What does a compressor do? Many music artists and DJs know what a compressor does. It is perhaps the most important piece of equipment in their DJ kit. However, there are so many different types, makes, brands and accessories that one can easily get confused as to what does a compressor do.
DJs have to know what compressors do by default and have all sorts of settings and knobs to choose from in order to customize their sound. This can be a little bit mind blowing when one is new to the world of electronic equipment or when one is beginning their career. It gets a bit silly when one has a pad and then has to go into another mixer to change the faders or the one and only way to get that "live look" and feel for certain songs is to have individual controls for each pad.
Using compression is one of the simplest ways to bring a DJ's show alive. You have the option to turn up the volume of the compressed bit while still keeping the quality of the song the same. One can use the compressor to emulate a kick drum, a bass line, a hi hat, a snare or anything else one can think of. By increasing the level of the compression you can create the exact effect you want. It is that simple and yet a great amount of detail has gone into the actual designing of a DJ's sound systems.
One of the first things a new DJ should learn is how to use the compressor's effects correctly. Most commonly when DJ's talk about effects they are talking about the boost and compression. These two go hand in hand and if one isn't careful and knows how to control these 2 effects they can create some serious hot streaks. The boost function essentially increases the volume of a sound, while the compression raises its volume. Understanding how each works is the key to getting the most out of your DJ gear.
There are many different types of hardware de-esser plugins available. There are even some that can alter your existing sounds. Some are made for live music, others are made for club play. If you are looking to enhance your sound then you definitely want to take a look at the available de-esser plugins.
Many hardware de-esser plugins are also made to perform another useful function called side-chain mixing. What this means is that the same compressor will handle both the gain and the signal input on the same channel. A common example of this is a DJ who is performing a kick drum solo over a lead sample. They may also have a compressor that will allow them to mix this signal with other samples such as another kick drum sample, a bassline or a guitar loop. So, when you have a single source, say a kick drum solo, and a pair of sources, say another kick drum sample and a vocal track, you will be able to get the best out of your single and dual recording by putting the compressor in the middle.
The most obvious use for a compressor is to cut through over-easy headroom. This is most commonly achieved by setting up a spring compression, usually a non-linear one, followed by an attack curve adjustment. Attack adjustments will help achieve a precise attack and ultimately shorten the decay time. The easiest way to use compressors in a mix is by using them as a limiting device, limiting a peak through the use of a high port volume, say for an audio experiment.
Release control is used to cut out unwanted low level sounds such as thumping bass lines or sizzling guitar solos. Using the attack control, the level of the sound can be set to go lower as the sound gets closer to the threshold. You can use the release control to achieve a full range sound, sometimes limiting to a peak-loudness level that is incredibly useful when mixing fast, distorted sounds.
