noob question

[jnightmare]

well im new to using effects and stuff for bass and was wondering what a compressor pedal does?

 

[Stephen Soto]

noob. No, a compressor (pedal or rackspace), compresses the sound. You can set it to a certain setting that so when it goes over that setting, it makes the note go down to a certain volume, it is used for balancing sound levels. It can also help notes sustain longer, by slowly raising the volume as it get's quieter. I can't really explain what it does very good, do a search and you'll figure it out soon enough.

 

[tplyons]

Compressors are commonly used in recording to control the level, by making loud passages quieter, and quiet passages louder. This is useful in allowing a vocalist to sing quiet and loud for different emphasis, and always be heard clearly in the mix.

Compression is generally applied to guitar to give clean sustain, where the start of a note is "squashed" with the gain automatically increased as the not fades away. Compressors take a short time to react to a picked note, and it can be difficult to find settings that react quickly enough to the volume change without killing the natural attack sound of your guitar. - Invalid Link Removed