What is "effect-like" compression? Examples?

[Mobile Sprout]

I've got an EBS multicomp that I use to clean up my picking & slap sounds a bit, and it works great, but I remember reading reviews for compressors and seeing things like "Well, compressor x provides very natural sounding compression, but it doesn't do "squish" effect-type compression"

...what do they really mean by "effect-like" compression? "Squish"? Any good examples on recordings you can think of?

Tony Levin has this very strange, unachievable tone on his recordings with Peter Gabriel. (example: Red Rain, Sledgehammer, etc) It's this weird sounding attack followed by a huge beefy pulse of bass. Is that compression? Is that his MXR Dynacomp creating that strange tone?

[thesmallprint]

What about Another Brick in the Wall Pt 2. That's pretty squishy without being way over the top.

[Jazz Ad]

Tony Levin indeed uses a lot of compression on these songs to achieve the desired boominess.
The Dynacomp is a bit weak for this. I'd recommend a Guyatone ST-2 or Jacques FatBurner.

[René_Julien]

Originally Posted by Mobile Sprout

Tony Levin has this very strange, unachievable tone on his recordings with Peter Gabriel. (example: Red Rain, Sledgehammer, etc) It's this weird sounding attack followed by a huge beefy pulse of bass. Is that compression? Is that his MXR Dynacomp creating that strange tone?

I don't know about the Dynacomp, but I can do something similar with my compressor.
It's a TL Audio rackunit with more controls.
Can't tell the exact settings on top of my head, but it's a heavy compression ratio, fast attack and slow release.

It totally kills the attack of my bass, and gives a cool volume swell. Like the punch that you mention.
It's a weird envellope that's created.

It makes my bass sound (IMO) like a clean analog synthesizer.
Something very pure.

Kinda like the tube breakup over the enveloppe provided by an mildly overdriven all-tube amp... except without any grit or overdrive.
More from a fat sound to a fatter sound back to "normal" fatness.

[Swift713]

I believe that Tony uses an Analogman (Bicomp?)pedal with two compressor circuits, a Ross clone and an Orange Squeezer clone. The Ross is the same basic design as the Dynacomp but I'll betcha the Analogman version is better. The Orange Squeezer is the super aggressive one and the secret to Tony's uber-compressed sound. He also plays with drumsticks strapped on his fingers sometimes and a lot of Gabriel tunes he plays stick on.

[CrispyDelicious]

Mobile Sprout?

[Mobile Sprout]

Originally Posted by Swift713

I believe that Tony uses an Analogman (Bicomp?)pedal with two compressor circuits, a Ross clone and an Orange Squeezer clone. The Ross is the same basic design as the Dynacomp but I'll betcha the Analogman version is better. The Orange Squeezer is the super aggressive one and the secret to Tony's uber-compressed sound. He also plays with drumsticks strapped on his fingers sometimes and a lot of Gabriel tunes he plays stick on.

I think he adopted the Analogman pedals later. Did he use multiple compressors together in his Peter Gabriel days?

...maybe I should have just explicitly said that I'm looking for Tony Levin's tone on Peter Gabriel's "So" album.

I tried jamming on Red Rain a few weeks ago without any compression and my sound was not really working for Tony Levin's lines. A "conventional" slap sound seemed to have way too much attack. Playing with my usual light fingerstyle worked better.. but it still sounded nothing like Tony on the recording.


Yay! CrispyDelicious is correct! I chose "Mobile Sprout" because "Ramblin' Evil Mushroom" is too long and "Ghost of Starman" is already someone else's band.

[Smurf-o-Deth]

Tony used the squeezer back then, so much, in fact, he had a squeezer attatched to his Ray.

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by Mobile Sprout

Yay! CrispyDelicious is correct! I chose "Mobile Sprout" because "Ramblin' Evil Mushroom" is too long and "Ghost of Starman" is already someone else's band.

LOL

I have a pet Blue-Tongue Skink (lizard) named Mr. Molecule.

Earthbound FTW.

[Redridge]

analogman bi-comp is advertised as an effect comp rather than a true (studio type) compressor.... I love playing the bi-comp in series. Tony Levin has been using the bi-comp for awhile.

[cybersnyder]

Originally Posted by Redridge

analogman bi-comp is advertised as an effect comp rather than a true (studio type) compressor.... I love playing the bi-comp in series. Tony Levin has been using the bi-comp for awhile.

I've been on the wait list for over a year.

[Redridge]

Originally Posted by cybersnyder

I've been on the wait list for over a year.

I got mine on ebay that's only a few days old... same price with free shipping, he waited close to 2 years for it.

[cybersnyder]

Originally Posted by Redridge

I got mine on ebay that's only a few days old... same price with free shipping, he waited close to 2 years for it.

Good snag! Congrats!

[Blues Infidel]

Originally Posted by Mobile Sprout

I've got an EBS multicomp that I use to clean up my picking & slap sounds a bit, and it works great, but I remember reading reviews for compressors and seeing things like "Well, compressor x provides very natural sounding compression, but it doesn't do "squish" effect-type compression"

...what do they really mean by "effect-like" compression? "Squish"? Any good examples on recordings you can think of?

IMHO I'm not sure how you could get the sound that John Paul Jones gets on "Dazed and Confused" without heavy compression. It's one of the tests I use to tell me when I've crossed over from "natural" to "effect" when setting parameters on a compressor. I LOVE his sound on that recording.