Logic's Compressor EXPLAINED | 5-Minute Logic Expert (Pt 26)

[@TheBandGuide]

‼ Download the free 6-Step PRO MIX Checklist here: www.thebandguide.com/logicpromix ‼

[@sdottwal]

Been producing for almost 8 years, and just started really delving into mixing/mastering maybe 2-3 years ago. Compression has been so difficult for me - some of my beats end up sounding great, others not so much and it feels like compression has lots to do with that. This is by far one of the best info videos I've seen, and I've seen THOUSANDS of hours of content at this point. Thank you so much for this, sir!

[@collinscassel]

I agree with you. I often don’t worry about the knee either. If I use it at all, it’s for less transient sources like vocals but for highly transient sounds like drums it’s not gonna make a difference.

[@terrykennedy-lares8840]

Another good video explaining compression.

[@TheBandGuide]

Glad it was helpful, Terry!

[@francismontocchio9910]

Another great video! Thanks! Have you done a video on the compression side chain function? That would be great too.

[@aaronfox915]

Great explanation of compression. I’m understanding the concepts of compression. Translating that into applying compression to different audio tracks is a working progress. Your explanations are helping greatly-Attack and release in particular and what is highlighted musically when those are adjusted. Keep up the good work. Enjoying your courses.

[@sethtouchet511]

Your logic videos are super helpful! Thanks!

[@johnvender]

Totally agree with you on turning Auto Gain off. It must be very difficult to do that effectively, even in FabFilter Pro-C 2 I always set make up gain manually. The input and output level meters on it show clearly Auto Gain is not working well. With Auto Release I check if I'm happy with it on compared to setting it myself.

[@GusDrennan]

Brilliant video

[@sorenahlback]

Perfect! I was just about to learn this today. I think the Vintage Opto sound good on vocals.

[@TheBandGuide]

Agreed!

[@MysteronLunaris]

Really clear explanation. I use platinum digital for two other things too: for low end compression (especially bass, where I want the distortion at an absolute minimum), or for really light compression when parallel or serially compressing something.

[@TheBandGuide]

Yes! Definitely agree with both of those uses

[@drmathtex]

Super helpful video, thanks!

[@DanMia-cd1bm]

Overall...you've used your wonderful teaching skill to teach...i'm not sure about Ratio..was thinking it was a metric that divides the amount of input over threshold ???

[@HaylieSings]

Listen. In garageband, there is a knob on audio tracks labeled compression for high low, mid etc. that helped me make my high vocals sound clearer. I am new to logic/production in general, and I can't figure out how to make the compression do in logic what a single knob does in garageband. (Are these even the same things?)

[@fritzrobinoien1441]

Nice video! Would it be useful for beginners if you showed how to switch from "Meter" to "Graph" to visualise what is going on when compressing? 🙂

[@TheBandGuide]

Ah good point! I'll have to do a follow up at some point

[@paulflute]

the word A-nalogue begins with a short 'a' and is said like the name Anna.. NOT said like organ Anal -logue the logic auto gain is one of the worst design flaws i've encountered.. to turn 'OFF' the auto gain you click the 'off' button and it goes from pale silver to dark silver with blue letters.. which just obviously means that it is off. then to turn the auto release off you click 'auto' button until it does exactly the opposite.. sack that designer please.. that's for the vid.. really helpful.. you didn't say which way the knee went.. i presume that higher is squarer..?

[@tomlewis4748]

'ANAL-ogue'! Ha ha! I've never heard it pronounced quite like that! Thanks for the vid, good job, but you've missed a couple things. Turning on Auto Release does not take the release knob setting out of the equation. According to the bundled Logic Pro User Guide for Mac, "The behavior of the auto release function CHANGES when DIFFERENT RELEASE KNOB VALUES are used." I rest my case. So what does this mean? Other than no, it does not enable/disable the release knob setting, what likely happens is it uses the release setting to 'center' the range of auto release times, which it adjusts dynamically based on the content, and based on that setting, on that knob. So there is no 'off' setting for the release knob-whether the 'auto' button is engaged or not, that knob is in effect, all the time. Pick a good setting first, THEN turn the auto-release on. Or off. I personally find the 'hard' and 'clip' distortion settings to be so insignificant as to be virtually useless (so is the knee). The 'soft' setting, on the other hand, does a great job at adding saturation. So ironically, 'soft' has more oomph than 'hard' or 'clip'. The '15-51' demo was enlightening. I might start using that for kick and snare. Distortion doesn't really add volume, even if the meters might indicate that it does (the metering is notoriously wonky). As far as digital distortion, there is no actual way it can, since exceeding 0 dBFS distorts exactly bc it CAN'T increase the volume, and that energy has to go somewhere, and since it can't go into increasing the volume, it goes into creating distortion by spontaneously adding harmonics BELOW 0 dBFS, which never exceeds 0 dBFS because that is technically impossible. Volume in the digital domain is represented only by math, by a number, and there are no numbers above 0 dBFS in digital audio, so there are no volume levels higher than 0 dBFS. And there is no other distortion in the digital domain other than quantization error distortion, which is down ~140 dB, and can't be increased or decreased in any way. Other than that or exceeding 0 dBFS, all the distortion initiates from the analog domain, prior to the digital domain, though there are ways (such as this setting on the Logic compressor) to emulate analog (or ANAL-ogue!) distortion. But it can't raise the peak level if internally calibrated properly. And a compressor circuit itself (if we ignore make-up) never adds volume. It always reduces aggregate volume by reducing the peaks (which is why they have make-up gain). That's its entire purpose in life, is to reduce peak volume (and the envelope ramifications of that are just sort of serendipitously ways to increase punch or fatness). But no, compressors do not add volume at all, unless you crank it somewhere, like the input, output, or make-up gain. That is, unless they are miscalibrated. The Logic Tremolo plug is notorious for reducing output volume by about 2 dB, even if you have pan laws set to +3 for hard L or R. Logic engineers could stand to bear down a bit more and stop phoning it in. So there really is no point in reducing the output volume on the Logic compressor itself based on increased distortion from that 'Distortion Knob' setting. Saturation does not raise peak levels at all, it only raises aggregate average levels a small amount. There are numerous places to adjust level prior to that (inherent instrument volume, input trim, EQ, plug-ins, channel strip fader, bus fader, input volume on the compressor, etc.). If you are pushing it to get more distortion, that means you are somehow cranking the input. If so, then and only then do you need to consider compensating by turning down the output, and if you keep the output limiter on (I always set them to -0.2), that should be enough, barring successive plugins in that chain that are sensitive to input levels. The output setting can't remove distortion created by or prior to the distortion knob, anyway. It can only prevent clip distortion created directly at the output stage. If you understand gain-staging in the digital domain, then this should all be a no-brainer. The User Guide also has its own failings. It refers to settings for the 'Mix' knob as both 'dry vs. wet' and 'source or effect', which is confusing since the knob itself is labeled 'input' and 'output'. It is useful, however, as it achieves the goal of parallel compression inside a single plug-in. I'm looking forward to your next vid, as I am frustrated by Logic's inexplicable inability to consistently allow sidechaining choices of 'instruments'. It gets that wrong constantly. I have often needed to create a single bus with a single instrument in it simply so I can choose that single instrument in the external sidechain settings as a bus. They've had 11 years to fix that.