It is one of those effects that is vital to the formula of modern music. Producers, mixing engineers, and mastering engineers use compression every day on every track, similar to EQ. Additionally, the Threshold determines how much compression is applied. You can alter the Attack on the compressor, which determines how quickly the compressor does its job, and you can also adjust the Release, which determines how quickly the compressor lets off. In that range, it will not go above or below the volume level chosen. In essence, it makes the peaks of your tracks quieter, squashes the waveform, and makes it more even in the mix.įor example, in your compressor, you pick a volume level for your sound to exist within. The core function of a compressor is to narrow the range between the loudest and quietest parts of an audio signal. The use of it has evolved drastically, where it once was applied mostly as a tool for cleaning up mixes and mastering, it is now caked on and pushed to the extremes. Compression is one of the most common tools used in modern music production, and has been in steady use for nearly a century.
