The Score Magazine March 2024 issue! | Page 54

What is An Audio Compressor And Why Should You Use It ?

Should You Use It ? Knowing how to use an audio compressor requires you to understand compression and its applications .
What is audio compression ? It is a process that reduces the dynamic range of the recording by lowering the level of the loudest parts , meaning that the loud and quiet parts are now closer in volume and natural volume variations are less obvious .
The dynamic volume changes of a recording are now more controlled , and a side effect is that the overall level of the compressed recording may increase within your mix .
How to use an audio compressor ? The compression device itself has many different controls that can affect the sound you are processing . We are going to review the main functions that can usually be found on a compressor .
Input gain ( Gain ) Controls the level of the signal that enters the sound compressor .
Threshold Compression reduces the overall level of the loudest parts of the recording . But how does the sound compressor know which part of the signal is “ loud ” and which part of the signal it should compress ? By adjusting the Threshold .
The threshold sets the level at which the compressor kicks in and begins to change the dynamics of the recording . For example , if you set the threshold to -20 dB , anything below this level will not be affected by the compressor . But anything louder than this level ( -20 dB ) will be compressed . Ratio
The Score
54 highonscore Magazine . com