What is audio compression and how can you use it?
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- This quick video will guide you through the basics of adding compression to your audio. Compression is a great way to help your levels stay consistent, creating a better listening experience for your audience (if you've ever had to constantly turn the volume up and down while listening to a podcast, you know the frustration).
I'm using Adobe Audition in this example, but pretty much every audio editing app (and even most video editing apps) allow you to add compression.
As is the case with most EQ, a light touch is usually best. You might not even need to add compression at all, but it's important to understand the basics to help your show sound its best!
🎬 I edited this video (and all my videos) with Final Cut Pro. If you want to learn how I edit, check out my online course: learnfinalcutpro.com
🎙️And if you like the info in this video and want to learn more, I've also got a DIY podcast production course: podcasterplaybook.com
⏱️Chapter Markers:
0:00 - What is audio compression?
1:10 - Adding Compression
2:22 - Before & After Example
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Episode 389: The Basics of Audio Compression: What Is It And When Should You Use It? 
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Less than 4 seconds for groan inducing pun. A new record and I am hear for it 🥁
God tier level for sure
Oh man. It’s going to be another good day, Tom dropped another video.
This is GREAT! I just started a career as an Audiobook narrator and this really helps me know WHY I have been doing this.
Short and sweet! Thanks!
👍 great. Would love to see more about podcast postproduction ❤
Working on it!
REAPER. Thanks for the tutorial I know it'll help many peeps!
Such a great walkthrough, your teaching background shines from every word!
Wow, thank you!
Now that’s an amazing thumbnail!!!
The thumbnail looks awesome!
Right?! I was like whoa what’s this all about
+1 for amazing thumbnail, so much color and it still doesn’t look crazy, pops like **** in the feed :)
Thanks! I was proud of this one.
Just to add-on, I compress almost everything (outside a studio). If you're using a Lav mic, it's great if you can compress them even before recording, but with creator setup, that's rare. Pro audio rigs have at a minimum a dbx286s (Compress/De-esser/expander/gate) and a multiband eq. Your starting point were right on (Well done) 2.5 - 3.5 (ratio) Output gain 2.5 to 4
Thanks for the extra tips- especially for lavs!
Great video that just gets right to it. Very informative.
Glad it was helpful!
I have a bad lisp and am using a comica vm30. By the way you should try this mic its nifty. I would love a short video like this on De-essing any other methods to reduce a lisp. Love your videos.
Oh great topic! I'm not a de-esser expert myself, but that'd be an interesting angle to take!
@@tombuck You're just a fantastic person. I'm working on starting my own RUclips channel and you've been a big inspiration. I've been watching you for a couple years and I've learned so much. Thank you.
you should check at what point are software alternatives to hardwared Stream Deck, like Touch Portal , Deckboard, Up Deck, etc ..and maybe Audacity.. .. on mics, i bet, an Marantz, costing half ,a third or bigger price difference of other mics like nt1, etc, would be a great suggestion to starters..try one, if you can.. these are my suggestion of ideas for future content.. Have a great weekend, Tom, and all subscribers..
Thank you sir!
Talking about attack and release can get more complicated, but it can change the sound a ton, so I think it's worth trying it.
Quick attack and slow release would mostly just normalize levels by quieting the louder stuff, I think. (Overdoing this, especially with a high ratio and slow release, could make volume seem to bounce around unnaturally, so worth tweaking ratio and release.) Very quick attack with pretty quick release can chop down sharp peaks while keeping some of the resonance after, because it eases up quickly to let through the "resonance" or "body" after the peak. Overdoing that might sound unnatural, so again I think dialing the amounts in would be important.
Medium to slow attack and slow release can make it sound "punchy", because the quick impulses are let through, but the volume drops off after some milliseconds. So, the sound is more dominated by quick booms and spike impulses. I'm not sure what medium to slow attack and quick release would be good for to be honest, but why not try it? Might make for a gentle, light-touch compression that's hard to actively notice with the ear, since it starts acting at a more gentle, gradual speed and lets up asap when you go below the threshold again? Going for a natural "hardly notice it's there" compression sound?
I'm not really an expert on this, I've just looked at some other videos about it, but I tried tweaking ratio and attack/release and it made a lot of difference with a mic I didn't like otherwise. I would HIGHLY recommend folks think about impulse (quick sounds) vs resonance/body (slow sounds), and with that in mind, try tweaking their compression sound for a moment. I think they might really like what they hear! And it can sort of redeem a room or a mic that doesn't have the sound you're looking for, since you can selectively tweak resonance that should include the room noise, at least partly. Or maybe you like some parts of your voice more that happen to be the more immediate or slower parts of the sound. Compression settings can help a bit there I found.
I ended up really liking a gentle ratio and slow attack/release that I applied from a pretty low threshold... chained into a second one that was pretty quick attack/release starting at a threshold near the top of what I consider comfortable levels, the second one being there to address impulses, pops, shouts, just protect against super loud and unusual sounds and push them back down a bit, without resorting to harsh clipping or an abrupt limiter.
By the time something would hit the second compressor it would have to be something very loud, so I knew I wanted to really address it, but the first compressor felt fairly natural while normalizing my levels a bit and making the audio just sound nicer, like someone who's speaking up and easy to listen to, rather than someone who's hard to hear over ambient noise. I could swear it improved the tone/timbre of my voice better than EQ and I ended up not EQing after since this sounded more natural and pleasant to me than any EQ (I'm not great at EQ! But this seems easier, IMO!). And like I said, my limiter at the very end almost never had to do anything after the second compressor did its thing.
I just realized this is a huge tangent, but yeah, that's what I ended up doing. Thanks for the videos!
Thank you for all this extra info!
Great tutorial! But I think this calls for a thumbnail design tutorial. It’s one of your best for sure 👍
Dang, thanks! It can be tough to make audio processing look interesting 😅
Thanks for sharing, Tom! Do you have any videos on how you edit your RUclips video audio? I'm having a hard time cutting down a/c noise without completely ruining my voice. Currently using a MKE600 boomed overhead recorded into my Rodecaster Duo on the condenser mic preset with default processing.
Hey Kyle!!
I'm working on one about the parametric EQ, but also a light touch with voice isolation can do wonders: ruclips.net/video/XzdeKVXhuZE/видео.html
@@tombuck Awesome, thank you as always for your help!
Great video!
Tom where can I get that desk mat? Appreciate you answering my comment last video. Not many RUclipsrs do that anymore
The brand is GDBT on Amazon- I'm not sure if they have this exact pattern anymore, but I think they do have others.
March 29th!!!
It's my Birthday today!!!
No, I'm not hungover 🤣
Happy birthday!!!!!🎂
@@tombuck Thank you!
Thank you so much!!! 🥰
Nice
If you already have added compression on your recording for example in the Shure MV7 app. Do you still need to add it in post?
Nope! You definitely could, but it'd be double compressed. This is why I like recording with the Rodecaster because then it's done as soon as I end the recording.
Is there any difference between the audio compression and the compressor? (Just asking for some knowledge, Haha 😅)
edit : I still don’t know why every time I saw your new vid, I would immediately come to comment on your vids like everytime. (I just realized myself. 😅)
If I understand your question correctly:
Audio Compression is the act of compressing an audio recording to minimize the difference in audio levels (loud sounds (words or segments) vs quieter sounds (words or segments).
A «compressor» is the hardware unit or software equivalent plugin/built in function you use to perform Audio Compression.
Some audio and video editing software has compressors built into them, while different companies also make and sell compressor plugins that can be used in a variety of software (like VST’s that can be used in editor’s from different companies).
The difference between compression and eq’ing is that EQ’s are used to cut or boost specific frequencies (lovering or raising the volume of those frequencies, like removing hiss or low end rumble in recordings) while a compressor will lower loud parts of the whole audio and make quiet parts louder - the compressor works more like you would constantly ride the volume button adjusting up and down to keep the volume level at all times.
This is honestly one of the nicest compliments I could imagine. Thank you!
@@tombuck =)
@@AndreSjoberg Oh! I see it now!
Well, I’ve been messing around with the Audio Compressor on Audacity (An open source audio editing software) and it actually does that.
A few weeks ago, I was mixing some AI made songs and the audio was too loud and clipped, So I used the Compressor to make it less louder (I set it to default settings), And guess what it turned out?
Yeah, The one of the ai generated guitar audio got quieter than the rest of the audio. (And I think it’s not that much, Just a little bit quiet)
@@ItsRyukin Sweet :) What you can try, since trying to understand the effect of a compressor in a full mix can be quite hard, what I did was I recorded a small segment, and spoke quite loud in half of it, and much lower in the other half. Then I brought it into Ableton Live (Audacity is great as well :)) and started testing out the compressor settings, lowering the threshold until the indicator shows some of the audio is hitting the threshold, then applying the ratio, 3 to 1, 4 to 1 etc, and the sound should get lower, and then you apply the gain, and as you do that the quieter parts should be able to play back louder without the loudest parts clipping.
Then you can try to lower the threshold even more and turning up the ratio to 5:1 or 6:1 (making it quieter) and then increase the makeup gain at the end, and you should hear much less difference in the loud parts vs the quieter parts, because the loud parts are being compressed so the volume of the whole recording can be increased. But if you compress too much it sounds super flat and like a "wall of sound" in the end.
Aaahahaha, this is funny :)
I just released a video yesterday about the extreme EQ and Compression settings I have to use on my DJI Mic 2-audio to make it sound somewhat normal/useable just before the RUclips Huddle-Up began - and now you just published this, what a freak coincidence :)
Quick question: when you say 16db for podcasts, is that -16db peak, or -16db on average, like lufs, like -14 lufs for RUclips videos?
Also: here you are using a relatively good, quality mic, so it only needs «slight adjustments» to make it sound pretty good - would it be within your scope to do a more extreme one, with worse audio? I am of course thinking bout the Dji Mic 2, with maybe both the built in mic and a lav, and attached to the chest as well as the now common «youtuber-style» of holding it in front of your mouth, since it picks up *much* more frequencies and sounds way more clear compared to the classical «chest mount».
The audio I’m getting from it is super-muffled out of the box using the built in mic, clipping it to my cap or holding it in front of me produces better but still muffled audio, which when chest mounted demands some extreme cutting and boosting (if you watch my video you’ll hear what I mean). Just wondering if I’m doing something wrong or if it’s just my voice being way too bass(y).
I totally understand if it isn’t within your scope or you have the time, but it would be really interesting to hear a Pro vs Rookie comparison of how to treat the dji mic 2 audio quality :)
That is a crazy coincidence!
For -16, I think the technical way is peak, but I usually just do an average or it sounds a bit too quiet.
For using a different/lower quality mic, I don't know that you'd need to go crazy with compression (because the main thing is reducing the dynamic range of the signal), but you might need to dive into EQ and adjust the lows/mids/highs. I'm also working on a video about parametric equalizers, which is a good companion to this!
I don't have the DJI Mic myself, but it is basically a lavalier mic, and those often do need a bit more processing to sound their best since they have wider pickup patterns but are also usually positioned below the sound source and smooshed up against a body. If you're playing with an EQ, adjusting the mids can make a pretty big immediate difference!
@@tombuck Ah, yeah, sorry, a bit unprecise in the first sentence there, the EQ-settings are extreme, the compression settings are just "normal" :)
The thing that happens with my DJI Mic 2 when worn on the chest is I have to boost the top frequencies (not just the mids) to get something sound "slightly" normal, like *way* up in the frequency spectrum boosting everything from 1k-2k to 8k and slightly beyond, just adding a small high cut on the en around 14k-16k and boosting that by almost 15db, and that's after first having increased volume on the clip itself, then *not* added any gain on the EQ, and then adding another 10db output gain after running it through the compressor (doing EQ to clean it up, then compressing).
I'm using the 6 band EQ in DaVinci Resolve running a high shelf on band 5 from 1k an upwards at almost 15db boost, doing a quick cutoff on band 6 above 8k, and also cutting off below 160 on band 1, with a couple of narrow cuts around 175 and 8-900 to remove some boxyness, but I'm kinda punching above my experience level doing this since I don't really *know* what I'm doing, but playing it by ear and a bit of general advice from the internets.
@@tombuck Hahaha, I just had to check since my brain needs to know things ;) So putting it here if somebody needs it - the usual podcast specs is -14 to -16db «on average» (differs between Apple and Spotify), so integrated LUFS for the average of the whole recording, with short peaks around -9db short term, and -1db absolute peak (for no clipping). This could explain why you, if you’ve been doing short term -16db or peak -16db (instead of average) ended up with audio sounding a bit too quiet :) Now my brain can rest again and focus on learning the ins and outs (pun intended) of the DaVinci Resolve Cut Page :)
I've listened to the audio sample with my Sennheiser HD600 headphones over and over and I cannot hear an improvement with/without compression, it just sounds ever so slightly different, maybe my ears are broken 😂
It definitely can sound different on difference sound systems! Compression is also more a subtle effect- you're not going to hear big EQ changes like bass or treble, but instead there's less dynamic range. Basically you shouldn't have to keep turning volume up/down and it should be easy to hear every word.
@@tombuck A good monitor studio is your car's sound system, while driving and with road noise. You want to be clearly heard by a driver, otherwise they will switch off.