RemoHead
Joined: 07/02/09
Posts: 242
Loc: West Midlands, UK
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Question about attack times
#867414 - 11/10/10 04:04 PM
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hi everyone,
In various books ive read I see phrases like "use a fast to medium
attack and slow release" etc etc.
my question is simply, what sort of speed is
a fast, medium and slow attack / release time?
im guessing at .5 - 16ms is
fast, 100 ms medium and 250 upwards slow?
im only taliking general terms here as I
know all compression is subjective.
sorry if this seems like a fairly dumb
question but its bugging me!
thanks a lot,
Remo.
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desmond
Joined: 10/01/06
Posts: 7947
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Re: Question about attack times
[Re: RemoHead]
#867419 - 11/10/10 04:23 PM
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Fast is anything quicker than medium or slow.
Medium is slower than fast but
faster than slow.
Slow is slower than both medium and fast, but slow is more
slow from fast than it is from medium.
Hope that clears things up! 
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Jack Ruston
Joined: 21/12/05
Posts: 4089
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Re: Question about attack times
[Re: RemoHead]
#867426 - 11/10/10 05:15 PM
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The reason you generally don't see times specified is that the specific action depends on
the source and the individual compressors attack characteristics. Generally you can think
of fast attack as being one which traps the initial transient while slow allows it to
pass. The actual settings which achieve that result are as I say, source and compressor
dependent. J
-------------------- www.jackruston.com
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turbodave
Joined: 25/04/08
Posts: 2120
Loc: derbyshire uk
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Re: Question about attack times
[Re: RemoHead]
#867427 - 11/10/10 05:19 PM
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Hi,I suppose a reasonably sensible reply would be to look at attack and response controls
on a device.This will give you an idea of parameters.Dave
--------------------
My head hurts!
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Hugh Robjohns
SOS Technical Editor
Joined: 25/07/03
Posts: 18542
Loc: Worcestershire
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Re: Question about attack times
[Re: RemoHead]
#867428 - 11/10/10 05:20 PM
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Quote RemoHead:
my question is
simply, what sort of speed is a fast, medium and slow attack / release time?
It's all relative, of course,
but generally Fast would be faster than about 3ms, medium is usually between 3 and 15ms
and slow is anything slower than 15ms -- but the actual values in offer cna vary widely.
Compressors generally have much slower attack times available, often going all
the way to a 100ms or even slower, while limiters tend to have much faster times, going
down to microseconds sometimes.
So you might see a compressor with options from
0.5ms to 250ms, while a limiter might be 100us to 10ms.
Consequently, a fast
compressor might appear to be a medium or slow limiter!
Hugh
--------------------
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound
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RemoHead
Joined: 07/02/09
Posts: 242
Loc: West Midlands, UK
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Re: Question about attack times
[Re: Hugh Robjohns]
#867452 - 11/10/10 08:01 PM
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Thanks a lot Hugh (and everyone else!) - thats sorted that!
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Ten21
member
Joined: 24/03/03
Posts: 42
Loc: Kent, England
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Re: Question about attack times
[Re: RemoHead]
#867532 - 12/10/10 08:38 AM
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Quote RemoHead:
hi everyone,
In various books ive read I see phrases like "use a fast to medium attack and slow
release" etc etc.
my question is simply, what sort of speed is a fast, medium
and slow attack / release time?
im guessing at .5 - 16ms is fast, 100 ms medium
and 250 upwards slow?
im only taliking general terms here as I know all compression
is subjective.
sorry if this seems like a fairly dumb question but its bugging
me!
thanks a lot,
Remo.
Hi Remo
as already mentioned the source is
everything, especially with drums. Compressors also vary a great deal. Some are aggressive
some very subtle. The only way to really learn is to put the book down, and be extreme
with your settings and play around the tools that you have.
One tip for you,
(given your id is Remo Head) I do a lot of drum recording, and I use very little in the
way of compression and absolutely none going down to disk as well as minimal eq.
The biggest difference you can make to a drum sound much more than mic choice,
placement, mic pre, eq or converters, is the drum itself and the room it's in (oh and the
drummer!). Getting everything else right but miss this out and you'll all you'll get is a
great recording of a crap drum sound.
If you're reaching for the compressor to
fix a sound, then the sound is wrong.
You should only be reaching for it to
make it sound even better.
Use your ears and don't look at the screen.
If any one thinks I'm going off topic, I beg to differ. In fact it's probably the reason
for the question in the first place
Regards
Sean
--------------------
Sean Kenny - Ten21 Recordings Studios
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