Hey guys i got a quick question for you, it's about setting the attack and release on a compressor.

for and example say i have a song at 132bpm and i want to compress a percussion loop were there is notes hitting every quarter beat (113ms). So say i want the compressor to kick in right away, I set the attack to 1ms. Now when i sett the release do i just add the other 112ms to make up the full 113ms (quarter note), or do i have to calculate the time that the percussion is still above the threshold?

Like say the percussion hit goes above the threshold for 8ms. Do i add that into the equation?. So attack at 1ms +(then above threshold for 8ms) +then release set at 104ms = 113ms. So it will be back up for the next hit (quarter note). Or do the release setting meen it the sound will come back up at exact time you have set after the first hit

Does this make sense to you?

There are calculations you can do mathematically for set attack and release settings, and I can see what you're trying to do and the logic in it, but just do it my ear untill it sounds right to you, there isn't much need in my opinion to rely on equations like you mentioned....I mean, what if you calculate settings and then it doesn't sound right? Do you stick with it because the calculations say so? Or do you change it because your ears tell you it's not quite right.

The latter in my opinion.

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>>> Beatport Stuff <<<

Last edited by Acton on Jan-16-2009 at 10:01

yeah i see what your saying for sure. I do always let me ear be the final judge but sometime i don't always trust it 100% so i like to have another way to help guide me when i'm in doubt.

what i'm really asking i guess is when you set the release time, does that meen release from when it first went over the threshold hold or released from when the input goes back below the threshold?

quote:

Originally posted by lowski yeah i see what your saying for sure. I do always let me ear be the final judge but sometime i don't always trust it 100% so i like to have another way to help guide me when i'm in doubt. what i'm really asking i guess is when you set the release time, does that meen release from when it first went over the threshold hold or released from when the input goes back below the threshold?

It's the release as soon as it drops back below the threshold.

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>>> Beatport Stuff <<<

ok so in order to do it mathamatically you would need to know how long the signal is above the threshold, right?

say for the example i first gave; attack at 1ms, signal above threshold for 8ms, then release set to 104ms so it will be back to normal for the next quarter note (113ms)?. Ok i think i understand stand now. thank you

quote:

Originally posted by lowski ok so in order to do it mathamatically you would need to know how long the signal is above the threshold, right? say for the example i first gave; attack at 1ms, signal above threshold for 8ms, then release set to 104ms so it will be back to normal for the next quarter note (113ms)?. Ok i think i understand stand now. thank you

No, (to be pedantic) in your example it would be 112ms, you have added the 1ms attack time to it. The time above the threshold is still 8ms, it just takes 1ms for the compressor to take effect.

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>>> Beatport Stuff <<<

Typically, on kick drums or bass-lines for instance, I'll set the attack so that when the threshold detects the triggering plosive, a beginning portion of that plosive will remain uncompressed. There are sounds where I want a fast attack (Leads, for instance), but usually I want the very beginning of a sound to have a little more reign than the rest of it - when I'm using compression.

attack = max, release = min lol i like it HARD

you'll never get the compressor to pump in time with the tempo because you would need to know how long the signal stayed above the threshhold. Which, depending on the threshold, could be very different. Sidechain the signal to a kick if you want that sort of sound.

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quote:

Originally posted by palm attack = max, release = min lol i like it HARD

If the attack time is max (that is, slow as possible), then it's possible the compressor is never lowering the volume, since the peak will need to stay over the threshold for quite a while. If you're doing this style of compression on kicks, you may get the same result without a compressor.

Of course, I could be way off, you haven't gone into detail about the other settings you're using. I've done a lot of weird things with compressors in my time. All good learning experiences.

ive just noticed i get an ugly TICK in my kicks when setting it that way. it was a joke i rarely set it that way caus when i do i loose all the end/release on the kick.