Compressing&Limiting

[Random111223]

I've heard alot about how important these two things are. I've never really bothered to learn about them to the point that i can actually use them efficiently.. So, could anyone explain what makes them such great tools? I haven't found any good basic tutorials for them either, so i'd be grateful if anyone can link one. (Using FL's default compressor/limiter)

[the4thImpulse]

I dont know enough about the subject to fell congident to explain it to you but here is an artical that has helped me.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_ar ... ssion.html

Basically if you have a (for examples purpose) bassline that has a lot of dynamics and you can mix it into the song well you put a compressor on it to 'squish' the audio into something more manageable.

A limiter is essientialy extreme compression, like putting a brick wall on the sound to flatten it completly.

Both have diffrent purposes and when used too much they will ruin the sound by cutting out low and high frequiences too much.

I wrote this late at night, sorry about spelling.

[Applejinx]

They're not exactly the same- compressing is re-squishing the sound to be a different shape, limiting is puttin' a roof on the sound so dynamically it goes flat and stays always at a certain loudness (generally LOUD, and on the whole track)

You can put a point on the front of stuff by compressing and having a slow attack, and you can squish stuff gently with compression by using a really low ratio. Limiting ain't gentle, the point of it is that it's just about an infinite ratio, and you get thus loud and NO louder- it's either off or on. Compression you can have sorta-kinda-on just to make stuff a lil' fuller.

Mostly it's about whether stuff is kinda empty and pointy, or whether it's fuller and thicker. Or if it's with a slow attack and steppin' on dynamic stuff, it can be there to hold down the way the sound blooms out, and keep it trapped in there. It's mostly about reshapin' things, what you do is you take something like drums or bass and play with it and do crazy settings on threshold, attack, release just to see what happens. You have to play with it and try 'wrong' settings to understand how it really works

[Navron]

Compression squashes threshold peaks while at the same time able to raise the softer parts of a track. Essentially if you have extreme compression, everything would be squashed at the same level.

Limiters are known as brick wall limiters for a reason. They heavily stop all levels that go above your set threshold, but on the downside, the limiter affects everything, meaning, when it kicks in, it's going to affect your softer parts as well, regardless if they're at that threshold or not.

[Versilaryan]

A limiter is a compressor with infinite ratio, zero attack, and infinite release. Only use them if you want a distorted sound, or at the end of a mastering signal chain.

Compression has two uses. One, you can make softer things louder while keeping the louder things at the same volume. That lets you make things louder without really upping the volume. Squashing sounds with compressors also makes them sound a lot different, depending on the sound.

Two, you can make loud peaks softer to reduce clipping. This is usually done in the mixing stage to make everything as loud as possible in mastering. It also helps things stand out more in the mix if the attack isn't the only thing heard.
...Okay, so they're basically the same thing...

If you're using FL, I suggest you use the compression setting of Fruity Limiter and turn the limiter off or move it out of the way. It's easier to see what's actually going on when you compress, and it's probably the most beginner-friendly compressor out there. As opposed to Fruity Compressor, which is a really annoying compressor to use.