Upgrade Manual

Appendix A: "Audio Plugins"72
Compression can make a signal loud and punchy. This is desirable when
preparing music for noisy environments, such as club music, car music, radio
and television sound, or small computer multimedia speakers.
The Band-in-a-Box compressor is an upward compressor. An upward
compressor works by making quiet signals louder.
A downward compressor works by making loud signals softer. Downward
compression is useful in analog boxes, but a digital downward compressor can
reduce the resolution of a signal.
Threshold:
Set the level where compression begins. Below
Threshold
, the
signal is boosted a fixed amount. Above Threshold, as the input gets louder, the
gain is gradually reduced. Gain is always unity at 0 dB (full scale) input level.
Ratio:
Adjust how drastically the compressor behaves.
At a 2:1 ratio, an input change of 6 dB would yield an output change of 3 dB.
An input change of 12 dB would yield an output change of 6 dB.
At a 10:1 ratio, the difference between loud and soft signals is reduced. An input
change of 6 dB would yield an output change of only 0.6 dB, and a 12 dB
change would yield an output change of 1.2 dB. At high ratios, loud and soft
signals come out almost the same level.
The 32 bit processing has a maximum gain of 24 dB (which is adequate in most
cases.) If you adjust Threshold so it would cause maximum gain above 24 dB,
the Ratio knob is automatically reduced. Similarly, if you adjust Ratio to cause
maximum gain above 24 dB, the Threshold knob is automatically adjusted.
Attack:
The time it takes for the compressor to respond to increases of level.
To compress individual notes in a track, set Attack to low values. To gently
compress the overall level of a track, set Attack to higher values.
At low Attack settings, each note will be modified, which can keep the notes in
a phrase more consistent.
At high Attack settings, individual notes are not affected. Individual notes can
retain their emphasis, but the overall level of the track is controlled.
Release:
The time it takes for the compressor to respond to decreases of level.
Low Release settings allow the compressor to "spring back" quickly after a loud
note. High Release settings cause the compressor to wait awhile before raising
gain after a loud note.