HOW TO SET UP YOUR COMPRESSOR

-10
Step 6:
Step 1:
-5
-20
Adjust your attack and
Set the threshold -30 release time to match
to 0dB. -50 0 your compression style.

THRESHOLD RATIO MAKEUP GAIN Step 7:

Step 2: 5 10
-30 -20 5 8
0
15 Adjust your knee to
Set the ratio as high
3 12 make the compression
as possible. -5 20
-40 -10
more natural.
-10 30
20
2
-15 40
-50 0 30
1 :1
dB dB
Step 8:
Step 3:
Turn your ratio to 1:1, then
Set the attack and release slowly turn it up. Stop once
as fast as possible. you have the amount of
KNEE ATTACK RELEASE gain reduction you want.
5 10 100 200
0.4 0.6
2 20 500
50

Step 4:
1 30 20 1K Step 9:
0.2 0.8
0.5 50 2K
If you have a knee, set it
10 Adjust your makeup gain
to 0.0, AKA a “hard knee.” 0.0 100 5 5K to match your
1.0
0.0
ms ms compression style.

Step 5: IF YOU’RE TARGETING THE PEAKS… IF YOU’RE TARGETING THE VALLEYS…

Lower the threshold until you’re getting short spikes of gain Lower the threshold until you’re getting gain reduction
reduction at the beginning of each note. If the compression through at least half the note. If the compression never
doesn’t return to zero quickly, you’ve gone too far. returns to zero, you’ve gone too far.