Compressors – What is the Knee and What does it do?

As you get better with compressors, you will start playing with other knobs and features. One of these is the knee. The knee refers to when and how the ratio starts to change when the compressor starts to take effect. A ‘hard knee’ means the compression becomes immediately active as soon as the input signal hits the threshold. A ‘soft knee’ means the compression becomes audible more gradually. A ‘soft knee’ also means that gentle compression starts happening further below the threshold. Another way to say this is it starts acting before the signal actuall reaches the threshold setting.

Both hard- and soft-knee compression have their uses; two examples: if you want to squash a signal’s transients quickly, you’ll want hard knee compression. If you want to use a compressor to gently glue a mix together by tightening up transients, you’ll want a soft-knee compressor.

Lastly, if you have a compressor, like the Dyn3 Compressor/limiter which comes free with Pro Tools, look at the picture of the knee. It actually looks like a human knee!

As always – I hope this helps!

And…. HEY! Make it a great day!

Tim

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Recording from sound modules without effects

If you’re involved with a lot of production work and do a lot of MIDI work like I do, you record a lot of projects using your sound modules. All sound (tone) modules automatically put effects on the sounds by default (so they sound better). Even free plug-in modules that come with recording software like Pro Tools do this. So if you use Xpand, Sampletank, etc. or you use outboard gear like Roland or Motif – you’ll want to know this!

When I use my Motif-Rack, I always go to the Effects Insertion Bypass screen and turn off the reverb and chorus. I am a piano player by trade and thusly do a lot of production work which involves piano tracks. I end up recording MIDI piano tracks dry, no reverb, no chorus. And if I use anything else – percussion, strings, etc. I also record those dry – no effects.

Why? Because for one, I don’t want chorus on a lot of my tracks (which Motif-Rack puts on all sounds by default!). I only use chorus as an effect once in a while (for the keys work I do). And two, the reverbs I have available as plug-ins in my DAW are better (i.e. Waves reverbs) than what Roland or Motif is going to give me.

On Pro Tools’ free instrument software plug-ins such as Xpand and Mini Grand, they always come with reverb (hall) or chorus or some kind of effect. Xpand down at the bottom has 2 effects – fx1, fx2. (If the green light is on – they are engaged) deselect those, and use the ones that come with your software. Sampletank has a place toward the bottom to engage effects but by default does not have them on when you create an instantiation and open the software.

Try to record dry and then use other software plug-ins or hardware outboard gear for your reverb, chorus, plate, etc. Your music will sound better for it!

And, HEY, make it a great day!!
Tim