ABSTRACT
Compression will allow for instruments to sit stable in the mix so that the listener can stay in contact with the performance. When used on the mix, compression provides excitement, urgency and glue. Understanding the process is one thing, but finding the right settings is another. In the early days of pop music, compression was used to reduce the noise of tape machines. A vocalist alternates soft notes with loud notes or varies her distance to the mic. In this case, mild compression settings can be used to reduce the dynamic range. When a compressor is set to a ratio of 20:1 or beyond, the process is called limiting instead of compression. Limiting can be used to radically shape the envelope of a signal, for instance, when music directors want to add aggression to an instrument. Just as often, limiting is used as a technical tool to efficiently reduce the peak level of signals, for instance, with the mix.
