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Let’s take the example of an audio track consisting of both a whisper and a scream Now imagine how distracting that would be to a listener, should the difference in loudness between the two sounds remain as if they were. reducing) the louder parts of an audio signal. This is done by increasing the quieter i.e lower signals to make them more apparent, and attenuating ( a.k.a. Dynamic range refers to the difference between an audio signal’s loudest and quietest parts. Put simply, a compressor reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal, to create a natural-sounding recording. The Keilwerth multiband compressor plugin.īut before delving into that, let’s begin by understanding what an audio compressor is. Today, most audio compressor effects you find in your DAW have been emulated from their hardware counterparts (image above) into an audio plugin (VST, AU, RTAS, among others) like the one below. With these hardware versions being limited in their features, audio engineers had to prioritize inserting the compressor to tracks that actually needed compression. However, back in the days before digital DAWs, compressors were actual hardware module boxes. Today, in most major DAWs, you have the ability to easily insert a compressor plugin to each and every track in your track arrangement. The audio compressor effect is usually the most misunderstood effect in audio production. So wait, what is an audio compressor and how does it even work in the first place? Let’s find out. Part of why you placed in a compressor was because you read in a magazine before, that compressor helps to balance vocal tracks. So you insert an equalizer plugin, add some reverb to the tracks and just as if on cue, you add an audio compressor effect and decide to play around with some settings. Your track now sounds a little louder, which is great – but you have no clue what an audio compressor actually does. You even decide to record a vocal track and suddenly its time to do some mixing. The weekend has finally arrived, and you hurry to your DAW with the excitement of a schoolboy to start arranging some tracks. What is an Audio Compressor And How Does It Work?
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