Compression

How to pick the right compressor and settings for any source, with a quick-reference list of starting points per instrument.

Optical compressors are slow, smooth and musical. Here’s how they work, what they sound like, and when to reach for one.

Threshold decides when a compressor starts working. Here’s what it controls, where to set it, and how it interacts with ratio and gain.

VCA compressors are the clean, precise workhorses of mixing. Here’s how they work, how they sound, and where to use them.

Bus compression glues a mix together. Here’s what it does, how to set it up on the master or on groups, and how to avoid squashing the life out of a track.

Sidechain compression ducks one sound out of the way of another. This guide covers what it’s for, how to set it up, and the tricks producers use it for.

Parallel compression blends a heavily squashed copy under the original, so you get the weight without losing the dynamics. Here is how and where to use it.

Five steps to set up sidechain compression in Ableton Live’s Compressor, plus a few creative ways to push the effect further.

How to compress bass so the low end stays thick and steady, and how to get kick and bass working together.