question is more about the specifics of how they interact together.
What happens when the level drops below the threshold before the attack duration has elapsed.?

AFAIK, the release starts as soon as the signal drops below the threshold, regardless of whether or not the attack was finished. The release is not dependent on the attack time completing.

Exactly. The release can start in the middle of the attack, if the signal drops below treshold sooner then attack finishes. Its like if you have a long attack on a synth envelope, and hit the key quickly without holding it down. The volume would be very low, because attack would not reach the full volume.

Its easy if you just look at the grapic compress VUs on the plug, while adjusting attack and release. If you feed it (side chain) with a short snapy sound, like a short kick, you can clearly see the compresors response.
I made a drawing for you last night, but had to run to work this morning. Can not upload it now on iPhone. Ill do it when I get home tonight.

No need for a drawing. I understand the fact that the compressor envelope was designed exactly like a synth envelope (with the exeption that it always holds at full sustain during the decay phase). So that's that. Thanks for being able to see it on the compressor's meters, as I was unable to do so. Maybe my framerate is too low (my brain's framerate that is).

As far as the low end distortion, I did notice it when under the assumption that I could set the attack at minimum when sidechaining. I had to increase it until it didn't alter the sound anymore. Of course it's more noticeable on bass sounds because each phase of the waveform is longer compared to the attack.

Remains the difference between FF1 and FF2.. Anybody use to use the old Compressor 1 and 2? Were they modelled after specific pieces of hardware (like how they modelled different amps after real ones like Marshall and such..)?

Well, for ducking I use ff1 because it does not distort as much as the other. I dont remember what they are modeled after.

il7mago wrote:Remains the difference between FF1 and FF2.. Anybody use to use the old Compressor 1 and 2? Were they modelled after specific pieces of hardware (like how they modelled different amps after real ones like Marshall and such..)?

Googling "ableton compressor ff1 v. ff2" turned up this relevant excerpt from the Ableton Live 8 Power! book as it's first result: http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/au ... k3NTkvMjk0