Signal Processors

Multiband compressors offer unique advantages over their broadband cousins — but they also present some perilous pitfalls for the unwary.

Compression can do radically different things to the sound of a snare drum, depending on how it's set up. In this episode, Mike Senior explores three ways in which a compressor can help bring your snare tracks to life.

I thought I had a handle on this, but seem to have a hard time understanding the difference between a compressor’s ‘Hold’ and its ‘Release’. Can you help explain?

Could you explain (slowly!) the basic principles of how a compressor works, and what each control does, the ratio control in particular?

I have a compressor with inserts to access the side-chain. What is the side-chain and what would you use these inserts for?

In my hardware-based setup, with my TC electronics Triple*C compressor, is it possible to do the kind of limiting on a full mix where you end up with a waveform that is levelled off at the top and bottom, 'brick wall'-style?

All of the main MIDI + Audio sequencers now have a bewildering array of compression and limiting plug-ins built in, but many home musicians are unclear about what all those controls and options do. And with so many varieties of each plug-in available, which one should you choose for the job in hand?