Compressor Settings, need help!

GuitarAng3l

GuitarAng3l

Inspired
Hi! I am struggling a bit with compressor settings.
How do you use a compressor? Always on?
What is considered high and low attack/return in numbers?
 
I suggest:

If your knowledge about a device or function is limited:
  1. read about it, there‘s a lot of knowledge out there
  2. watch the factory presets, many of them contain elements you‘re uncertain of
  3. experiment with the device / funktion in the factory presets
  4. use your ears
Your knowledge will grow very fast.
 
langohr said:
read about it, there‘s a lot of knowledge out there
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I already do, and thats why I am asking here. The Fractal gives us much more options than normal compressors which are limited. For example on the Cali76, Attack ranges from 0.2ms to 4.8 and release from 69.5 to 398ms. So I guess, its all relative to the compressor used.
 
GuitarAng3l said:
I already do, and thats why I am asking here. The Fractal gives us much more options than normal compressors which are limited. For example on the Cali76, Attack ranges from 0.2ms to 4.8 and release from 69.5 to 398ms. So I guess, its all relative to the compressor used.
Click to expand...

First and foremost it’s about why you’re using a compressor at all - i.e., and once you know what you’re trying to accomplish, then you adjust the settings to do that. For example, if you want more of the picking transients/noise before the clamped sustain, lengthen the attack time. But if you want the classic super-squished country sound, you’ll generally want a fast attack time.

Though perhaps I’m not a typical user in this regard - I generally don’t add any compression unless there is a specific reason. I like to preserve the picking dynamics, especially for tones that aren’t super clean.
 
Admin M@ said:
A compressor is like an INSTRUMENT. If you tell us why you want to use a compressor, what type of music/sound you are after, and more, we'll be able to help.
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Yeah, you're right. I am not trying to archive something particular. Just was interested in what would be considered a high or low value in the Fractal for Attack and Release and how people use them. Thats all.
 
GuitarAng3l said:
Yeah, you're right. I am not trying to archive something particular. Just was interested in what would be considered a high or low value in the Fractal for Attack and Release and how people use them. Thats all.
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I'd suggest that near min is a low value and near max is a high value. Not meant to be condescending, just tracks with my experience and comp products. There are also interactions, so low-value attack + high-value release is normal, as are the opposite. Fast for both attack and release or slow for both attack and release are more extreme than the values themselves.
 
GuitarAng3l said:
Yeah, you're right. I am not trying to archive something particular. Just was interested in what would be considered a high or low value in the Fractal for Attack and Release and how people use them. Thats all.
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A ratio less than 4:1 is something I would consider light compression. You can make it lighter by playing with the wet/dry ratio.

Slower attack values let more transients (think initially string pluck) through

Many of the old compressors that music mixes like (la2a , 670s) have pretty slow attack and release times. Iirc, the 670s fastest settings are 350ms attack and 400ms release (might be off a bit but you get the idea).

Hope this helps a bit

Randall
 
Randall Smith said:
A ratio less than 4:1 is something I would consider light compression. You can make it lighter by playing with the wet/dry ratio.

Slower attack values let more transients (think initially string pluck) through

Many of the old compressors that music mixes like (la2a , 670s) have pretty slow attack and release times. Iirc, the 670s fastest settings are 350ms attack and 400ms release (might be off a bit but you get the idea).

Hope this helps a bit

Randall
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Thinking along Admin M@'s mindset that compressor is an instrument. Could someone name several prominent guitarists who use compressors, and if possible, their compressor settings, as an example of a variety of compressor settings?

For example, although I don't know if EVH used a compressor on his effects board, his tone was distinctly fast attack/slow release. The reason I suggest this is because EVH's tone was known for being able to hear pick transients and so that EVH's fretboard technique allowed many modern picking techniques to sound through...

Others with separate settings might be Mark Knopfler, Brett Mason, etc...
 
bleujazz3 said:
...although I don't know if EVH used a compressor on his effects board, his tone was distinctly fast attack/slow release. The reason I suggest this is because EVH's tone was known for being able to hear pick transients and so that EVH's fretboard technique allowed many modern picking techniques to sound through...
Click to expand...
If you want pick attach to shine through, you want a slower compressor attack, not a faster one.
 
Rex said:
If you want pick attach to shine through, you want a slower compressor attack, not a faster one.
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Helps to pay attention to what one is reading...doh. I stand corrected. Slow attack allows picking technique transients through...am correcting my statement suggesting that tapping, scrapes, tap harmonics, all benefit from slow compressor attack values.
 
One example: It’s helpful when you’re using a clean sound and hammer on/pull offs and hybrid picking are a big part of your playing. Using pull offs and other fingers on your picking hand are quieter than picking fretted notes with a pick you can use compression to reduce the volume of picking fretted notes. Using auto-makeup or increasing the output level on the compressor will allow those quieter parts of your playing style to stand out (because the louder parts have been reduced to a level you set with threshold and ratio).

Another example if clean guitar sounds are not what you play:
If you’ve ever tried to play like ac/dc’s thunderstruck riff without enough volume and/or gain (try to play it on an acoustic haha) you can start to feel how compression inherent in amplifiers from their design and the sheer volume and gain feeding back into your guitars pickups affect how that riffs playing technique allow that to translate into something that sounds the way it does
 
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