Manual

10
2.3.5 Using Level Control Functions
Since all level control functions in the Oxford Dynamics Compressor operate entirely
separately, a very high degree of control for a wide range of common use is possible, in
particular the plug-in does not impose any particular style constraint on the user. This section
explains some of the commonly used techniques, and how they may be achieved using the
Dynamics plug-in.
In the most general terms, the extremes of compression usage fall into two main categories,
dynamic level control and audio effect generation. For simple level control, such as
controlling performance variation in vocals, instruments and final programme material, we
most often require the most transparent compression with minimum artefacts caused by the
dynamics’ control. However, to generate audio effects and distortion the reverse is true and
we need to make the audio character of the compression a dominant part of the final result.
In order to understand how we achieve these two different styles of result, we must remember
that, in general, we are much more sensitive to the rate of change of level than we are to
relative gain. So in order to generate prominent audio effects using the compressor, we need
to generate a significant rate of change of gain action by using both hard compression gain
curves and the creative use of time constants. However, for general unobtrusive level control
we should be avoiding all of this, and opting for the gentlest compression gain curves and
least obtrusive time constant settings that integrate well with the programme style.
2.3.6 General Programme Compression
There are two main basic philosophies that underlie approaches to unobtrusive compression.
The aim of the following pages is to explain these concepts, make comparisons between
them, and show how enhanced results can be achieved using the Oxford Dynamics
Compressor.