You can't break the rules 'til you know how to play the game. -Rikki Lee Jones

1. Don’t compress everything 2. Compress bus first, not individual tracks 3. Compress first, then eq (if it sounds good) 4. Fast Attack = Aggressive 5. Release Time = Tone 6. Level Match Signal - input to output

Man, I'd commit a war crime to have you as a professor. Visuals and clarity of communication are a lost art

It's worth differentiating "aggressive compression" from an "aggressive sound." Aggressive compression will kill all transients (zero attack), but an aggressive sound has strong transients (nonzero attack).

I thought I was going to dismiss this video pretty quick. Ended up watching the whole thing, taking notes, and subscribing. Great walkthrough, loved the way you explained attack (aggression) and release (tone). And really needed that point about level matching.

First rule of compression...don't ever talk about compression...

These are the same 6 rules I apply while compressing my atonal rubbish 😂

I've been learning mixing for years, though magazines and online courses, but this explanation of the compressor is the clearest I've come across. Very understandable!

That release explanation with the kick sounds was just perfect

Joe, this is one of the finest (if not THE finest) tutorials on Compression that I have ever seen. Your visual approach and explanation on how to view the Attack and Release knobs was excellent; clear and memorable. Always look forward to your videos.

I used to hear this rule of thumb a lot: "If you can hear what the compressor is doing, you're doing it wrong." I've never follow this rule.

Your narratives and excellent translation on how to apply compression has really helped to understand this complex and quite often contentious subject matter much better. Thank you so much! ❤

This is the only Sound Engineer I have watched so far that teaches what I need in SOUND ENGINEERING ❤️💥,JUST AMAZING

I really wanted to hate everything about this video... But I the more I watched, the more loved everything about this video. Good Job

Very straight to the point and makes you wanna ask "why do I have all this stuff"?! Joe Gilder..........YOUR THE BEST!!!😀

This quick release bb-kick is legend.

There are always beginner and expert explainers, but rarely anything in between, for music or any other topic. You've struck a good balance in delivering general knowledge (instead of miopic tutorials) for everyone between beginner & expert.

Fantastic visualization! Loved the Good-Bad rule ! Also: Good beat-box 🤓👌

The way you demonstrate the Kick with your lips/beatboxing at 9:23 - so casual, yet so effective!

This is one of those videos I wish I found like 5 years. You are a great communicator. I will play adjust my release knob with confidence from now on!

Thanks, liking the tool you're using, clear stuff.

Thank you. The clearest explanation of the effect that each control has on the sound that I've seen anywhere.

After 20 painful years it now makes complete sense. Cheers dude. Subbed.

Excellent Rules, thanks Joe!

The visuals help my brain a lot. Also been loving the podcast dude.

I like how you integrated your love for drawing

Rules, structure, directions: YES! We need these as coffee needs a mug. Joe Gilder, what a guy.

Finest EQ on your voice I've ever heard.

”...Atonal music that sounds like garbage” Arnold Schoenberg: Garbage is Art😂

Man I had so much struggle really understanding all of this and in 12 min you litterally learned me what I tried to learn in over a year. You have my support ❤

Thanks Joe! Howdy from Texas! Love your videos and love your music!

This is hands down one of the best presented audio DAW lessons I've ever seen.

Love the drawing, Joe - It makes the concepts much clearer than showing it in an actual plugin (for me anyway) Thx for making a complex topic easier to comprehend.

I suspect this is a breakthrough for me. Thank you. I’m been using compression with a great understanding of threshold and ratio, but even though I knew what attack and release were I still just played with them without a good idea of “why” thanks again. This is super amazing. Now I’m going to check out your other content even though I probably need it less.

You by far have the BEST presentation style of all the mixing tutorials I've seen.

This video is excellent. It finally clarified confusion I've had about compression for years.

My New Sensei you are !!!! Thanks

Really well explained and the video presentation is awesome. Extremely impressed dude and grateful 🙏

This is a great video. I love how you’ve done it.

Joe you truly have a gift. Compression is so tricky to understand but you broke it down. Thank you!

Work from “the top down” people! Make a bus for everything that matches. It always works well.

Guilty of breaking Rule 6. 😂

Love all the explanations you’ve done, plus the animations are super cool too.

Thanks Joe !!!! Good Convo !

Didn't realize how much of my music was ruined by No. 6...

This is great, the concepts of attack/aggression and release/tone clarify me about the process of compression. Thanks Joe!! God bless you !! i'm from Chile !!

Love tha drawing man, very good job,

Excellent! Thank you Joe!

0:22 Schoenberg leaves the chat

Love the video format, thanks man.

love the way you explained this, super fun and helpful

You almost forgot the most important rule about compression: Choose the right type of compressor.

"Now can break these rules [of music theory] all the way to making atonal music that sounds like garbage"... very intelligent comment, wow.

I have never heard compression explained in such a simple yet understandable manner!!! Thank you so much Joe, your videos are the best!! 👍🏼👏🏼

Dude.. one of the best YT tutorials I've seen.. on any topic, let alone one like compression. Great advice! Subscribed..

I literally disagree on some level with every single rule. I can’t believe no one in the comments has had any disagreement with the rules. #1 The primary purpose of compression is to manage the dynamic range of individual instruments, groups of instruments and the overall mix. Sure, part of that includes how you effect the attack, sustain and tonality of what you are compressing, which you get to later. However, if all of the instruments have too wide a dynamic range it can be hell to hear all of the instruments without riding the sliders constantly. You should decide how many instruments to compress based off of your ear. You may also make a decision to try to get things to a certain consistent level. However I would still say, you should never make a rule that may or may not be appropriate for you mix. USE YOUR EARS to decide how much compression should be used and what you should and shouldn’t compress. #2 Compressing a bus may be the right decision to make, however, it WILL affect the integrity of your performance, particularly when used on a drum performance as shown. Nuance will be the first thing to go. You like those ghost notes on the snare that help drive that groove. When you do group compression without compressing individual drums first, the louder drums your hitting will cause peaks that will engage the compressor, thus cutting down the whole kit and covering up that subtle snare or hi hat pattern. #3 I thought we might get some next level info here on the signal chain and wether or not you want compression to come first before your tone shaping. That’s not what happened. I will tell you handling that correctly is a very important thing. For instance, if you have a muddy bass guitar and you compress first, the compressor will engage more with the deeper heavier stuff you play, which will change the sound. If you EQ first (order of effects), then compress, your compression will have a more natural sound. It also matters how much coloration you are getting from your EQ. If you’re using a plug in that gives a bit of grit, for instance, compression first will make that grit quality happen more consistently. If you compress after you’ll get less of that effect but a more balanced level. #4 He explained this just the opposite of the way this effect works for many compressors, thus it shouldn’t be a sure fire rule. For instance, some compressors allow the signal to pass thru UNTIL the compressor engages. That means, that initial attack sneaks thru when your attack time is later NOT sooner. I’ve also dealt with compressors where the attack knob had nothing to do with the compressors attack time and just changed the tonality, making it rounder or have a certain sharpness. Attack should not be simplified down to equaling aggression. #5 Release does not affect “Tone” at all. It has everything to do with SUSTAIN!!! It also affects how quickly the compressor sort of resets. A slow release on a bass guitar, for instance, might be good for long open sections in a piece. Maybe he goes to some long whole notes to make room for a long open solo section for a guitarist and you want to keep the bottom end and support there. It will slowly ride the bass gain up. Then again, if you’re setting the release for a snare you probably want it fast because the instrument doesn’t ring out that long any ways. You aren’t increasing its sustain necessarily. You may be affecting its snappiness or crack by letting the initial stick hit come thru then the tonality of the compressor warms up the resonance that follows it, giving a nice balanced sound. #6 This rule is only useful in ONE circumstance... When you are comparing the before and after of the effect you’ve created with the compressor. You don’t understand what compression is doing if you even believe that you even can “Match” the levels. Compression’s main job is to literally change the levels! If you even can match your levels, your compressor isn’t engaged. Generally speaking, it’s wise to set your compressors output to as loud as possible without clipping, for noise purposes. A mastering engineer (who almost exclusively uses EQ and compression to touch up your overall mix) would NEVER set his compressor to “level match”. The object is to get good consistent levels. This is the first “negative” post I have ever made on KZfaq. However, for the common good of my fellow musicians and sound people I felt obligated to do so. There are SOME usable ideas in this video. However, that is not the way it is titled. The video calls these ideas RULES. Again, I couldn’t disagree more. Now roast me.

First rule: there are no rules Second Rule: Don't follow the first rule

A lot of information that I'd taken in concerning compression over the last year just clicked into place thanks to your succinct explanations and visualizations. Thank you!

This is great, love the release idea, nice one!

“Atonal music that sounds like garbage” 😂😂😂

Probably one of the best practical explanation/guides on compression I've seen. Nice job!

Love the way you broke this down especially number 6. So important to remember! Thank you

Thanks Joe..........so clear, as always from you! 🙏

Beautiful sheet with useful advice. Thanks!

Brilliant, I love the way you broke this down. Best video I've watched on compression.

I just discovered this channel, and it's helping me a lot. You're very clear in your explanations, keep up the good work!

I've seen so many videos on compression, but this is one of the few that actually taught me something beyond what each knob is, fantastic work :)

I love this style of video, something kinda new. Rules 4 and 5 are definitely flipping my thinking around. Thanks man!

Thanks for the video. Cant wait to try these rules out!

So much comp wisdom in one video 🙏🏼 thank you so much! This info is helping me a lot!

I have seen many compression videos in this last month and i can bet that no one has ever explained this topic so crystal and clear. Good job sir. Thank you.

After almost 4 years of trying to fully understand compression I finally think I got it thanks to your video. Fantastic way of approaching something that alot of people like myself struggle to wrap their heads around. Great video!

You're amazing Joe!

your use of the visuals was super helpful. Thank you for the info.

What an incredible video. Thanks for these tips. Awsome!

Great explanation and graphics. Thanks for sharing!

Genius and simple explanations of compression. Love this!

Thank you Joe, this is extremely useful for me. I appreciate you brother.

Please do more of this... Use this method when you do. I just learned a lot in a few minutes.

Awesome video--thanks Joe!

Thank you for that explanation! Thorough and easy to understand.

This is the most intuitive video on compression I've ever seen. Please make more like these! The good/bad frequencies and making them different sizes to simulate EQ was awesome

First video I see of this channel. Don’t know what else to expect after this video, but, mannnnn. This is basically one of the best videos I’ve come across in the history of KZfaq. A combination of something I want to learn with a method I like to learn in. Great job!

The best comp video !!!

Fantastic,what a good teacher you are ! BRAVO

Saw this video a while back...saw it again as a refresher today and still, compression better explained than anywhere else I’ve seen. Visuals help a lot. Thanks!

I really love your explanation! Thank so much

What a lesson! What a teacher! What a teaching for self-learners!

Good stuff....excellent approach Joe. Thank you

Really enjoyed this clip, ive been home recording for decades, but some of what you said was new to me. Thanks :)

Great clear explanation. Thanks so much for the video!

Thanks for the guide Joe

I don't usually comment on videos but just had to about this one. This is a great explanation of basic compression. Cleared up a lot of things for me. Thanks so much. Keep up the good videos.

I love this. Thanks!

This video taught me in a few minutes what I couldn’t get right for years asking many people or reading on the matter. So clearly explained, love it man! Cheers from Costa Rica.

As always, clear and relatable context. Thanks Joe

Thanks Joe, this was really helpful. Well done.

That was so well explained mate, excellent video thank you for your time

one of the best videos on compressing I've EVER seen! the graphics are great and you've given me a totally different perspective on what compressors are supposed to do/can do

Man, you rock! Thanks a lot!