Compression Templates

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Compression Templates

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My Go-To Settings Learning how to use compression with expertise isn’t easy. The best approach is to gain a complete understanding of the 5 key parameters. This will allow you to adapt to any situation and figure out yourself the best settings for the task. Having said that, I find myself going back to the same starting points time and time again. Once you have decided on your intention, you can load up the relevant preset and tweak from there. Time is of the essence when mixing, and using appropriate presets as a starting point is a great way to speed up the process. It’s easy to create plugin presets in most DAWs and it shouldn’t take you long to take the settings from this guide and create your own presets. This should only take you a few minutes, and will save you a lot of time in the future... Ultimately it will help you to become a better, faster, more confident mixer. Cheers to that!

Lead Vocals As with most things, you don’t want to use a super fast attack time when compression vocals. This will dull the transients and put the vocal further back in the mix. ●

Ratio: 1.5:1

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Attack Time: 15ms (slower for more aggression, faster for more thickness)

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Release Time: 40ms (adjust to tempo of the music)

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Threshold: -24dB

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Gain Reduction: 2-3dB for subtle compression, 6-10dB for more aggression

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Knee: Soft

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Makeup Gain: Opposite of gain reduction amount

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Backing Vocals This time, you can use a fast attack time to put the backing vocals further back in the mix and stop them from interfering with the lead vocal. ●

Ratio: 1.5:1

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Attack Time: 5ms (fast)

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Release Time: 40ms (adjust to tempo of the music)

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Threshold: -24dB

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Gain Reduction: 6-10dB

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Knee: Soft

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Makeup Gain: Opposite of gain reduction amount

More Dynamic Consistency When you’re struggling to make an instrument sit right in the mix, some quick compression can help to even out the levels and make it easier to balance. ●

Ratio: 2:1

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Attack Time: 10-50ms (slower for more aggression, faster for more thickness)

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Release Time: 100ms (adjust to tempo of the music)

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Threshold: -24dB

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Gain Reduction: 6-10dB

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Knee: Soft

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Makeup Gain: Opposite of gain reduction amount

Less Attack Sometimes a kick drum or guitar part has too much attack. Using a fast attack time can tame the transient and reduce the aggression. Be careful with this, as it can make the source sound dull and lifeless. ●

Ratio: 5:1

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Attack Time: 2ms (fast)

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Release Time: 30ms

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Threshold: -24dB

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Gain Reduction: 6-10dB only on transients

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Knee: Soft

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Makeup Gain: 2-3dB

More Thickness By using a fast attack time, you can make an instrument sound thicker and heavier. ●

Ratio: 3:1

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Attack Time: 2ms (fast)

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Release Time: 100ms (adjust to tempo of the music)

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Threshold: -24dB

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Gain Reduction: 6-10dB

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Knee: Soft

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Makeup Gain: Opposite of gain reduction amount

More Aggression As with the lead vocal, you can use a slower attack time to make an instrument more aggressive by compressing the tail of a note but not the transient. ●

Ratio: 3:1

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Attack Time: 50ms (slow)

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Release Time: 100ms (adjust to tempo of the music)

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Threshold: -24dB

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Gain Reduction: 6-10dB

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Knee: Soft

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Makeup Gain: Opposite of gain reduction amount

Mix Buss Some light compression on the mix buss is a great way to add some glue to the mix. ●

Ratio: 2:1

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Attack Time: 10ms (slower for more aggression, faster for more thickness)

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Release Time: 100ms (adjust to tempo of the music, or use auto-release)

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Threshold: -24dB

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Gain Reduction: 1-2dB

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Knee: Soft

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Makeup Gain: 1dB

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