ProSoundFormula Compression Made Simple TUTORIAL
Welcome to Compression Made Simple. I was a little bit hesitant to create a program called Compression Made Simple when probably one of the most confusing and complicated and pretty much opposite of simple things that we have is the compressor. And I’m sure you know this first hand which is probably why you’re here right now.
But I’ve spent a lot of time to make this program as simple as possible and I’m going to be showing you a lot of different concepts in a lot of different ways. I’m going to show you visually, some different diagrams and illustrations and show you the kind of theory and then I’m going to take you practically into a session and show you exactly how those things apply. So you’re going to hear me repeating a lot of the same ideas over and over again and this is all intentional.
And the reason is, is that as humans, we’re kind of a little bit strange. We don’t tend to learn things the first time that we hear them. We’ve got to hear things a couple of different times and then eventually, you know, the 11th time that we hear something, suddenly we go, okay, that’s how that works. It’s so simple.
Meanwhile, we’ve heard it a whole bunch of times before. So by the end of this program, you’re gonna know exactly what compression is, where it came from, why we use this stuff called compression, and you’re gonna understand exactly how to use it to transform your tracks. You’re gonna understand how to use the different controls. In fact, I’m actually gonna take you through a session called the Compressor Setup Guide, where I’m gonna show you exactly how to figure out how to set up each control on a compressor, no matter what you compress it.
I’m also going to show you some practical sessions where I’ll take you through how I approach compressing all the major instrument groups, drums, vocals, bass, guitars, that kind of stuff and not only that, but I’m even going to give you the same session files that I’m working on that I’m showing these demonstrations on so that you can put these same methods, these same techniques into practice yourself. Prove to yourself that you can do this. It’s really not that difficult.
So let me just give you a quick tour around the program, show you what’s inside and how we’re going to go about this and then we’ll dive into the first video on compression essentials.
Alright, so here we are inside the Compression Made Simple program, and I’m just using the downloaded version over here, but if you’re watching this online, it’s exactly the same thing, the same structure, the same everything. It’s just a bit quicker for me to jump around this one. So, you should find a couple of key things, whether you’re in the main menu or the main folder. First up, you’ll find the Compression Made Simple summary, which is a summary of the overall program, all the key ideas, techniques, and explanations on there so that you can refer back to it.
Then we’ve got the welcome and orientation video, which is the one that you’re watching right now. And then in part one, we’ve got the compression essentials and basics. So we’ve got to start out with a good foundation so that everything that we build on from here, you’re going to understand, you’re going to be able to put it into practice. So in the first video, we’ve got the compression essentials where I’m going to be showing you what compressors are, where they come from, why we use compression, all the different reasons.
how they work, what they’re doing, all that kind of stuff I’m going to be showing you in that video. Then in the compression basics video, I’m just going to show you a compressor practically in a session and show you how the different controls affect the sound and show you what they’re all doing kind of practically. So we’re really going to cover the absolute basics over there so that I know we’re on the same page moving forward.
And then I’ve got this compressor setup guide for you, which is a video and a PDF that goes along with it over here, which is gonna help you ask the key questions to figure out how to set up each control on a compressor, because that’s often the challenge, isn’t it? You get to this compressor and it’s got these different controls like ratio and threshold and tack and release, and it’s like, well, where should these things even be set? Well, this is gonna guide you through that practically, and I’m gonna show you that in this video over here.
So by the time you’ve gone through part one, you’ll already have a pretty solid foundational understanding of what compression is, how it works, and how we go about using it. Then in part two, we’ve got the compression mindsets and principles. And here I’ll be sharing with you my eight laws of compression, which are kind of like principles, they’re mindsets, they’re ways of approaching compression that just go beyond any type of technique.
Techniques are great and you’re going to get a ton of them in this program but I also wanted to give you some kind of high level thinking which are going to make those techniques even more powerful. Then in part 3 we’ll be putting all this stuff into practice and I’ll be giving you actual examples and you’re going to be able to put this into practice as well.
So I’ll show you how I approach compressing all the major instruments, bass, drums, guitars, keys, vocals. And then there’s also this video here called 7 Step Mix Master Compression. I didn’t actually shoot this one specifically for this program, but I realized that it’s by far the best, most powerful training that I have on this. So instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I’ve just included this one for you and this will show you how to set up
a mix bus compressor, whether you’re putting it on an overall mix or whether you are using it for mastering, it’s the same difference. It’ll show you exactly how to set up a compressor on an overall track. So if you’ve downloaded the practice sessions, you’ll be able to follow along with some of these. So I’ve just got them in over here, and here you’ll find compressed bass, drums, guitars, keys, vocals, and there’s even a practice session that goes along with the basics video
where you can put into practice the same things that I’m going to show you. Then in part four, we’ve got using compression in a mix. And here I’m just going to take you through an actual mix and show you how I use compression and how I approach and think about using it on all the different tracks and show you how a whole mix comes together using compression. So it’s kind of just going to bring together all the ideas that we’ve covered so far.
And then finally, you have your resources folder, which just has a whole bunch of good stuff which I’ve included for you. So first, there’s the 7-step mix master compressor setup. This is the one that I told you about just now. I know it says mix bus compressor, but whether you’re putting it on the overall mix or whether you’re putting it on a stereo track and mastering, it’s the same thing. So this is just the kind of guide that goes along with that. Then you’ll find this attack and release advanced training over here.
Now, if you want a better explanation of attack and release, and if you feel ready for it, if you kind of feel like you understand the basics, but you wanna understand that a bit better, then this session’s for you. If you’re still a little bit new to it all and you’re a bit confused, then I recommend staying away from this one until the end. That’s why I put it in the resources folder here instead of in the essentials. So it’s not absolutely essential, but this is just gonna help you to really understand what’s going on when it comes to attack and release settings.
Then I’ve got these compression cheat sheets for you, which are basically just some of my main recommended settings for the different instrument groups. Now it’s impossible to give exact settings, but these are the type of settings that I find myself using and I’ll be showing you throughout the session.
Sometimes I’ve given a couple of different examples like the vocals over here. There’s a general vocal, a more aggressive one, and a more subtle one. These are really just to get you started. If you’re not sure where to begin, you don’t know what to dial in the compressor, this is a great starting point. And there’s also some printer-friendly versions over here if you want those.
Then the practice sessions, I’ve already told you about those. Then I’ve got this compressor comparison video over here, where I’m going to be showing you a whole bunch of different compressors. There’s a lot here. What’s this? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 different compressors. And I’m going to show you how they sound in comparison to each other. Because you see all these different compressors, and they all look different, and they all claim to do different things. But what do they actually sound like? So I’m going to show you firsthand so you can hear for yourself.
Then I’ve got this compressor controls diagram over here, just showing you the main key controls and what they are, just a really nice brief explanation of them. Then the compressor setup guide, you already saw this earlier, there’s just a printer friendly version of that if you wanted. And then finally there’s just this sound terms glossary, which will help you to understand some of the terms that I might use throughout the program. Some of these things like airy and blurry and boomy and all these things can be a bit confusing, so if you’re not sure what I mean,
Just take a look in here and you should find an explanation. And that’s it. I’m going to be giving you a lot of different ideas, techniques, concepts. I’m going to be dumping a lot of stuff on you in this program. So, I encourage you to take notes, whether that’s in written form, so you’re writing it down, or you’re using something like Evernote on your computer and you’re taking notes in there. Something happens when you write something down that just helps you to remember it better. So, I can’t recommend that enough. You don’t have to write down every single thing you hear. In fact, I don’t recommend that at all.
Just the things that really stand out to you. You know, when you get that light bulb moment, you go, oh, that’s how that thing works over there. Write it down. It’ll just help you remember it much better, and you’ll just learn the stuff even faster. With that said, I hope you enjoy the program. I hope you get a ton of value out of it, and I’ll catch you in part one, in session one, the compression essentials.
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