Or would you let the volume "breathe" with the pick attack?
Would you use a compressor in the studio when recording a touch sensitive amp/profile?
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Whatever sounds better is the only rule! I have a Fairchild 670 on my guitar bus with no visible compression - just brings out that sweet mid range that I love.
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Would probably tame it a little bit in the mix. Depending on the mix of course. But most likely yes.
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Whatever sounds better is the only rule! I have a Fairchild 670 on my guitar bus with no visible compression - just brings out that sweet mid range that I love.
Which version?
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An overdriven/distorted sound is actually very compressed already. I wouldn't even touch a compressor for crunchy rhythm guitars. Some engineers do use one, but only for color not for compression. And they would set it up so that the needle barely moves. Bob Clearmountain und Chris Lord-Alge come to my mind, they like an LA-3A for that purpose.
Clean sounds are a different cattle of fish. I usually use a compressor on clean sounds as most players and engineers in my generation do. A clean guitar is much less compressed so a compressor can do good.
But with gain way up - not so much.
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It would depend on the source material, both how the amp reacts and how the player plays.
And you can use a compressor for several purposes - e.g. shaping the attack, or leveling out volume differences
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Depends on the material to record, but probably not.
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a compressor will actually emphasize the attack and compress the decay - if the Threshold is exceeded, whatever you set as Attack value will go through pretty much unchanged, then the signal will get compressed (most likely, the transient already made it through) - the classic application of this is to give the snare it's characteristic snap.
A limiting amplifier will be different, RMS detection will be different from peak, in fact every compressor will act and sound different and one needs to develop an ear for that.
Unless you know what you're doing, I'd stay away from compression since it is irreversible - gain/saturation/overdrive/whatever you want to call it is a form of limiting the signal, so you have that already happening anyway, unless you play super clean.
Some people seem to like the multiband-limiter on every track kind of sound, I personally don't - listening to these productions feels like having a DC offset or a constant, unchanging pressure on my ears to me (if you know what I mean). -
listening to these productions feels like having a DC offset or a constant, unchanging pressure on my ears to me (if you know what I mean).
Sort of like Metallica's "Death Magnetic"
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For clean tones I always have some degree of compression. If it's just solo guitar there won't be much (the breathing mentioned), but still a tiny bit to smooth the attack out.
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Start with “WHY”
Why do you want to add or change X Y or Z?
Rather than thinking should someone use compression on distorted guitars or anything else for that matter. Start by asking yourself, what is wrong with this sound or what is it about this sound that could be improved upon.
Then ask, what would I need to do to improve it? The answer might be compression, it might be EQ or it might be nothing.
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Start with “WHY”
Why do you want to add or change X Y or Z?
Rather than thinking should someone use compression on distorted guitars or anything else for that matter. Start by asking yourself, what is wrong with this sound or what is it about this sound that could be improved upon.
Then ask, what would I need to do to improve it? The answer might be compression, it might be EQ or it might be nothing.
In my case, I am talking about a crunch tone that can be cleaned up with less attack but then you have a drop in volume. So, for mixing a tone like this for songs, how would an engineer approach the volume fluctuation when there is clean and crunch parts on one track?
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In my case, I am talking about a crunch tone that can be cleaned up with less attack but then you have a drop in volume. So, for mixing a tone like this for songs, how would an engineer approach the volume fluctuation when there is clean and crunch parts on one track?
Several options. If it is just level differences that need compensation then automate the volume in the DAW.
If level and tonal shaping then perhaps compression yes.
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In my case, I am talking about a crunch tone that can be cleaned up with less attack but then you have a drop in volume. So, for mixing a tone like this for songs, how would an engineer approach the volume fluctuation when there is clean and crunch parts on one track?
The Compression parameter in the AMP section of the PROFILER was made for exactly this.
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True. It's not exactly transparent though. I like something like Waves RenAxx for more transparent compression (although it has "ren" in the name). It almost always gets the job done.
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True. It's not exactly transparent though. I like something like Waves RenAxx for more transparent compression (although it has "ren" in the name). It almost always gets the job done.
I was referring to the Compression parameter in the AMP section, not the STOMP Compressor which is a model of a vintage guitar stompbox limiter.
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Yeah I know. I don't hear that as particular transparent? Will have to check again.
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Unless you know what you're doing, I'd stay away from compressionBs. How are anyone supposed to learn if not by trial and error? Experiment, experiment and have fun. The safe way, or middle road, leads to nowhere. A dead end. How many things haven't been invented by experiments or mistakes that we take for granted. music or something else?
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In my case, I am talking about a crunch tone that can be cleaned up with less attack but then you have a drop in volume. So, for mixing a tone like this for songs, how would an engineer approach the volume fluctuation when there is clean and crunch parts on one track?
Most ppl are unaware how much they ride the faders in a song. Not just the whole package in the chorus.
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Many years ago I heard a singer ask a producer 'What does the Compressor do?
His reply, It adds Talent.
