btomlinson wrote:About the compressor. I have a old Boss compressor. I messed around with it but I do not really know what it does. Seemed like it gave it a tinty sound.
I looked up a post that I put on the RIC Corporate forum a couple of years ago where I explained what a compressor does. It's reprinted below:
Compressors squeeze the sound, narrowing the dynamic range. They take a certain volume level, known as the threshold in which to apply a compression ratio to different volumes in the sound.
Let's use a popular 2 to 1 compression ratio as an example. Anything above the threshold level is compressed - a volume level 10dB above the threshold comes out as only 5dB above the threshold, 20dB above comes out as 10dB above, etc. Anything below the threshold is expanded - a volume level 10dB below the threshold comes out as only 5dB below, etc.
If your original signal has a dynamic range (the difference between the loudest and quietest volumes) of 80dB, a compressor working with a 2 to 1 ratio will squeeze the sound down to a dynamic range of 40dB. This makes your quieter and louder volumes much closer to your normal volume. This is great for incresing sustain, because your volume will drop off much more slowly.
The only problem with compressors is that you can have too much of a good thing. Overdriving compression (usually caused by a compression ratio that's too high) can cause a "pumping" or "breathing" in the sound, giving a sort of tremelo effect.
Good compressors give you control over threshold and ratio. Better compressors will also give you control over attack (how fast the compression kicks in) and decay or release (how fast the compressor lets go of the sound). A fast attack is known as "hard knee" and a slow attack is known as "soft knee" compression.
A limiter, on the other hand, only squeezes sound above the threshold - Anything below the threshold is left alone.
