TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE05PRACTICALASSIGNMENTNOTES:Compression

RefertotheAssignmentNotesAudiofolder

Vocals

Itiscommonforavocaltovaryinlevelquitewidely.Manysingerscannotsinglownotesloud,nor
highnotesquiet.Thisleadstoanimbalanceindynamicrangethatmakesitdifficulttofindonefader
settingthatworksforthewholesong.

Thebestsolutiontothisistouseautomationtocorrectthelevels,ratherthancompression.
Automationwillallowacompletelynaturalsoundthatsmoothesoutthesinger'svoice.Compression
willworktoanextent,butitcanneverbeasnatural.

Compressionthereforeisusedtoenhanceavocal.Vocalssimplysoundbettercompressed,orat
leastmorelikeweexpectthemtosound.

Hereisafemalevocalthatisuncompressed

Examplefile:femalevocaluncompressed.wav

Andhereisthecompressedversion

Examplefile:femalevocalcompressed.wav

Thedegreeofcompressionisquitemodest,butitproducesasoundthatissubtlybetter,andwould
beeasiertocombinewiththesupportinginstrumentsintoagoodmix.

Listencarefullyandhearhowthequietsoundsarenowlouder(aftergainmakeupofcourse).Hear
alsohowthenoiselevelinthisrecordinghasbeenincreasedtoo.Itisanunfortunatesideeffectof
compressionthatthenoiseisalwaysincreased.Undesirablemouthartefactsarealsoboosted.

Herearethesettingsthatwereusedforthisexample...

Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes


Controllingdynamicrange

Thecompressorcanbeusedtocontroldynamicrangeoverashortperiod,oroveralongperiod.
HereisapieceofproductionmusicthatwouldbesuitableasamusicbedinaTVprogramor
commercial

Examplefile:musicuncompressed.wav

Itisperfectlyusableasitis,butifitiscompressedthenitwillhaveamoreconsistentlevelandwill
beeasiertomixbeneathavoiceover.Hereisthecompressedversion

Examplefile:musiccompressedgood.wav

Thecompressioninthisexampleisnearlytransparent,meaningthatitisn'tobviouslycompressed
unlessyouarelisteningoutforcompression.

Settingareleasetimethatistooshorthoweverproducesasoundthatisobviouslycompressed
whichisnotatallpleasanttolistento

Examplefile:musiccompressedbad.wav

Herearethesettingsforthewellcompressedversion...

Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes


Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes


Andforthebadlycompressedversion...

Hereisanorchestralrecordingthathasaridiculouslywidedynamicrange.Thiswouldsoundgreatin
theconcerthall,butyoucan'tlistentothisinthecarbecausethequietpartsaresimplytooquiet(or
ifyouturnupthevolumethentheloudpartsaretooloud).

Examplefile:dynamicrangetoomuch.wav

Onceagain,thebestsolutionisfaderridingthroughautomation.Itisimpossibletotellthatthere
hasbeenanymodification,otherthanbycomparingwiththeoriginal.

Examplefile:dynamicrangecontrolfaders.wav

Ifacompressorisused,theratiomustbelowandthereleasetimelongtoworkevenreasonably
well.Hereisanexample

Examplefile:dynamicrangecontrolcompressiongood.wav

Duringthequietsection,thesoundiscompletelybelowthethreshold,hencethereisno
compression.Duringtheloudpassagethereisconsiderablecompression,butitisreasonably
inaudible.Itisn'tasgoodastheversionthatwascontrolledusingfaderautomation.

Ifthereleasetimeissettooshort,thenthesound,towardstheend,canbequiteunpleasant

Examplefile:dynamicrangecontrolcompressionbad.wav

Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes


Herearethesettingsforthewellcompressedversion...

Andherearethesettingsforthebadlycompressedversion...

Individualdrums

Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes
Compressioncanbeusedtoenhanceoralterthesoundsofindividualdrums.Onceagain,ifthelevel
ofthekickdrum,forinstance,inarecordingisn'tconsistent,thenthebestsolutionistomodify
individualbeatsmanually.

Hereisanuncompressedkickdrum,extractedfromarecordingofanentiredrumset.

Examplefile:kickuncompressed.m4a

Andhereisthecompressedversionasubtlebutdefinitedifference.Compressingdrumsdoesn't
alwaysleadtoanimprovementinsoundyouhavetojudgeverycarefullywhetherwhatyouare
doingisofbenefit.Noticeonceagainhowthequietsounds,principallythespillfromtherestofthe
drumset,havebeenbroughtupinlevel.

Examplefile:kickcompressed.m4a

Herearethesettings...

Compressioncangofurther.Hereisanuncompressedsnaredrum

Examplefile:snareuncompressed.wav

Andhereisthecompressedversion

Examplefile:snarecompressed.wav

Thisisamassivedifference.Thepeaklevelsofbothrecordingsareverysimilar,incaseyouwere
wondering,butthesecondrecordingsoundsmassivelylouder.

Thereasonforthisisthatthesignalhasbeenallowedtoclip.Clipsofveryshortdurationcanpassby
unnoticed,allowingthe'body'ofthesoundtobelouder.Youhavetobeverycarefulaboutclipping

Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes
thoughevenalittletoomuchcansounddreadful,anditonlyworkswhentheclipisofjustacouple
ofmillisecondsorless.

Herearethesettings...

Thewholedrumset

Thepurposeofdrumsisveryoftentomakethemusicmoreexiting.Sowhynotmakethedrums
moreexcitingstill?Compressioncandothat.

Hereisarecordingofdrumswithoutcompression

Examplefile:drumsuncompressed.wav

Whatyouareabouttohearnextissomethingelseentirely.Inthesnaredrumexample,some
clippingwasallowed.Evenmoreclippingwasallowedhere,andsettingschosenthatmaketheeffect
ofcompressioncompletelyobvious.Whetherornotyoulikethiswillbedowntopersonaltaste,but
itcertainlydemonstrateswhatacompressorcando

Examplefile:drumscompressed.wav

Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes


Herearethesettings...

Summary

Thecompressorisapowerfulandinvaluabletool.Sometimesitisusedtocontroldynamicrange
unobtrusively,sometimestosubtlyenhanceasound.Onoccasion,thecompressioneffectisallowed
tobecompletelyobvioustoaddenergyandexcitementtoanindividualinstrumentoranentiremix.

Endofassignmentnotes.

Module05PracticalAssignmentNotes