Compressor
Two compressors even out a sound's level: the Compressor, with every control in reach, and the
One Compressor, one knob that glues a mix one way and lifts its quiet detail the other. A
compressor turns a sound down when it gets loud, so the quiet parts and the loud parts end up closer
together. Both go in any effects rack, as an insert: on drums, a bass, a voice, or the
StarEl cuerpo del Orbiter donde se junta el sonido: su mezclador combina el Mundo y el retorno de la Luna, y sus propios efectos suenan sobre todo..
The Compressor loads at Ratio 1:1 and the One Compressor at Amount 0: the sound passes exactly as it
came in.
Compressor
Detector
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1Threshold | The level above which the compressor turns the sound down, −60 … 0 dB (−18 dB as it loads). Lower catches more of the sound. |
| 2Ratio | How hard it turns down what goes over the threshold, 1:1 … 20:1. At 1:1 (as it loads) it is off; 2:1 to 4:1 is gentle; 10:1 and up holds the level almost flat. |
| 3Knee | How gently it starts, 0 … 24 dB (6 dB as it loads). At 0 it kicks in at a hard corner; wider, it eases in. |
Envelope
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| 4Attack | How fast it clamps down once the sound goes over, 0.1 … 200 ms (12 ms as it loads). Slower lets the start of each hit through, so drums keep their punch. |
| 5Release | How fast it lets go once the sound falls back, 5 ms … 2 s (180 ms as it loads). Fast pumps with the beat; slow recovers smoothly. |
| 6SC high-pass | A high-pass on what the compressor listens to (its side-chain), not on what you hear. Below this frequency the compressor doesn't listen, so a kick doesn't duck the whole mix. It never filters the sound itself. Off at 20 Hz, up to 500 Hz. |
Output
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| 7Makeup | Gain on the compressed sound, 0 … 24 dB, to bring back the level the compressor took. It is manual: it never follows the reduction. |
| 8Dry/wet | Balance between the dry and the compressed sound. 100 % as it loads; below it is parallel compression: the squashed sound under the untouched one. |
| 9Level | The module's output level, dry included. |
The screens
10Transfer. The white line is the level out against the level in: it follows the thin
diagonal up to the threshold, then bends flatter, as flat as the Ratio says. The upright line is the
Threshold and the band around it the Knee. While sound plays, the dot on the line is the level
the compressor hears (after SC high-pass). Above, the ratio and the knee; below, the threshold and the
knee's width, or, with SC high-pass on, the frequency the detector listens above.
11Reduction. How much the compressor is turning the sound down at this moment: the bar
drops from the top as it works, up to 40 dB, and the number below is the reduction in dB.
One Compressor
One knob, 1Amount, with the One badge. It goes both ways from 0, and each way is a
different compressor; at 0 it does nothing, and either way the level stays where it was.
- Turn it right: Glue. The mix sits tighter. The threshold, the ratio and the attack move together
as you turn. - Turn it left: Lift. A hard compressor blended under the dry sound, so quiet detail comes up and the
hits stay whole.
Map Amount to an axisUno de los tres controles de interpretación de un Orbiter: X, Y y Z. and one gesture goes from the lift, through the dry sound,
to the glue.
The screen
2The Press. The mix is a block on a plate, and a press comes down on it by as much as
the sound is being turned down: clear of the block at 0 dB, touching it as the glue starts, flattening it
and squeezing drops out past 6 dB. The block breathes with the sound's level while it plays. The ladder
on the right lights from 0.3 to 24 dB of reduction. The big number is Amount: drag it up or down to turn it, as you would the knob.
Try it
- Drums with punch. Threshold −20 dB, Ratio 4:1, Attack 30 ms, Release 120 ms: the start of each hit passes and the tail is held down. Bring the level back with Makeup.
- A steadier bass. Ratio 6:1, Attack 5 ms, Release 200 ms, and lower the Threshold until Reduction reads 4 to 6 dB on the loud notes.
- Glue on the whole Orbiter. On the Star: Ratio 2:1, Threshold where Reduction just moves (1 to 2 dB), SC high-pass 120 Hz so the kick doesn't pump the mix.
- Parallel drums. Ratio 10:1, Threshold −30 dB, Dry/wet 40 %: a crushed copy under the untouched drums.
Mapping
Every Compressor control can be mapped to the Orbiter's axes, and the One Compressor's Amount maps like
any knob: see Edit.