first posted on 5/17/15 on malaker.32hertz.com
Hello, my name is Ed Malaker, I am from Carbondale Pa and today I want to go over the controls of the “Classic Compressor” which is a free vst plugin. I downloaded the Kjaerhus Audio Classic Series (a group of effects that includes the Classic Compressor) from http://www.acoustica.com/plugins/vst-directx.htm.
This is what it looks like (click on any image to see a bigger image):
The compressor does come with several presets and you can save your own settings as a preset.
The first knob is the Threshold. This is when the compressor will start turning down the amplitude of a signal.
The next knob is the Ratio. This is how much the compressor will turn down a signal. If you have the compressor set at 5:1 and you hit a snare drum 5db louder than your Threshold the compressor will turn down the amplitude until it is only 1db louder than your Threshold.
The next knob is the Knee. Hard knee means that the compressor remains off until a sound level hits the Threshold, and then it immediately works at full strength. So, if the Threshold is set to -6db and a sound level only gets to -7db the compressor remains off. Soft knee means that the compressor will kick in sooner than the Threshold but with lesser strength. This time if the Threshold is set to -6db and a sound level gets to -7db the compressor may start to turn it down just a little. Soft knee sound more natural.
The next knob is the Attack. This is how fast the compressor will start to turn down a sound that reaches the Threshold. Interestingly, the Classic Compressors minimum time is .5ms, but the compressor that came with my DAW can go down to 0.
The next knob is the Release. This is how fast the compressor will turn back up the volume after a sound has gone back under the threshold. Interestingly, the Classic Compressors max time is 10 seconds, but the compressor that came with my DAW has a max of 4 seconds.
The last knob is the Level. This knob allows you to turn up the amplitude of a compressed sound.
And finally you can see the light that sits above and between the second and third knobs, it says gain reduction next to it. This light turns on when the compressor is working and turning down amplitude. It is the whole reason I got this plugin, because the one that came with my DAW does not have any visual clues that it is working and my ears are not that good yet.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading. Maybe you will want those free plugins.
Have a great day
Ed
Check out my blog at http://32hertz.com and get free song reviews at http://getmysongreviewed.com.
