Modular · Effects
Compressor
Evens out loudness; the Side input gives sidechain pumping
Open in the synth with a demo patch Open ModularWhat it does
Compressor squeezes the dynamics: whenever the signal is louder than Threshold, it turns down everything above it by Ratio (4:1 is gentle, 20:1 is nearly a limiter). Attack is how fast it reacts, Release how fast it lets go; Makeup brings the level back up after the squeeze, so quiet passages come closer and loud ones stop clipping the Output. The Side input is the sidechain: feed it another signal, hits for example, and the compressor turns the main sound down according to that signal's loudness, with Duck setting how deep it dips. That is how you make a pumping pad that drops on every beat.
Ports
- in
- Audio to compress
- side
- Sidechain: the input is ducked by this signal's loudness
- out
- Audio out
Parameters
Threshold · Ratio · Attack · Release · Makeup · Duck
Try this
- Drone → Compressor In, a Voice with short notes from Clock 1/4 → Side, Duck 0.8: the drone breathes in time, as in dance-floor ambient.
- Threshold −30 dB, Ratio 6, Makeup 8 dB on a keyboard voice: every note equally dense no matter how you press.
- Release 1 s and Duck 1: a long dip, the drone barely recovers before the next hit.