Compression - what's all the fuss about?

[PaulWarning]

 I've just recorded this with my zoom B3 (it's the intro to Tube Station) both with the bass drive sim on but one without the 160 comp compressor and on e with it on before the bass drive, the bottom one is compressed 

[Skol303]

^ Hi Paul, yep that's a good example of how compression can even out a signal, thanks for posting.

If you wanted to preserve more the dynamics, then you'd simply dial back the compressor to suit (e.g. reduce the ratio or increase the threshold).

[T-Bay]

I have just spent a few minutes messing with my spectracomp. I normally have it set around 9 o’clock, so pretty low. I tried switching it on and off in the middle of various songs and on every one the tone suffered. It’s the ‘fatness’ it gives. Not sure if this is purely a compression effect or a secondary processing also carried out by the pedal but it’s noticeable. If I dial it up to 12 o’clock it begins to affect the dynamics of my playing but not seriously so, by 3 o’clock it seriously messes up the loud-quiet-loud elements of songs such as Zombie or teen spirit. I never touch it normally, it just sits at the 9 o’clock position always on and there it shall remain.

Edited March 12, 2018 by T-Bay

[PaulWarning]

31 minutes ago, Skol303 said:

^ Hi Paul, yep that's a good example of how compression can even out a signal, thanks for posting.

If you wanted to preserve more the dynamics, then you'd simply dial back the compressor to suit (e.g. reduce the ratio or increase the threshold).

it is a bit extreme just realised hard knee was switched on, the other settings were threshold -32 ratio 5:1

[grandad]

1 hour ago, T-Bay said:

I have just spent a few minutes messing with my spectracomp. I normally have it set around 9 o’clock, so pretty low. I tried switching it on and off in the middle of various songs and on every one the tone suffered. It’s the ‘fatness’ it gives. Not sure if this is purely a compression effect or a secondary processing also carried out by the pedal but it’s noticeable. If I dial it up to 12 o’clock it begins to affect the dynamics of my playing but not seriously so, by 3 o’clock it seriously messes up the loud-quiet-loud elements of songs such as Zombie or teen spirit. I never touch it normally, it just sits at the 9 o’clock position always on and there it shall remain.

I agree 100%. That's exactly how I use Spectracomp. 9 o'clock is just perfect.

Edited March 12, 2018 by grandad

[Kevin Dean]

3 hours ago, T-Bay said:

I have just spent a few minutes messing with my spectracomp. I normally have it set around 9 o’clock, so pretty low. I tried switching it on and off in the middle of various songs and on every one the tone suffered. It’s the ‘fatness’ it gives. Not sure if this is purely a compression effect or a secondary processing also carried out by the pedal but it’s noticeable. If I dial it up to 12 o’clock it begins to affect the dynamics of my playing but not seriously so, by 3 o’clock it seriously messes up the loud-quiet-loud elements of songs such as Zombie or teen spirit. I never touch it normally, it just sits at the 9 o’clock position always on and there it shall remain.

I've tried this on  my ashdown ABM  with the setting on low & switching on & off there is a dramatic change in volume ?

[Al Krow]

3 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

it is a bit extreme just realised hard knee was switched on, the other settings were threshold -32 ratio 5:1

Be great to see that re-run with the sort of setting you might use 'live'.

[GisserD]

On 3/10/2018 at 10:06, Al Krow said:

Here you go - from another forum(!):

"The top picture is an uncompressed signal, the bottom one thru a high-end compressor pedal. You can clearly see how it's worth every penny".

The lower of the two waveforms definatly sounds more punchy to me! 

 

[Dad3353]

22 minutes ago, GisserD said:

The lower of the two waveforms definatly sounds more punchy to me! 

S'odd; I found quite the opposite. 

[T-Bay]

8 hours ago, Kevin Dean said:

I've tried this on  my ashdown ABM  with the setting on low & switching on & off there is a dramatic change in volume ?

The spectracomp does t do that at all, the volume is as close to identical as it could be on and off. I can only guess it’s either a setting or how the pedal has been designed on yours.

[Delberthot]

I've used both pedal and rack mount compressors in the past and didn't really notice any difference in my overall sound until I got to the 'squashed' setting so haven't tried again.

Once thing that keeps popping up is that people refer to compressors giving them a fatness to their sound - my sound is set up exactly the way I want it so wouldn't want to add this as it isn't required - would there be a way to use a compressor without giving the sound the fatness that has been described previously?

For someone wanting to give a compressor another go, are there different models suited to different playing styles or do they all work exactly the same way? I'd theoretically be looking at a pedal one but the amount of controls on them varies from one brand to another

[grandad]

19 minutes ago, Delberthot said:

I've used both pedal and rack mount compressors in the past and didn't really notice any difference in my overall sound until I got to the 'squashed' setting so haven't tried again.

Once thing that keeps popping up is that people refer to compressors giving them a fatness to their sound - my sound is set up exactly the way I want it so wouldn't want to add this as it isn't required - would there be a way to use a compressor without giving the sound the fatness that has been described previously?

For someone wanting to give a compressor another go, are there different models suited to different playing styles or do they all work exactly the same way? I'd theoretically be looking at a pedal one but the amount of controls on them varies from one brand to another

Lots of comparisons done. Here's just a few:

http://www.songsimian.com/best-bass-compressor-pedal-review/

https://www.bestbassgear.com/ebass/gear/is-using-a-bass-compressor-cheating.html

http://equipboard.com/posts/best-bass-compressor-pedal

[Al Krow]

14 hours ago, Skol303 said:

The glue helps to hold the chair together. Without it, that function is left to the screws alone. The chair still stands, but it's not as sturdy.

What a really nice analogy of the role of compression in the mix!

[Leonard Smalls]

I use 3 compressors at the moment...

One's in the pre-amp signal - just enough to make every note snappy, then one in the send to the effects loop (makes the 2 envelope filters, synth and bass whammy more even in response), plus one on the FX return; this one's a bit more compressed than the pre compressor so the clean signal pops over the top of the fx to get a very punchy but squelchy blend...

[ricksterphil]

On 3/10/2018 at 02:22, Bluewine said:

Did Anyone Notice or Comment When You Switched Your Compressor Off?

The proper question would be,

"Did Anyone Notice or Comment When You Switched Your Bass Off?"

Blue

This sums it up for me  

I promise you it's worth watching...

[Japhet]

I love my compressor because it has an LED on which changes from green to red when I play a bit harder and it gives me something to look and entertain me whilst playing Mustang Sally. It has kept me sane (almost).

[Lozz196]

10 hours ago, Kevin Dean said:

I've tried this on  my ashdown ABM  with the setting on low & switching on & off there is a dramatic change in volume ?

I`ve found that too, on both of my ABM amps. But then I do have a Sansamp Para Driver set with some gain, so maybe in my case it`s having two lots of compression going, which I`m not sure is helpful.

[PaulWarning]

9 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Be great to see that re-run with the sort of setting you might use 'live'.

ah, you've sussed me, I haven't actually used one live yet, all this talk of you can't really hear what a compressor is doing prompted me to check if you could see what it was doing , I really must give it a go

[Skol303]

Some useful info in this previous thread…

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/319562-compressors-do-i-need-one/

…which also proves that the topic of “Compressors: Uh??” is evidence of the world being controlled by some kind of nightmarish, Matrix-style supercomputer determined to mess up my head with its sick sense of deja vu. At least that's the most logical conclusion I've come to. I mean it can't be that we have the collective memory of a goldfish.

And by the way, some useful info in this previous thread...

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/319562-compressors-do-i-need-one/

Edited March 13, 2018 by Skol303

[Dad3353]

There's this one, too...

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/319562-compressors-do-i-need-one/

[EBS_freak]

Ive yet to find a compressor pedal that I like. The rack mount units (and plugins for that matter) seem to be a lot more effective. For bass, I think multiband compressors are a lot more useful.

[Ghost_Bass]

I've tried lots of compressors and i came to the conclusion that the more controls i have available, bigger is the chance of screwing up my tone. I settled with the EBS Multicomp, it's perfect for me, not only its a multiband compressor but it also only has two knobs and a switch plus the two internal trim pots for those that like to use screwdrivers. I have mine set at multiband, Gain at 0 to balance the volume on/off and compression around 11 o'clock. In the internal trim pots the high is set higher than the low so it affects the peaks whilst retaining all the dynamics in the low end. It's simple and effective, wouldn't trade it for any other, it's allways on in the pedalboard.

Lots of people may not get into compression because it's a bit hard to understand and setup properly given the amount of pedals cramed with knobs, switches and LEDs out there...

[Earbrass]

In recent months I've attended several concerts (Philharmonia Orchestra, a violin duo, a solo pianist) where there were no compressors (or indeed any amplification) in evidence at all, despite it being, as others have pointed out above, a scientifically provable, unarguable fact that compression makes music sound better (it is, after all, a simple matter of the measurable behaviour of sound traveling through air). As far as I could tell, the only mechanism they had for managing their dynamics was to rely on the skill and musicianship of the individual players! Honestly, I felt embarrassed for them. I did ask one cellist whether she'd considered using a compression pedal to help her "sit better in the mix", but she just looked at me as if I was some kind of weirdo. Amateurs.

[Cuzzie]

Something similar happened to me, my wife was nagging me about soemthing or other, I dunno I wasn’t playing attention, but on this occasion, I put her vocals through a compressor, and Lo and behold what she was saying suddenly made sense and I could hear it correctly.

Well, I took out the bins, emptied the dishwasher and even took my weekly bath.   Afterwards I managed to get a really squashed sound just by twiddling the knobs.

As a result this one may be a keeper....

[Al Krow]

4 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Something similar happened to me, my wife was nagging me about soemthing or other, I dunno I wasn’t playing attention, but on this occasion, I put her vocals through a compressor, and Lo and behold what she was saying suddenly made sense and I could hear it correctly.

Well, I took out the bins, emptied the dishwasher and even took my weekly bath.   Afterwards I managed to get a really squashed sound just by twiddling the knobs.

As a result this one may be a keeper....

So you finally found the sweet spot then?