Fruity Compressor
Best video I find on Youtube.
If you want my TLDR on how to use it, typically there is only 4 knobs that matters in THAT ORDER:
- Threshold
- Ratio
- Gain
- Type
Usage:
Raising the volume of a signal
Just turn the Gain
knob up down.
Balancing the volume of a signal
Turn the Threshold
knob down until everything is quiet.
Optional:
- Turn the
Ratio
knob up to afterThreshold
to increase the volume of the quiet parts. - Change the
Type
betweenSoft
,Medium
,Hard
, to make the compression more gentle. A hard compression will kill off peaking signals very quickly, which may make transients (aka the "punch" of the drums") weaker (aka not as sharp to the ears). A soft compression will make transients keep their "punchiness" but may result in signals that exceed limit, which could distort analog devices. Attack
andRelease
are the time it takes for the compression to kick in and out of the signal. Usually you only touch this after the 4 knobs.
Finally, turn the Gain
knob up until everything is as loud as before. This is how you raise quiet parts without also increasing the volume of loud parts.