Month: October 2021

When I first started recording, I got an inaccurate understanding of compression stuck deep in my mind. I only really started to exorcise it a few years ago, and I still think the way compression is often explained is confusing. (Maybe I’ll post a follow-up on The Compression Conspiracy, or maybe it will come out here.) I’ll attempt to explain compression clearly and simply, touching on limiting and clipping along the way.

Compression is automatic volume reduction, or “variable attenuation” if you prefer. Compression is not soft clipping or peak reduction*.

* Peaks will be reduced in the course of automatic volume reduction processing, but since the whole signal is being reduced it’s confusing to call that result “peak reduction”

Compression is like having a gremlin enthralled to your instructions, whose hand is on a volume knob. You can tell the gremlin how fast to turn the volume down when your input signal gets loud (compressor “attack” time), how fast to turn the volume back up when the input signal gets quieter again (compressor “release” time), how loud is “loud” to you (compressor “threshold”), and whether you want your gremlin to turn down the volume a little, or a lot (compressor “ratio”).

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The world of guitar (and synth, and bass…) modulation effects overwhelmed me at first, but I’ve learned that most pedals and plugins are based around just a couple of ideas.

	Time-based effects	Filter-based effects
Base version	Chorus	Phaser
Variations	Flange (chorus with feedback) Vibrato (chorus with no dry signal)	Uni-Vibe or “Vibe” (phaser with mis-matched filters)

Time-based effects are created by 1) copying the input signal, 2) delaying the copy by a small amount (a few milliseconds), 3) automatically changing the delay time (say, from 27 ms to 33 ms and back), and then 4) mixing the input (or “dry,” or “not delayed) and delayed signals together (typically at a 50:50 ratio). The resulting sound is a pseudo-doubling effect with a bit of pitch going up and down, some frequencies of the input signal enhanced, and others diminished. Boom; basic chorus.

Flangers operate on the same principle, with shorter delay times and feedback in the delay signal path (just like a delay or echo pedal), resulting in a more pronounced effect. Flangers with knobs for feedback amount are often great modulation pedals because they can cover a lot of territory from subtle near-chorus to crazy flying saucer flange.

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Cory & Mike did some Halloween raps & beats, check ’em.