All about compression

Compression is a Nonlinear process.

It is composed of two processes: gain reduction on the highest levels followed by a linear output gain called makeup gain.¹

I like to set up compressors as follows: get an idea of what kind of attack and release I want, dial in a threshold, then adjust ratio to taste.

• Understanding compression ratios
• Setting compressor attack and release
• Setting compressor knee
• Tube compression
• Optical compression
• Diode-bridge compression
• FET compression
• VCA compression
• Use RMS compression to retain more of the attack
• Using sidechain EQ on your compressor to reduce pumping
• Parallel compression
• Feedback compression
• Feed-forward compression
• Upward compression
• Use bus compression for glue
• Using compressors as color boxes
• Use a limiter when you don’t want to change the sound