Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 09:40 AM CDT

I have what is probably a very elementary question, since this type of electronic music-making is totally new to me: What is "compression"? On another site I'm on, I asked about common mistakes beginners make. One person said they "overcompress". Can somebody tell me what that is all about?

P.S. I also see that when you send a song to iTunes from GarageBand, there is a checkbox for "Compress". What is that checkbox doing, specifically? I often am satisfied with the levels on my songs in GarageBand, then, when I send them to iTunes and listen to them there, I hate how it sounds. Is the "Compress" checkbox to blame? I'm very curious. Thanks a bunch!

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 09:59 AM CDT

Quote by: Catalina22 I have what is probably a very elementary question, since this type of electronic music-making is totally new to me: What is "compression"? On another site I'm on, I asked about common mistakes beginners make. One person said they "overcompress". Can somebody tell me what that is all about?

Compression is about making loud sounds softer, and thereby (if you raise the overall level) making soft sounds louder. Judicious use of compression can improve a mix, overuse makes it hard to listen to.

Do you do anything to make your mix "louder"? Many beginners post songs here that are very soft, because there is one peak in the loudness, and since that can not go over 0db, the rest of the song becomes whispery soft. In that case compression can help you. On the other hand, if you have a plugin (I don't know what comes with G that you think makes your song "more exciting" that you probably overdo it.

Here, Sound On Sound magazine is a good source of tutorials:http://www.crunkbox.com/articles/articles/26/1/Compression-Sound-On-Sound/Page1.html

Victor.

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 10:14 AM CDT

Quote by: VicDiesel Quote by: Catalina22 I have what is probably a very elementary question, since this type of electronic music-making is totally new to me: What is "compression"? On another site I'm on, I asked about common mistakes beginners make. One person said they "overcompress". Can somebody tell me what that is all about? Compression is about making loud sounds softer, and thereby (if you raise the overall level) making soft sounds louder. Judicious use of compression can improve a mix, overuse makes it hard to listen to. Do you do anything to make your mix "louder"? Many beginners post songs here that are very soft, because there is one peak in the loudness, and since that can not go over 0db, the rest of the song becomes whispery soft. In that case compression can help you. On the other hand, if you have a plugin (I don't know what comes with G that you think makes your song "more exciting" that you probably overdo it. Here, Sound On Sound magazine is a good source of tutorials:http://www.crunkbox.com/articles/articles/26/1/Compression-Sound-On-Sound/Page1.html Victor.

Great article--thanks! Very helpful. I have zero, zip, nada except for my little laptop at this point. No plugins or anything like that. I just have the GarageBand application that came with my laptop, and I've downloaded a few free loops here and there, but that's it.

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 10:20 AM CDT

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 10:22 AM CDT

One more remark. You can compress individual instruments, but there are also compressors that you put on the final mix. I often use the PSP Vintagewarmer. See if they have a demo. It's magic.

Some mix compressors are of the "multiband compressor" type. Those are hard to use, but I believe GB comes with some decent presets for one. Put that on your mix and see what difference it makes.

Victor.

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 10:53 AM CDT

Don't miss the settings for the Master Track in GB as that will allow you to apply compression / or not to every track at once. The compression setting for the individual track affects only that voice but the setting for the Master Track applies to the entire song.

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 11:07 AM CDT

Hi..There are some vids here that might help. T

http://www.primeloops.com/vids/

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 11:14 AM CDT

To answer the second part of your question, there is also compression of file contents when you create the file for export (as you mention in GarageBand). This is NOT the same thing as the compression you apply while doing mixing. That is Audio compression. When you select a compressed format for output you are actually shrinking the file size for easier up/download. Its just like what you do for JPEG picture files. You can select a highly compressed format and you will shrink the file size. However, there is usually a corresponding decrease in the quality of the picture (or audio for MP3).

So, typically, if you are exporting a file for someone else to add to, you do not compress the file (E.G. keep it AIF format, which is uncompressed). This preserves the full fidelity during the collaboration. If it is the final mix and you are posting on MJ, you choose compression and it will export as an MP3, which is compressed and the audio will have somewhat less fidelity.

Now, this opens the whole debate on just how much this file compression effects what you hear. That is a very subjective discussion. It depends on the nature of the material and the final format you choose and other things that we will not address here.

Stephen

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 11:21 AM CDT

Speaking of compression, I've been trying to find some videos on the use of Logic's multiband compressor. I haven't found anything really useful yet. For example when a bands frequency level is in the 'red' on the meter, do I want to pull the gain down. Normally that's the routine, but I'm not certain that that's the protocol in this case.

Re:Compression
Sunday, July 04 2010 @ 02:06 PM CDT

Huge thanks so far to everyone who has posted some insight into this subject!!! Everybody's input has been ENORMOUSLY enlightening and helpful for me so far. I know a big fat NUTHIN' about recording and mixing, and this discussion has really given me a much deeper appreciation for what a nuanced art it is. People are going to grow weary of my starry-eyed, earnest naivete, I imagine LOL! But I can't say enough how attempting to make music for a few weeks now, coupled with the breathtaking talent of many, many artists I have listened to on this site, have humbled me.

Hmmm . . . . let me put it this way. Sometimes people I'm acquainted with in my life think it's somehow a big deal that I have a law degree. I always chuckle and tell them two things: A) Law school is chock-full of failed creative people--musicians, writers, comedians, etc. The dirty little secret is--LAW SCHOOL ISN'T THAT HARD. You memorize a bunch of statutes, cases, and black-letter law and regurgitate it on exams. But THIS . . . this making music . . . is HARD. Hard, hard, hard. You have to possess so many things--vision, creativity, ingenuity, willingness to take risks, courage, restraint, technical mastery and skill, software mastery, the list goes on and on.

So why is our society/culture so backwards? I can't get my head around this. If you go into any type of finance, business, law, stuff like that, you can be reasonably assured financial stability. That stuff is respectable and great--don't get me wrong. But why is it so darn near impossible to make creativity your life in this culture? Okay, so now I'm ranting, but, judging by the sheer number of artists on this site, along with other sites I frequent, our society has a deep and serious famished hunger for creative expression. And it's so arduous to dedicate your life to it (not to mention financially UNstable for most). I really need to shut up now--I think about stuff like this far too much LOL.