Manual

13
Smashed Drums
If the drums are supposed to sound extremely compressed and loud, this setting can be used to
limit almost the entire signal so that there is nearly no dynamics remaining. The Auto Fast function
for the attack parameter makes sure that the mpressor works fast but undistorted, and fast release
times of about 50 ms are responsible for the loudness.
The ratio controller is set to 1:10 which makes the mpressor act like a kind of fast brickwall limiter.
The drums now sound as if they had been recorded with a focus on the room microphones: little
transients, lots of ambience and long sustaining toms and cymbals.
If this signal is now routed to a separate fader of a console and then mixed to the unprocessed
original, the result will be the typical parallel compression which is very popular for this kind of
application.
Reverse Sounds
Because the mpressor also features negative ratios, you can perfectly use it to create weird really
way-out eects: Signals sound like if they were played backwards and become louder in their pro-
gression. Very loud input signals are reduced by large amounts which creates the reverse eect.
The Auto Fast function for the attack parameter is used to perform the control process fast and
free from distortion. The position of the release controller determines the traits the sound will get
louder with. The Anti Log mode should also been tried on top of that, as it will even increase the
intensity of the reverse eect.
A good balance of the threshold, release and ratio parameters is very important for this applica-
tion. Settings like these result in the amount of gain reduction exceeding the 20 dB mark quite
often, therefore adequate settings of the gain controller have to be made for compensation.
SCENARIOS – Smashed Drums & Reverse Sounds
Threshold
16
14
9
5
0
-5 -8
-13
-15
-17
-18
dB
Attack
0,01
1,0
5,0
8,0
13
17
21
70
100
140
150
ms
Release
5
7
12
26
50
85
150
380
600
930
1k2
ms
1,2
1,3
1,6
2,0
5,0
10
-0,3
-1,0
-2,0
-3,0
-4,0
1:X
Ratio
EQ Gain
Lo
6,0
4,5
3,0
2,0
1,0 1,0
3,0
4,5
6,0
Hi
dB
EQ Freq
26
28
36
52
90
200 260
450
700
1k3
2k2
Hz
GR Limit
21
19
17
15
13
11 9
5
3
1,5
0
dB
Gain
10
13
17
0
0,5
2,0
3,0
4,0 6,0
20
dB
1,0
EQ Gain
Lo
6,0
4,5
3,0
2,0
1,0 1,0
3,0
4,5
6,0
Hi
dB
EQ Freq
26
28
36
52
90
200 260
450
700
1k3
2k2
Hz
GR Limit
21
19
17
15
13
11 9
5
3
1,5
0
dB
Gain
10
13
17
0
0,5
2,0
3,0
4,0 6,0
20
dB
1,0
Threshold
16
14
9
5
0
-5 -8
-13
-15
-17
-18
dB
Attack
0,01
1,0
5,0
8,0
13
17
21
70
100
140
150
ms
Release
5
7
12
26
50
85
150
380
600
930
1k2
ms
1,2
1,3
1,6
2,0
5,0
10
-0,3
-1,0
-2,0
-3,0
-4,0
1:X
Ratio
On
x10
On
SC Extern
Auto Fast
Anti Log
SC Extern
Auto Fast
Anti Log
On
x10
On
Left
Right
Link
Threshold
16
14
9
5
0
-5 -8
-13
-15
-17
-18
dB
Attack
0,01
1,0
5,0
8,0
13
17
21
70
100
140
150
ms
Release
5
7
12
26
50
85
150
380
600
930
1k2
ms
1,2
1,3
1,6
2,0
5,0
10
-0,3
-1,0
-2,0
-3,0
-4,0
1:X
Ratio
EQ Gain
Lo
6,0
4,5
3,0
2,0
1,0 1,0
3,0
4,5
6,0
Hi
dB
EQ Freq
26
28
36
52
90
200 260
450
700
1k3
2k2
Hz
GR Limit
21
19
17
15
13
11 9
5
3
1,5
0
dB
Gain
10
13
17
0
0,5
2,0
3,0
4,0 6,0
20
dB
1,0
EQ Gain
Lo
6,0
4,5
3,0
2,0
1,0 1,0
3,0
4,5
6,0
Hi
dB
EQ Freq
26
28
36
52
90
200 260
450
700
1k3
2k2
Hz
GR Limit
21
19
17
15
13
11 9
5
3
1,5
0
dB
Gain
10
13
17
0
0,5
2,0
3,0
4,0 6,0
20
dB
1,0
Threshold
16
14
9
5
0
-5 -8
-13
-15
-17
-18
dB
Attack
0,01
1,0
5,0
8,0
13
17
21
70
100
140
150
ms
Release
5
7
12
26
50
85
150
380
600
930
1k2
ms
1,2
1,3
1,6
2,0
5,0
10
-0,3
-1,0
-2,0
-3,0
-4,0
1:X
Ratio
On x10
On
SC Extern
Auto Fast Anti Log
SC Extern
Auto Fast
Anti Log
On x10
On
Left
Right
Link