Empress - Compressor mkII

[@ElvisDelvis]

Thank you for this. Compressors, I feel, needed a video like this one. I never truly understood the power of compression until I tried this pedal at NAMM. I think I spent 3 hours at the Empress booth exploring the different ways this compressor is extremely useful. I would occasionally see someone checking out the board I was on and hand them the second pair of headphones to hear what I was doing. All of them just looked at me wide eyed with a big smile. Sincerely enjoying what I was exploring. A couple of them started moving knobs and dials with me. Strangers working together to find what other mysteries this board contained. The compressor stole the show in that whole lineup and was obvious to those who joined me.

[@kidcoastless8575]

I'll have to get my hands on one of these, as it truly does seem quite enchanting. Also wanted to mention, love your profile picture! I love a good Melies film :)

[@andybungert]

That's excellent❤

[@slashmaster84]

Now I finally understand how compressors work!! Thanks!!

[@philipm3173]

Very well explained!

[@dougtolley]

this is a superb video. Firstly, I just loved your playing, it was a treasure to just to hear YOU (compressed or otherwise) and with wonderful clarity. I also understand compression way more now. Thanks to Pedal Crush and now this, I am in a better place with compression. Thank you knobs.

[@morismateljan6458]

I've always had a love-hate relationship with compressors. Thank you for this video and for reminding me what creativity can do.

[@whateverman999]

Best description of “why to use a compressor” I’ve ever seen. Glad I discovered your channel :)

[@wilhelmmatthies5921]

The pedal design for their knobs is so clear and they appear beautifully made. Thanks Knobs for your clear explanations as well.

[@MARK-DENNIS]

Great video & delighted to watch the text & listen to the effect - 'not' to listen to someone who just loves the sound of their own voice!

[@MichelLamblin]

Not only is this pedal amazing and making me reconsider my first choice for my first ever compressor (it'll have to wait 'till end of November now!), you guys explained compression so well. Like, I always think I understand it, but then reading your cards made things click somehow - more than just a review of what I thought I knew. Thanks!

[@sbenson76]

This might be the best video on compression in history.

[@luispereztasso]

As always, awesome video. And the last part is what made me got a OTA compressor long ago. It does so much to my effects that sound like another pedals, love it.

[@moshirazi]

Never heard of OTA. Or is that obvious for something else?

[@luispereztasso]

​@@moshirazi Don't worry man, its a meaning that I recently figured out too lol OTA stands for Operational Transconductance Amplifier, meaning that is an amplifier chip that is fed by the current of an electrical circuit. In simpler words is a chip that changes the volume of sound by measuring the variance of current. But the important thing is that OTA compression is the most used one for pedals. From the CS-3 to the MXR dyna comp, all of them use a chip as the core of their circuit. This type has the highest "squash" of the frequencies of all types (more than the optical ones for examples) and are the most cheap to design and creat, also the most easy to modify.

[@moshirazi]

@@luispereztasso Thanks for the great reply. Out of curiosity, which compressor do you use?

[@luispereztasso]

@@moshirazi I have a friend who does pedals by request and he based a circuit from a dyna comp but with 5 controls, including a bright/dark switch :D

[@cdrchrrs]

This helped me understand a missing piece: sidechaining. Thanks.

[@pliocenemusic8667]

Super classy presentation here Knobs! Love the color scheme. Just bought this comp to replace my Diamond Comp which was awesome, but I want to experiment with more in depth compressor settings that this one is capable of. Nice explanation of what a comp does too...super helpful!

[@changui2012]

The best video on compression I have ever seen. I legitimately fully understand compression. Sick jams, cool layout, cool editing, good humor, and great explanation. Fuck yeah. Edit: wrote “beat” but meant “best”.

[@christopherecatalano]

Really comprehensive and brilliant breakdown of one of the most important processes used in music. Lots of interesting parts being played here too. Very inspiring...❤️ “Is this nice? I don’t know...it’s a thing you can do”...😂 Nice isn’t always what is needed.

[@drkevns]

Great video on compressors in general. I knew nothing of compressors before 2 years ago and now it's one of my favorite utility pedals on the board!

[@michael_caz_nyc]

Nice - Sounds so smooth. Like a studio-rack compressor. Great explanation & audio examples too.

[@rogervann5547]

Is reason number 8 because we have heard compression on absolutely every record ever? Feels like a comfy, squishy home for our guitar to bloom in.

[@nahrky]

This is the best lesson in smoosh I've ever consumed! Pancake pedal mmmm

[@lilacrain3283]

You should’ve done some reverb in that last part! Heavy reverb into heavy compression s one of my favorite sounds. The reverb kind of ducks out when you play and then blooms back up when you stop. It lets you play with heavy reverb without it sounding messy

[@undonesweater9112]

Do you achieve this with reverb before or after compression?

[@lilacrain3283]

Undone Sweater Reverb before :)

[@Winksmusic]

Yes dude! I love doing this when vocalists want heavy reverb on their vocals. Helps the words stay discernible

[@Leo_nbd]

I keep returning to watch this one, so good. Also 2:53 reminds me a lot of Radiohead's Kid A.

[@kylebichler2258]

Thanks knobs. I want this empress.

[@danymeeuwissen5973]

Great work again Knobs!

[@cnsengineer]

This is a joy to watch and listen to.

[@algarridm]

I use this pedal extremely wrong, at the end of the chain, after a Thermae into a purple Quasar DLX. And I love it.

[@MusicFillsTheQuiet]

Having an Empress on my board has been a dream, and I do need a compressor......

[@esmoroglu]

Best lesson in compression! I have the v1 and will watch this video to work on it.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👋🏼

[@niandra_falls]

😍 came for the sidechain but this is just all wonderful. been looking for a way to sidechain the opz with some other synth friends.

[@lawhun9330]

Educational AND relaxing!

[@valentintomas__]

this video is fantastic

[@bitspacemusic]

The noise is lovely. A good example of how noise can become a part of the recorded song is Raxmus by The Black Dog (Spanners album on Warp).

[@SynthieFlowers]

Sounds really pretty 😍

[@acrossmymind6423]

Sir knobs, your guitar and amp combos are normally wonderful, but daaaaaammn. Your frequency range and clarity are crazy good for this one! Was it on purpose for showcasing the compression effect specifically? Because, daaammmmnn. I need to look into the gear for this one. Xmas just got a whole lot brighter this year, haha.

[@acrossmymind6423]

Of course, i've always loved your vids and taste, so no surprises there :)

[@christopherecatalano]

He sounds pretty inspired to nail great and unexpected tones here...

[@Knobs]

@@acrossmymind6423 Hey thanks! I've been trying some new stuff with mic'ing, the older sound was beginning to feel a bit too dark

[@acrossmymind6423]

Knobs 10/10 from me so far. Although, My board involves running the Earthquaker Afterneath before my drive section for bright and haunting textures, so my tastes and opinions may not work for everyone. I just love controlling the feel and effects with tactile response through my fingers on the strings. :) The tone and mix knobs on reverb seem much more dynamic (obviously due to figuratively driving the effect), so cleaning up with volume out on the guitar becomes that much more special. Looking forward to picking up the Old Blood Flat Light to stick in front of my Afterneath, despite not feeling much from the general flanger effect before it came out. I wish you well on your mic'img adventures and discovery process :)

[@ahriik]

A compressor is an important part of any peddle board in my opinion. Sometimes the compression can be taken care of an OD or DS (or the amp itself) if you are playing fairly distorted tones. But for clean playing, I'm more and more impressed by how a compressor can affect both how I play, and the sounds I can achieve :)

[@Knobs]

I agree. I think the Pedal Show are good at mentioning this often - compression is a huge part of the reason people love and rely on overdrive. It's not just the distortion, it's the way it pushes back and controls your volume when you play hard.

[@thewatersofdream]

Great video, thank you

[@Jasonweckard]

Great video, i can always use a refresher on compression. Someone get Knobs a bass though.

[@Knobs]

F'real what's wrong with me

[@ShlomirBareket]

compressors are perfect for that slow-core sound like Codeine or Valium Aggelein.

[@undonesweater9112]

might as well just say Duster lol but yea true

[@jomik8783]

Curious if it is still one of the best nowadays or do you have any other recommendations?

[@anthonychilds8193]

Whoah: during reason 5 for using a compressor, did you play a Felt riff?

[@KunchangLeeMusic]

Do you think this would sound good on an acoustic guitar ?

[@mateuss.ribeirodeoliveira3377]

Art. ❤

[@HectorHerreraOrrego-md3xq]

Thanks for the video. Now I know a compressor works. I'm really interested also in the song wich is played at the beggining of the video ( second 7) . Is that just the compressor and your guitar or anything else?

[@qlyde]

This pedal makes me proud to be Canadian

[@noises7029]

Oh, that sidechaining.

[@Darkautismrising]

still waiting on that album....

[@choogiesaur]

thank you mr Knobs

[@JohnsDough1918]

Ah! So that's why Empress have been discontinuing many of their classic designs. I'm looking forward to an hypothetical ParaEQ mkII.

[@colinnielsen2158]

extra pretty tunez here, knobs

[@nathanbingley908]

Do you have any music out there in these veins? Honestly just listen to these for the little loops and stuff you create. Mesmerising

[@canalblasfemo3845]

bonito el video compadre, vamos a copp... aprender algunas cosas a futuro del mismo . saludos el knobo !

[@hermestrismegistus3417]

Want sidechaining for live setup so trying to decide between this or an RNC1773….

[@katabatica]

This is great

[@FantasticExplorers]

Ummm... What were you playing in the beginning???

[@aaroncurtis4476]

I’m confused as to how you muted the OP-Z at 3:34 to only get the guitar audio? When I try audio into mine I can still hear the drum machine in my amp, yet you were able to isolate the OP-Z and mute it so you got that tremolo effect as it triggered the compression. How did you do that?

[@AvianBreak]

I’m thinking of picking up the bass version. More flexible side-chaining, and I don’t need a tilt EQ. Really the most flexible pedal-sized compressor on the market!

[@T-Hawkeyes]

Is there going to be a bass version?

[@AvianBreak]

@@T-Hawkeyes Yup, they announced both today (also gets like a 2 second part in the video also). Minor differences, but the Empress site has a blog post about them!

[@sleepsire9321]

Ikr compression is fr on bass for certain sounds.

[@DiscreteCircuitry]

Glorious.

[@MichaalHell]

Tjats first OP-Z jam was really Nice!

[@ZeroFunctional]

Other than the new tone knob, are there any drastic differences setting it apart from the Mk I?

[@haddongaming9946]

the size.. it is quite smaller.. i was thinking i could just cop a mki if they were cheaper (i’d assume this is going to be a pretty expensive pedal, knowing empress) but the mkis are so large.. bwah

[@Knobs]

@@haddongaming9946 There's also a Sidechain HPF switch. It allows you to cut out some of the low frequencies to make the sidechain more focused, let's say. So it isn't constantly being triggered.

[@jason14693]

04:00, NO, it's not threshold, it's input gain

[@jat5am]

having a good comp already. nevertheless, sold! some of them will go to my delay fx loop.

[@ravemealone]

nice information

[@agungwiratamadesignatigade8642]

7:08 feels like covet

[@spartan8390]

Empress Dream Pedal is calling you.

[@sammi3521]

4 people don't like compression :((

[@MattHalcyon]

My MKII distorts or crackles when the input knob is anything passed 12. Anyone else have this issue?

[@lee_at_sea]

the one and only thing i care about in Empress pedals is something the manual nor any video ever says: .. if you turn if off and back on .. does it remember or lose its state? .. i had to ditch their EQ because it powers up "off" each time. loved it otherwise.

[@empresseffects]

You can set it up to power on bypassed or engaged!

[@lee_at_sea]

Awesome @@empresseffects. If you ever do a ParaEQ that's likewise I'll be all over that. :)

[@portwain]

Still waiting for a ZOIA video...

[@beepbeep2446]

"I don't have a bass" 😔

[@DonSodaRomero]

upload more!!

[@chinmeysway]

Pallet knife 😁

[@uncannydanny3798]

Please make a tutorial how you approach these demo videos...

[@jeremyrandall7228]

You don’t have a bass?!?

[@DK-qe6uo]

I love noisey pedals. That’s what LFOs and Filters are for

[@acrossmymind6423]

It's so fun to hear how pedals behave with each other and a wonderful feeling to be a part of it. :)

[@iamjamessmith]

SABOTAGE ✌️❤️

[@rafecamp]

damn

[@tinfoil6981]

Oh fuck yeah its knobs

[@Knobs]

Ahaha

[@lewissmart7915]

Fuck yeah pallete knives

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

That could possibly be the most twee and boring video add I've ever seen for a pedal.

[@swettyspaghtti]

Kinda noisy. Meh

[@luispereztasso]

7:25 basically is your fault, mate.

[@Knobs]

@@luispereztasso Yep. Or my fault, in this case. The pedal itself is basically noiseless.