The most practical compressor attack-release times?

[TheZhe]

I see attack times between 10us to 100ms and release times between 10ms to 5 seconds in plugins/hardware. This got me wondering how often settings like 5 seconds of release are actually used.

[Winstontaneous]

When it sounds good on the source material, probably pretty slow tempo with long decays. Check out this post by Hermetech Mastering (who regularly posts at KVR and does great work)...it really opened my ears to the effect of setting the right attack time.

[gaggle of hermits]

This got me wondering how often settings like 5 seconds of release are actually used.

it’s a bit like air-band eqs- they might seem stupid as no-one can hear 40kHz but the frequency is more about the curvature than the precise setting. Compressors don’t (often) move in a straight line. You’ll get a rapid bounce back and then the gain reduction slows until it hits 0dB around the end of the release time (as these numbers are often not all that precise). really long releases let you play with that response curve to make it groove or seem less obvious.

[kingozrecords]

30 - 50

[pixel85]

This video has the best explanation ever:

[gaggle of hermits]

30 - 50

42

[kingozrecords]

30 - 50

42

lol. Maybe haha. But in the way of videos, it depends on the punch, bass, merely that; and loud treble. Assuming compressors overlook bass in their control signal less so; but then they are less accurate. I fail to see the rationale behind most ideas, because they're simple theories. They're not technical enough most times.

[TBlake]

When it sounds good on the source material, probably pretty slow tempo with long decays. Check out this post by Hermetech Mastering (who regularly posts at KVR and does great work)...it really opened my ears to the effect of setting the right attack time.

A wonderfully informative post by Gregg! A must read!

[MogwaiBoy]

I see attack times between 10us to 100ms and release times between 10ms to 5 seconds in plugins/hardware. This got me wondering how often settings like 5 seconds of release are actually used.

It's so different for different types of music.

The above example is really mainly for dance or pop music, but the idea of smashing the compressor with shortest attack/release and highest ratio, and then working backwards from there is good advice - it's akin to extreme frequency boosting to pinpoint where the worst harshness is, then cutting it.

Use case for long release time, ie 5 seconds. In short: You set the threshold really deep so it's compressing almost all the time, and then the long release phase brings up the quieter sections (above the threshold). This is called upward compression - correct me if i'm wrong.

[TheZhe]

When it sounds good on the source material, probably pretty slow tempo with long decays. Check out this post by Hermetech Mastering (who regularly posts at KVR and does great work)...it really opened my ears to the effect of setting the right attack time.

A wonderfully informative post by Gregg! A must read!

I second that. I've been starting with slow times and then decreasing to taste, but I'm going to start trying the opposite now.

[subterfuge]

Use case for long release time, ie 5 seconds. In short: You set the threshold really deep so it's compressing almost all the time, and then the long release phase brings up the quieter sections (above the threshold). This is called upward compression - correct me if i'm wrong.

Regular compressor behavior is downward compression. Everything above the threshold gets compressed (down) in level, everything below the threshold stays the same. Upward compression is the mirror of that. Everything below the threshold gets leveled up towards the threshold, everything above the threshold stays the same.

This is often confused with an expander, but there is a clear key difference between them. Compressors limit the dynamic range, either bringing the high level stuff down (compression) or the low level stuff up (upward compression). In both cases the overall dynamic range will be less. Expanders on the other hand do the opposite, they expand the dynamic range. With upward expansion, stuff above the threshold will get pushed higher up. With downward expansion, stuff below the threshold will get pushed lower. Noise gate is a classic example of the latter.

[paterpeter]

...

Well written

[gentleclockdivider]

I see attack times between 10us to 100ms and release times between 10ms to 5 seconds in plugins/hardware. This got me wondering how often settings like 5 seconds of release are actually used.

Imagine you're playing some long pad sounds , lot's of chords etc..some passages will be louder becasue of complex chords etc
A long compressor release time means that your material will take a looong time before it leaves the compression stage , iow it stays compressed and less volume fluctuations .