I have been taking mixing/mastering classes via SkillShare for the past 2-3 months, and nothing I have watched has been as clear or concise as your videos. Seriously, I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to explain specifics and backing those up with examples.

4:20 Beware: Attack time is not a delay of reaction, it's the time it takes once the threshold is exceeded to plenty reduce the gain set by the ratio, so the statement "30ms attack = wait 30ms, then start turning down" is wrong, it's rather: "30ms attack = once the threshold is exceed, progressively turn down to fully reach after 30ms the maximum gain reduction related to the ratio setting". ;)

You're like the KZfaq mixing community's best kept secret. That was a spectacularly clearheaded and concise explanation of compression. 👍👍👍👍👍

Other Mix & Master KZfaqrs: Well this is how you always have to do it or else everyone will hate your musicsand you will die... HCMS: This is what each of these controls do and how it changes your sound, figure out what you like and what fits your style. Thank you for such a refreshing and educational breakdown that isn't plagued with "rules", "musts", and "alwayss".

Nice video. To set the attack time, especially on drums, i have a similar method that works everytime and is super easy. I will find a snare hit and set a really tight loop point so that its like the snare being played on all four downbeats at a decent pace. Crank the threshold/input, set high ratio and fast release. Now adjust the attack while the snare hit is being looped. The human ear is very good at detecting differences in sound so adjusting the attack time while the same snare hit is being played over and over with speed makes it much easier to find the sweet spot.

half way through this video and I already understand what the hell I need to do with a compressor 1000% better than I did before hand. Absolutely subscribing

outstanding tutorial ive been using compressors for years and never truly understood them like I do now thank you

Mixing with understanding is all I ask for, and I can boldly say thank you! You are a great teacher with nothing to hide!

I don’t think I’ve ever had this explained to me like this. (Especially the attack) I’ve engineered my own and many others music for many years and have made quite decent songs. But this will probably throw me across that line. Thank you soooo much

Great video! Thanks for the breakdown of all of the functions and different types. Really like the approach of cranking the amount of gain reduction and moving the attack time around... you really get a sense of how the attack time influences the transient... and also the character of the compressor as well! Quality content as always.

Hands down, this is the best compression crash course I ever watched. Thanks!

Hervorragendes Tutorial. Ich benutze Kompressoren seit Jahren und habe sie nie so wirklich verstanden wie jetzt. Vielen Dank

Probably the best explained and demonstrated tutorial on compression that I've seen. Jordan is such a great teacher.

The best explanation about this topic so far. At least for me and I've watched many vids. Nice job.

This was so incredibly informative. Thank you. It looks like I’m strapping in for the rest of your content!

Best explanation of how to think about and adjust attack and release time I’ve heard.

Thank you for this relaxed description, very understandable and aplicable

Stellar video! I've learned so much from you so far. Thanks as always.

Video is loaded with info. Starts good and gets awesome. 👍 [rewind:replay]

I've never commented on any youtube video IN MY LIFE!!! But I honestly have to thank you for such a valuable piece of info as if someone gave you the directions in a maze!

What a great overview, sometimes with all the tech talk and jargon, it's easy to forget what compression is actually doing and why we use it. This helped me clarify my thinking.

! Great teaching! Thank you very much for your clear examples....

I remember the first time I used a compressor on a vocal. There was one line where a couple words were noticeably quieter. I was so used to hearing it like that, and I got used to it. I put a compressor on the track & gave it a 4:1 ratio. When I was done for the day, I closed the project. I didn't work on it again for about 5 days. The whole time, I still had the quiet words in my mind, as if it was still like that. I got a huge surprise when I opened the project & listened. I was still expecting the quieter words, but what I heard was a more uniform vocal. I was thinking "Wow, it actually sounds great!" I opened the FX chain & saw the compressor. I completely forgot I had that on there, so it took me by surprise when I heard it. That was when I knew about the power of a compressor.

☛ I made a Mixing Cheatsheet which gives you the go-to compression settings for each track in your mix. Grab the cheatsheet for free here: mixcheatsheet.com

Great video, very well explained.

Perfect video, so clearly explained, thank you!

Great tutorial!

incredible, this is the best explanation ive ever heard. THANK U!!!!

Super amazing and super useful video!

what an incredible content with an immense ease of teaching... congratulations... I'm starting to produce electronic music your video added a huge opening in my way of understanding this subject... If possible, keep releasing content of this genre, because its shape of teaching is quite enlightening. As a suggestion, which books, videos and methods do you recommend so that we can seek knowledge for musical and technical self-development? Thanks...waiting for more content...

Thank you for what you do. You're a good teacher

Thank you for the brilliant tip of the pro vocal

Great video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

I watch your videos and it amazes me ty so much. ❤

Phenomenal tutorial. Thank you!

EXCELLENT video. Thank you!

Great tutorial. Thank you.

I listened to a Jack Joseph Puig interview where he talked about being able to move a musician’s performance in front or behind the behind the beat by altering the attack times. It sounded like it was his go-to technique before editing with protools became standard.

This was extremely helpful, thank you.

Fantastic video!

Great explanations 👌🏻 Thanks

brilliant. so much better than the read out the manual approach

Thank you for sharing!

I watched this and for the first time actaully understood everything compression does, u make it so clear also maybe I'm a bit more focused then before 😅

YES!! Exactly the video I need.

I really needed this video. I've pretty much dropped all my mix/prod video subs and sticking to HCMS channel and one other engineer that uses my same setup UA/Apollo/SSL + Luna. Think I may just have to pull the trigger and start the PPS training program.

Thank you mate I love this💯

Well explained.

This is sooooo helpful..... Thanks bro 🤘🤘🤘🤘

Thanks man!!

the best channel ever

Great video. Although I've had compression explained to me and half understood it, this is definitely the best and most lucid presentation I've encountered. I look forward to re-watching it and trying stuff out, now that I now what I should be expecting. Quick question: if you find out the settings of the various vintage compressors you mentioned at the end, would it be enough to dial them in on a standard eg Logic compressor plug-in? Or is there more to it than that?

where has this video been all my life? 😭

In most compressors the attack and release times are not times in literal millisecs, they are simply time constants in the algorhythm it uses. Edit: the ratio is often related to the knee, especially in the 76

Thank you! 🙂

Super clear

Nice , new sub

hello do you have complete tutorials especially your drum mixes are so so great i can only dream to mix like you

this is gold

Low-key sick drum track choice... Bonham's Fool in the Rain groove

love it

thank you

excellent

The attack time of a compressor is the time it takes for the compressor to reach two-thirds of its target gain reduction after a signal exceeds a threshold level.

Best one yet!! I'm actually mastering a HC/YouthCrew/PMA type Oi Punk EP, so def digging this page! I bought a Carvin CG200 Opti for the job and it has 8 freakin knobs. Anybody ever used one of these, or know anything about it? I spent 3-4 hours with it last night and honestly came away more confused (if that's even possible)! I'm about to spend another 3-4 hours with it tonight and would love any advice, settings, or just a base starting point to knock down some peaks. The 8 knobs are; 1: Threshold 2: Ratio 3: Attack 4: Release 5: Output Gain --Gate-- (can be turned off) 6: Threshold 7: Ratio 8: Release The comp's Attack and Release are on an odd scale. The Attack is "4" at 7 o'clock, 40 at 12 o'clock and 400 at 5 o'clock. The Release is 10 at 7 o'clock, 1000 at 12 o'clock and 2000 at 5 o'clock. I assume those are milliseconds, but its such an odd jump, I guess its multiplying times 10 as you turn it clockwise(?) Anyway, thanks for the video and any advice, settings, or just a base starting point to knock down some peaks would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Thanks buddy

Really good video. Are you using compression during the recording process for each track, or after?

Clear and well explained. Appreciate the effort...

I’m experimenting with drum triggers and MIDI drum samples at the moment. Wondering how compressors work with such isolated drums and their velocity differences.

Good shit.

So, your tutorial is great, I'm just wondering if you have anything "pro" level about compressors you feel good talking about. How about some unique examples with lessons you learned that you hadn't learned until you did that thing? Link if you got one please.

Thx 😋

Greay thabks

nice

I never "got" ratio until now. Thanks.

The built-in compressors I use on the Behringer Wing have attack, *hold*, and release. What does the hold do? How is it different from release? How would I use it to benefit my mix the best?

Any thoughts on a Urei 1178, just picked one up

Great video Jordan! Where Can I get the full course?

Great video! Just one question or a thing I missed on the release: The release starts to get applied once the signal leaves threshold, correct?

How to compress signal with big dynamic range?

I wanna ask how good Auto release works? I am just a beginner so just asking the experts

It has taken me years to get my head around compression. Even now, I have to be stoned to understand it. Without that spliff, it turns back into wizardry.

Hove comp fast metal kick ??

So what I've been reading online is you don't want to use compression on everything. It would be cool to have a video on when to use compression and when not to. If compression is used on every track then the overall result might be a bit muddy.

1st thank you. always.....

how to know what my audio signal is hitting?

Gonna run down stairs now and experiment with the information you just dispensed .. thanks

"Compressor kicks in based on ratio and attack time" is only true for soft knee compression - and even then the "soft knee" will start compression before reaching the set threshold level. Your fundamental explanation of "attack time" is incorrect too... the threshold is a switch - if signal exceeds the threshold it triggers the attack instantly. The "attack time" is the speed at which the signal is reduced. The amount of reduction is determined by the ratio. When the signal drops below the threshold the "switch" triggers the release... the release time is the speed at which the compressor recovers to nominal (uncompressed) level.

The thing I don’t get is with a slow attack Time the compressor is letting the transient through why does the transient sound amplified and more powerful. If nothing is being done to the transient why does it sound so much stronger. Trick of the mind? Or is it just because of the make up gain?

Hate to be a naysayer, but the definition of attack time as a ‘wait or delay function before attenuation begins is incorrect. Rather it is a rate -think dBs per time of the attenuation to advance upon crossing the threshold. Otherwise- A very nice video. Thank you!

We need a video of the raw and boring part of the tracking process, dialing in guitar tones, bass tones, picking drums that match the song, vocal takes, then into the mixing process where we could see how much compression and eq might be used and the order you like to mix this would give us a better picture of everything all the boring stuff like setting reverbs and delays are super important to get the full picture

3:35 8dB turned down by 6 dB resulting in passing 2dB, not 1 right Jordan?

Compression and filters.

Man, your explanation of attack is not correct! Compression kicks in as soon as the signal goes over the threshold. The attack time determines how fast the gain reduction will grow. Same thing with the release, but vise versa: as soon as the signal goes below the threshold, the reduction start to die away, the process goes according to the set release value. Otherwise the video is Great!

Sorry but you are wrong about the attack. Attack om 30ms means it takes 30ms until the sound is fully compressed. It will start instantly, its not a delay.

I hate to be this guy but your attack definition is wrong. It's not "how quickly the compressor will start reacting" it really is just how long it will take the compressor to fully reduce the gain. The compressor itself will immediately start to kick in when the gain has passed the threshold. Attack is just slowing gradually the rate of gain reduction! For example: the compressor will fully reduce the gain by the time 30ms have passed.

Soooo what the heck is a KNEE

So that's what was ruining my mixes.