New to compression, help with attack and release ?

[pvj scotland]

Hey guys
I'm quite new to compression and just wondered what the usual settings would be just to get me going , are you better with a fast attack and slow release or fast release and slow attack i have been over and over lots of threads on here and there are so many conflicting views at the moment i have a slightly faster release with my attack at 12 oclock and my release at 2 oclock and this sounds good to me but i am open to suggestions my pedal is the mxr bass compressor
Thanks for any help
I know there are lots of compression threads but any help would be appreciated

 

[socialleper]

I have the MXR compressor and had a DBX compressor with attack/release settings years ago.
It really depends what you are after and what kind of playing technique you are using.
Let's say you are playing slap. You'd probably want the attack to be slower and the release fast so that way it picks up the snap of the strings well. The same might be said about hard picking.
If you are playing slower music and are just trying to get an even tone, a fast attack with a slow release might be what you want so once the compression is engaged, it stays engaged.
Your ratio matters too. You can create some interesting sounds, good and bad, by managing these.
I use mine to try to keep my tone more even. I play finger pretty fast, so I want to get some punch, but once its engaged I want it to stay there so my sound does get a vibrato effect. My ratio is fairly low since I just want to roll off the initial spikes in the punch, not squash the sound all the way down.

 

[bongomania]

"If it sounds good, it is good" is the only rule to follow here. Note that even though the M87 has an attack knob, its time range is only from "very fast" to "extremely fast".

Personally I like the attack to be just slow enough to allow a little string click through, and then a fast release for percussive playing or a slow release for slower, legato playing.

 

[GMC]

If you are new to compression....get and EBS multi Comp. Two knobs and a switch and it sounds great....what more does a guy want?

 

[monkeyfinger]

I think control over attack and release is really important to dialing in a comp effect. So I applaud the OP's interest in learning how to do it.

Attack: How soon after detecting that he signal has crossed the threshold that the compression should engage. Slow settings allow more attack of the note to come through.

Release: how long the the compression should stay engaged once the detector has determined the signal has dropped below the threshold level

BTW, your attack and release knob positions have little to do with time relative to parameters Attack times are usually in milliseconds. Release times are usually in seconds . Typical values are 20 milliseconds for attack and .5 seconds, (500 milliseconds), for release.