Compressor

Category: Shape | Scope: Instrument-level

Evens out volume differences — loud peaks get reduced, quiet passages get lifted. Makes the instrument sit more consistently in the mix.

Macros

Presets

Tight, Punchy, Glued, Transparent.

How the settings work together

Amount + Character are designed to work as a pair. Character sets the compressor's personality — Tight reacts quickly and clamps down hard, Punchy lets the initial transient through before compressing. The Amount knob then controls how aggressively that personality is applied. Low Amount with Tight gives subtle, transparent leveling. High Amount with Punchy makes drums and bass feel louder and heavier without killing the initial attack. High Amount with Tight squashes everything flat — useful for aggressive electronic sounds but can make acoustic instruments feel lifeless.

Auto release and "glue"

Set Character to Auto and the compressor times its own recovery: brief peaks let go quickly, while sustained loud passages release slowly. That program-dependent movement is what mix engineers call glue — separate parts start to feel like one performance instead of several layers. It's the behaviour of a classic studio bus compressor, and it's why the Glued preset uses Auto with a gentle amount and a slow attack. When Auto is on, the Release control in Advanced is ignored — the compressor sets release for you.

Glue is most useful on the whole mix: add the Compressor to the master bus, pick Glued, and aim for only a couple of dB of reduction. On the master the detector is stereo-linked — both sides always move together, so a loud sound on one side never tugs the stereo image toward the other.

Sidechain — ducking to another track

Open the Compressor's settings popup and you'll find a Sidechain key dropdown. Pick another track here and the compressor stops reacting to this track's own level — instead it ducks whenever the chosen track is loud.

The classic use is the kick-and-bass pump: set the bass track's Compressor sidechain key to the drum track. Every time the kick hits, the bass dips for a moment and springs back, leaving room for the kick to punch through. It is the signature "breathing" groove of house, trance, and modern pop.

• Picking a sidechain key automatically switches the Compressor on.
• The Amount knob still controls how deep the duck is; Character still sets how fast it reacts (Tight = snappy pump, Punchy = smoother).
• Choose None to go back to a normal compressor that reacts to its own track.

You can sidechain several tracks to the same source — bass and pads ducking to the kick, for example.

When to use it

Bass and drum tracks almost always benefit from compression. Piano and guitar tracks may need it if the dynamics are too wide. Pads and strings usually don't need it.

For the rhythmic pumping effect rather than level control, use the Sidechain key dropdown described above.