THINK OF IT LIKE THIS. Threshold - The volume at which your mom tells you to cut down your music Ratio - The amount you cut down your music when she tells you to (the threshold) Attack - How FAST you cut it down when she tells you to (the threshold) Release - How quickly you cut the music back up when she leaves the room
@Ricky Anthony Very true. I think since Joe was already thinking of the midrange, he was just sweeping around the 1 kHz range to find the exact spot to cut.
Oh man, I think you said something that finally clicked in my poor brain with compression. I have really been struggling to understand and your explanation here with the consonants really helped! I'm working on a song where the vocalist hits his consonants really hard at the beginning of his phrase and I've been struggling to make it sound good. I don't want it to happen on accident - I want to know what I'm doing! lol Thank you, Joe!
I am afraid that you have a confusion on everything, you think that you know something but in reality your informations are useless, because there are so many and from different sources. I am still very frustrated and all that makes me so aggressive. Maybe you are more rational and with high equilibrium levels.
I think of all the videos I've watched about compression (especially for vocals), this video was probably the simplest and clearest explanation. Thank you for your content, seriously.
best way I ever learned. way back in the day, I was very familiar with ducking reverbs with vocals. its probably the first trick we ever learned. My colleague was like "all a compressor is doing is ducking the loud parts in itself".. and that was it. it all made sense to me ha ha. of course it gets deeper but.. I got the point
ah i was about to watch some vocal compression videos and saw this in my reccomendations! thanks joe. I've always found it much harder to compress a vocal than drums or bass as the "input" varies so much so i find it harder to listen for
You are right about eq and gain reduction. I've experienced when I use eq prior to compression the compressor won't be triggered as hard by lower mid frequencies. Also I tried to use two compressors after each other and had moderate gain reduction on both of them. It made it sound much more enjoyable than having only one compressor with lots of gain reduction.
Dude!!! You explained this so good without the extra bullshit!!! I entered in entry level and I graduated on the same day... thank you very much for getting straight to the point and breaking it down to it’s very last compound!!
Mate I've never heard someone break down the attack and release like that so thank you! You put exactly what I was hearing into words but could never quite describe it 😂😂💯💯
This is awesome! Producer and music teacher here. I am always looking for videos to help explain these concepts to my students. My suggestion is to demonstrate some of these awesome mixing concepts using a variety of DAW’s, plugins, etc. There are a TON of young people learning this stuff on RUclips and having these concepts explained in a variety of formats would make them really accessible to these young people!
@@HomeStudioCorner They most definitely do! I teach a wide spectrum of middle school learners (11-14) and for many, the concrete visual of doing something using the same exact set of tools resonates differently. Regardless of platform, your videos are really great and informative, thank you!
This is by far the best non-techie explanation of compression and demonstration I've seen to date and I've watched tons of videos on compression. Got anything on "Gating"?
Where were these videos when I started learning Voice Over last year?!?! Outstanding video! Really simplifies things for an audio troglodyte like me ;) Thank you for the great information!
This is a great explanation! I love the way you share your experience with the community. In the end it all boils down to taste but you are supplying the user manuals to the tools we need to use! Thank you so much!
Hey Joe, comenting here again after the EQ Vocals videos just to say that these two tips helped me. The vocals that I was having problems are now perfectly working on the mix. Turns out All it needed was some cutting on the low end, not a single boost on the whole chain and it's souding exatctly how I wanted. Thank you man, have a great weekend
If you really want to nerd out about it, the attack is how quickly the compressor goes from 0% of ratio to 100% of ratio. Say you've got a ratio of 4:1 or something like that. Attack speed is how long the compressor takes to go from 1:1 (no compression) to 4:1 (taking 4dB above thresh to get 1dB out, above thresh). :)
Also. Attack = close/far. It's a good tool to create depth, or at least to use in conjuntion with reverb and balancing (far instruments = more ambience/less transient/lower volume)
I wanna add two things....when you pick your plugin first listen to what kind of flavour it adds to the sound without even compressing. Some modelings of vintage compressors change the sound dramaticly. And also know, what type of compressor you want, a vca comp acts very different to an optical one. Oh and if you have a severly dynamic vocal performance, don‘t try to let the compressor do all the work, use automation or clip gain to at least roughly even out the volume. Other than that, very helpful video.
You're SOOO right, but this is obviously aimed at beginners and not at people that are like: My 1176 will sound too agressive on this, let's try the LA2A ;-).
This was much better than the one you did awhile ago !! loving the presonus line. Made the switch last year and have been loving Studio One. I do mostly live shows, but been having fun with all the other goodies. Just bought an Atom SQ to help with workflow in Studio One. Using the studio live 32 board with 2 NSB 16x8 boxes for live shows.
Thanks so much for your videos! Rule # 2 really helped me out yesterday! EQ first then add compression if needed. Such a simple concept but very helpful!
Dude. I hope you keep banging out videos. This was the perfect explanation of exactly what needs to happen, when, and why. Short and informational but to the point yada yada, I'm sure you've heard it a 361 times but I still want to express my gratitude. So thanks!
Thanks for the tips joe! And my OCD really wants me to get super nerdy and measure specifics when it comes to level matching the bypass vs active of a plug-in lol
Yes fast attack the compressor is being "agressive". But slow attack can feel like VOCAL is sounding "agressive. Like if you have agressive distorted shouty or rap vocals. Though can bring out sibilance and stuff you dont want, usually all thats at the beginning of phrases. I.e. harsh too. Nice mellow track, good to have something actually listenable in a mix video.
Thank you Joe so much!! I just took your advice in my bands ep and like you say: "boom" !! the voice is on top of the mix. You really helped me out of the chaos about compression. I would really appreciate it, if you record a video about using multiple effects on voice to round up this series about mixing vocals :) Greetings from Germany
Your videos are so amazing! I never know what to do about attack & release. I usually go extremely one way & then extremely the other way. I usually don't notice a difference until it's extremely slow. I always end up putting both of them closer to 0, which I guess is good. For some reason, there's usually not much of a difference in my vocals. I can definitely hear it in this one.
Attack is how fast the effect takes to do what you input and release is how much time you want the clamping to be on. To be honest, if there is no diffrence in sound, you should not touch it. I use compression as a mere brickwall *you shall not past* thats all, organic mixes should sound natural.
Max threshold and ratio to dial these in (makeup gain up too). Then when find a musically fitting setting that does what you want, put it on desired setting. Generally slow attack adds a bit of pop or click attack, which is more desirable on drums and bass. Fast release can bring up tails of notes like a verb. If you go too fast it 'flutters' and distorts. The most natural setting is fast attack slow release. Good trick, like dial a reverb fully wet to judge some settings. Or when find an EQ frequency boost more than needed. Applies to compression too, but just these settings.
you're the MAN. thanks for a no BS tutorial man. do you mind if you let me know how you got the sound of your voice so good in this actual tutorial? I'm just a small time podcaster and have a condenser that's decent quality but the echo is so bad. I post in audacity to noice gate and noise removal but my final recording is nowhere near your video here lol
Hi, your instructions is very intuitive, and I like it a lot! I am now looking for the harmonic effect so that I can turn it on when the singer sings the chorus. Would you please show me if you already has one video for it, or can you make one for us? Thanks in advance!
Hi Joe, I've been following you and your channel for quite a few weeks now, and want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. This is one of the most informative channels on YT I found so far. Like in this video. Of course I know what attack and release mean in a compressor, but what does it actually do with the audio source? Where should I pay attention? Your hint to listen for the consonants for example is simply great. Like nealy all your advises, this helps me improving. And you don't try to sell stuff. Just pure information, hints, clues... Easy to understand and extremely helpful. And by the way, I am listening to your song "Fearfully and Wonderfully made" over and over again these days. Gives me goosebumps every time. I didn't know you're such a good and emotional singer. Really great performance, love it!
Thanks Joe. I've been producing for 20 years but only started to use compression about 10 years ago when working with vocals for the first time. I used to sculpt everything manually but once I started recording vocals I realised that compression was needed. This is a very helpful video as I have never had a good ear for compression. I use Fabfilter's Pro-C2 compressor on vocals and although it gives users the visual representation of what is happening, videos like this are very helpful. Thank you for sharing you tips :)
Your videos are amazing brother!!! Thank you for all the information! Used your monitor calibrating video to set up my new room. My mixes never sounded better! Stay Blessed
just stumbled across your channel and I love the way you explain things. to the point, easy to understand and none of the youtuber theatrics. definitely understand attack and release more now too. thanks!
THINK OF IT LIKE THIS.
Threshold - The volume at which your mom tells you to cut down your music
Ratio - The amount you cut down your music when she tells you to (the threshold)
Attack - How FAST you cut it down when she tells you to (the threshold)
Release - How quickly you cut the music back up when she leaves the room
@NSVN
I see you're a student of wayne.wav, I am too and i'm gonna give him his credit, Shout out to wavy wayne💃🏾😘!!!
This
Your mom
That's brilliant! lol And that's my teenage son!
@@inventorofswag4017 lol
Finally-a simple-but-detailed answer to the questions I’ve _actually_ been asking about these damned things.
On rule 2 notice how he RAISED the eq first to find the frequencies that he wanted to lower. That is a great eq 101 trick.
I just learned that trick of Joe too recently. It looks counter-intuitive, but it just works. I love all of Joe's tutorials.
Sweeping for unwanted frequencies
@@ryanreedtv3242 exactly
seek and destroy
@Ricky Anthony Very true. I think since Joe was already thinking of the midrange, he was just sweeping around the 1 kHz range to find the exact spot to cut.
Just wanted to say thank you. You save people so much time and money and I am one of them.
Oh man, I think you said something that finally clicked in my poor brain with compression. I have really been struggling to understand and your explanation here with the consonants really helped! I'm working on a song where the vocalist hits his consonants really hard at the beginning of his phrase and I've been struggling to make it sound good. I don't want it to happen on accident - I want to know what I'm doing! lol Thank you, Joe!
Wow! No one has ever explained release to me that way! Thank you so much!
This is absolutely the best explanation of release time. I have been struggling with compression and this have me such an ah ha! Moment. Thank you!!!
That was helpful. I always like to go neck to compression videos to see if there's anything I missed
Im still learning about compression attack and release...thanks for the info...your videos have helped me understand alot about mixing in studio one
I am afraid that you have a confusion on everything, you think that you know something but in reality your informations are useless, because there are so many and from different sources. I am still very frustrated and all that makes me so aggressive. Maybe you are more rational and with high equilibrium levels.
I think of all the videos I've watched about compression (especially for vocals), this video was probably the simplest and clearest explanation. Thank you for your content, seriously.
best way I ever learned. way back in the day, I was very familiar with ducking reverbs with vocals. its probably the first trick we ever learned. My colleague was like "all a compressor is doing is ducking the loud parts in itself".. and that was it. it all made sense to me ha ha. of course it gets deeper but.. I got the point
Joe you are my favorite teacher God bless you continue to teach us
I love how you do what you do. You're my kind of engineer!
ah i was about to watch some vocal compression videos and saw this in my reccomendations! thanks joe. I've always found it much harder to compress a vocal than drums or bass as the "input" varies so much so i find it harder to listen for
This explained in depth how compression works listen to this man compression is key when you know how to use it
There is something with this video that made me understanding better.
You are right about eq and gain reduction. I've experienced when I use eq prior to compression the compressor won't be triggered as hard by lower mid frequencies. Also I tried to use two compressors after each other and had moderate gain reduction on both of them. It made it sound much more enjoyable than having only one compressor with lots of gain reduction.
One of the BEST compression videos I've ever seen. Simple, smart, and right to the point. WOOHOO! SUBBED! :)
It’s crazy to se the comparing volume trick , I did that before watching this video and I got my best mix so far . Ver agree
Dude!!! You explained this so good without the extra bullshit!!! I entered in entry level and I graduated on the same day... thank you very much for getting straight to the point and breaking it down to it’s very last compound!!
Thank you. I have to try all of these settings...
Best explanation!! Wish I would have found your video 3 years ago
this is one of the most helpful videos i’ve ever watched on compression! thank you!
Mate I've never heard someone break down the attack and release like that so thank you! You put exactly what I was hearing into words but could never quite describe it 😂😂💯💯
Man, I don't know how you do it, but you post your videos just in time when I actually need. Thanks for that and keep on rockin'!
This is awesome! Producer and music teacher here. I am always looking for videos to help explain these concepts to my students. My suggestion is to demonstrate some of these awesome mixing concepts using a variety of DAW’s, plugins, etc. There are a TON of young people learning this stuff on RUclips and having these concepts explained in a variety of formats would make them really accessible to these young people!
OR you could argue that the concepts transcend the software.
@@HomeStudioCorner They most definitely do! I teach a wide spectrum of middle school learners (11-14) and for many, the concrete visual of doing something using the same exact set of tools resonates differently. Regardless of platform, your videos are really great and informative, thank you!
Thanks Joe. This is the best explanation and demo of compression I've seen...and heard.
This is by far the best non-techie explanation of compression and demonstration I've seen to date and I've watched tons of videos on compression. Got anything on "Gating"?
Where were these videos when I started learning Voice Over last year?!?! Outstanding video! Really simplifies things for an audio troglodyte like me ;)
Thank you for the great information!
U blew my mind with ur rule #2 and the way u explained the release. To focus on vowels n consonants🤟👏👏👏👏👏. Love n respect frm India❤️❤️❤️
What you talk about Release , is so great!
I finally understand release, thank you!!!
I’ve watched so many videos on compression but I feel like this is the one that has finally clicked with me. Thank you
This is a great explanation! I love the way you share your experience with the community. In the end it all boils down to taste but you are supplying the user manuals to the tools we need to use! Thank you so much!
Excellent Vid. For someone that is new to this world, you're making it easy! Well... at least easier.
Best explanation about attack and release I ever watch. Thank you!😄
Awesome it opened my eyes about a lot of things on compression Thank you
"Release as clarity" really helped me understand! Your demos of the consonant sounds with fast and slow release were so helpful!
thanks Joe, learning every day...
Wow. This was almost perfect. Thank you.
Great information and one of the best explanations of the various compression features. TY!
Very understandable and helpful, like the way u go straight to the point 👍
Hey Joe, comenting here again after the EQ Vocals videos just to say that these two tips helped me. The vocals that I was having problems are now perfectly working on the mix. Turns out All it needed was some cutting on the low end, not a single boost on the whole chain and it's souding exatctly how I wanted.
Thank you man, have a great weekend
absolutely you are the best dear joe.
I want more about compression... Thank you for the video, very helpful❤
Qwik and to the point. Nice cliffnotes on vocal comp
If you really want to nerd out about it, the attack is how quickly the compressor goes from 0% of ratio to 100% of ratio.
Say you've got a ratio of 4:1 or something like that. Attack speed is how long the compressor takes to go from 1:1 (no compression) to 4:1 (taking 4dB above thresh to get 1dB out, above thresh).
:)
Joe! All I can say is WOW. Finally, compression clarity!
Just found your video - love your way of explaining! thank you so much :)
super helpful, especially assigning a characteristic each to attack and release (aggression and clarity). Thanks!
Also.
Attack = close/far. It's a good tool to create depth, or at least to use in conjuntion with reverb and balancing (far instruments = more ambience/less transient/lower volume)
I wanna add two things....when you pick your plugin first listen to what kind of flavour it adds to the sound without even compressing. Some modelings of vintage compressors change the sound dramaticly. And also know, what type of compressor you want, a vca comp acts very different to an optical one. Oh and if you have a severly dynamic vocal performance, don‘t try to let the compressor do all the work, use automation or clip gain to at least roughly even out the volume. Other than that, very helpful video.
You're SOOO right, but this is obviously aimed at beginners and not at people that are like: My 1176 will sound too agressive on this, let's try the LA2A ;-).
I guess you‘re right😎
good information - very nice production values on the video
This is so great. Thanks for the knowledge! Needed it last week... but better late than never.
Good explanation once again. Thanks again, Joe.
This was much better than the one you did awhile ago !! loving the presonus line. Made the switch last year and have been loving Studio One. I do mostly live shows, but been having fun with all the other goodies. Just bought an Atom SQ to help with workflow in Studio One. Using the studio live 32 board with 2 NSB 16x8 boxes for live shows.
Thank you. Obviously, this helps :)
Thanks so much for your videos! Rule # 2 really helped me out yesterday! EQ first then add compression if needed. Such a simple concept but very helpful!
She has a lovely voice:)
Dude. I hope you keep banging out videos. This was the perfect explanation of exactly what needs to happen, when, and why. Short and informational but to the point yada yada, I'm sure you've heard it a 361 times but I still want to express my gratitude. So thanks!
Excellent video! Thanks again Joe!
Nice work explaining attack and release. Doing it on other instruments would be a great tutorial.
I tried to understand this for so many years. Thnak you so much. How have i not learned this before?, it seems so simple 😆
Great videoooooo💎I’ve just understand everything about compression
Thanks for the vid Joe - very helpful as always.
Thanks for the tips joe! And my OCD really wants me to get super nerdy and measure specifics when it comes to level matching the bypass vs active of a plug-in lol
Great video, your explanation was very clear, to the point and easy to understand.
Amazing video dude, just a great, short and informative video👌🙌...
I would like to see more videos like this
Best compression tutorial! :)
thanks for making everything clear and detailed, it actually helped me a Lot :)
so helpful for us beginners, love to see more from you,,,
Great video, excellent training!! Thanks bro!!
Thanks for this knowledge...
Just what I needed, thank you.
Found this so helpful, thanks for making and sharing 👍
Yes fast attack the compressor is being "agressive".
But slow attack can feel like VOCAL is sounding "agressive. Like if you have agressive distorted shouty or rap vocals. Though can bring out sibilance and stuff you dont want, usually all thats at the beginning of phrases. I.e. harsh too.
Nice mellow track, good to have something actually listenable in a mix video.
simple, effective, to the point!!
Excellent teaching, thanks Joe!
Thank you Joe so much!! I just took your advice in my bands ep and like you say: "boom" !! the voice is on top of the mix. You really helped me out of the chaos about compression.
I would really appreciate it, if you record a video about using multiple effects on voice to round up this series about mixing vocals :)
Greetings from Germany
Very well thought out tutorial. Subscribed 👍
Your videos are so amazing! I never know what to do about attack & release. I usually go extremely one way & then extremely the other way. I usually don't notice a difference until it's extremely slow. I always end up putting both of them closer to 0, which I guess is good. For some reason, there's usually not much of a difference in my vocals. I can definitely hear it in this one.
Attack is how fast the effect takes to do what you input and release is how much time you want the clamping to be on.
To be honest, if there is no diffrence in sound, you should not touch it.
I use compression as a mere brickwall *you shall not past* thats all, organic mixes should sound natural.
Max threshold and ratio to dial these in (makeup gain up too). Then when find a musically fitting setting that does what you want, put it on desired setting.
Generally slow attack adds a bit of pop or click attack, which is more desirable on drums and bass. Fast release can bring up tails of notes like a verb. If you go too fast it 'flutters' and distorts. The most natural setting is fast attack slow release.
Good trick, like dial a reverb fully wet to judge some settings. Or when find an EQ frequency boost more than needed. Applies to compression too, but just these settings.
Another great tutorial! Thanks Joe. I like the way you explain it with the demo. Makes more sense.
you're the MAN. thanks for a no BS tutorial man. do you mind if you let me know how you got the sound of your voice so good in this actual tutorial? I'm just a small time podcaster and have a condenser that's decent quality but the echo is so bad. I post in audacity to noice gate and noise removal but my final recording is nowhere near your video here lol
Excellent tips - thanks!
Hi, your instructions is very intuitive, and I like it a lot!
I am now looking for the harmonic effect so that I can turn it on when the singer sings the chorus. Would you please show me if you already has one video for it, or can you make one for us?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Joe, I've been following you and your channel for quite a few weeks now, and want to say thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. This is one of the most informative channels on YT I found so far. Like in this video. Of course I know what attack and release mean in a compressor, but what does it actually do with the audio source? Where should I pay attention? Your hint to listen for the consonants for example is simply great. Like nealy all your advises, this helps me improving. And you don't try to sell stuff. Just pure information, hints, clues... Easy to understand and extremely helpful.
And by the way, I am listening to your song "Fearfully and Wonderfully made" over and over again these days. Gives me goosebumps every time. I didn't know you're such a good and emotional singer. Really great performance, love it!
Thank you so much I was struggling with this ❤
Thanks mate. Super helpful video ! X
Very helpful! You always seem to explain concepts in a away that may them clearer.
Thank you so much!
Thanks Joe. I've been producing for 20 years but only started to use compression about 10 years ago when working with vocals for the first time. I used to sculpt everything manually but once I started recording vocals I realised that compression was needed. This is a very helpful video as I have never had a good ear for compression. I use Fabfilter's Pro-C2 compressor on vocals and although it gives users the visual representation of what is happening, videos like this are very helpful. Thank you for sharing you tips :)
Your videos are amazing brother!!! Thank you for all the information! Used your monitor calibrating video to set up my new room. My mixes never sounded better! Stay Blessed
Great video Joe ... and helpful.
Great Joe. Another top tutorial. Learned already so much from you.🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
I finally understand compression lol. Thx brother
Super helpful. Thanks so much. !
just stumbled across your channel and I love the way you explain things. to the point, easy to understand and none of the youtuber theatrics.
definitely understand attack and release more now too. thanks!
Thanks man, really interesting and instructive
I’d say I’ve watched over a 100 videos on these same topics gaining little to no understanding until I came across your channel
Congratulations for another great video and explanations, Joe!! Best regards from Spain ^^
That’s super helpful thank u very much i really would like from you to help us on how to mix and master from start to finish 👍🏻❤️