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Who doesnt use compression?

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#62
SteveC said:
I'm usually compressed at the board so I leave it at that. I have debated it and sense I've been using a PBDDI and tuner pedals at church, another one wouldn't be that big a deal.
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The PBDDI Drive knob compresses the signal. At low settings, that seems to be all it does! (to my ears). Since I added a PBDDI to my own rig, I don't use my compressor as much, or on the same settings, as I did before. I also find that a Sonic Stomp adds a lot of <whatever> that I used to seek from the compressor.
 
#63
I almost never go through our PA, never record, and always use a touch of compression. My technique and lack of skill need all the help they can get!
 
#64
With home studios at 24bits easy - why even compress?
Record raw, and 24bits will give you 144db of dynamic range.
Compress to color things during remix.

Then again, set it for what you practice it at live. No need to radically change your sound for a studio. A raw track will let the producers ear take the bias out.

For live, the other musicians don't do much dynamics. The drummer isn't going to do 144db of dynamics, nor the guitar, or keyboards.

Practice the compressor for your own use.
Try it raw without a compressor.
Turn it on and try again - it is just color.
Move the knobs to adjust the color.
Push the foot switch to turn the color on or off.

Compression can lower the dynamic range when going into other effects, chorus, voltage followers - autowaw, ... live or recorded (again on remix). You can get much more control. And a wild slap doesn't go "whish"

Then set it as a limiter - you get no louder no matter how violently you look playing.

It's another good tool for musicians. It's not always yes or no.
 
#65
I never use a compressor for personal practice, and rarely ever on stage. However, I now play in a band (bass, drum, guitar, vocals) where the guitarist uses heavy compression. After listening to our live recordings, I think a touch of compression may sound good with the band. I'll try it this weekend.
 
#66
I only use compression while slapping or if I want to achieve a special sound (eg really diggin into my 5-string with overdrive on). But generally I don't. I think it takes the life out of your sound. And if you only use it in studio or on some gigs you can really improve your playing while practising/rehearsing.
 
#67
ThudThudThud said:
I used to spend a lot of time at a home recording website. There were tons of threads there about compression, and how most don't properly understand it - leading to over/under compressed signals.

A properly compressed signal still gives you plenty of dynamics.

I like compression. For me it helps to keep the guitar player honest. Otherwise they will turn up to your loudest signal, and your dynamics can get lost!
Click to expand...
This.
 
#69
I don't use compression. Nothing against it - I just like managing my own dynamics. I don't slap though, if I did I would have to use compression I think. That or change volume settings on the fly.
 
#71
When I had one of those solild state Ampeg SVT heads,I always turned off the built in limiter/compressor. It made everything sound dull. A few years later I read in some EQ magazine article about how a compressor coudl make you louder so I added one to my preamp/poweramp rack setup (which was the style at the time).
I was so impressed with my self, running a stereo rig, with a compressor/limiter/gate. It actually took me a while to realize that it did not sound very good.
As far as these days. I use a DBX160 or an LA610 for compression. But pretty much only on direct bass. Speakers provide a lot of compression on their own. Tube amps so as well.
 
#77
I never even owned a compressor until 1990 and never really used one live at all until the early 2000's. I definitely used it to cheat in the studio...well hell, you play a part almost perfectly except the dynamics are a little off...slap a little comp on it, nobody's the wiser. And I used it to tighten my live sound up a little. I figured why not? Wasn't totally squashing my sound or anything. Still had most of my dynamics. I'm still not against using it that way, either. But one night I had it on bypass and didn't realize it, and I was wondering why I liked my sound so much better until I discovered it was bypassed. I turned it back on and didn't like my sound nearly as much. So that was the last I used one. It's more fun for me now to try a little harder to be even, and I think it sounds more musical to be uneven as long as you're uneven in the right places.
 
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