Are you making these mistakes with compressor pedals?

What does a compressor do? Why are pedals so noisy? Where in the signal chain should you put it?

00:00 beginning
00:35 "I can't hear it doing anything"
03:24 "This is ruining my dynamics!"
05:12 "The sound is too 'loose' or floppy sounding"
07:50 "This compressor is too noisy!" (Applies to distortions and overdrives as well)
09:05 "Always put compression before drive pedals" or, "Always put compression after drive pedals"

[markhammer]

1) What gets labelled as "Attack" on a great many compressor pedals is generally not an attack adjustment, per se, but rather a recovery-time adjustment. That is, it does not alter how quickly compression kicks in, but rather how quickly it shuts off. When the time it takes for the gain to be restored is *longer*, after pulling it down in response to picking, one tends to miss the bright pick attack of the next note picked. Shortening the recovery time makes the pick attack of subsequent notes easier to hear, which is why it tended to be labelled as "Attack". Here's the thing, though: if you pick quickly, you can easily hear what changes to "Attack" time do. But if you pick slowly, you'll be twiddling the knob wondering if it does anything at all. The effect of that control depends on your "inter-strum interval":, so bear that in mind.

As an aside, folks who study and dissect compressors will describe what gets called "breathing". If recovery time is slow, one can hear the gradual increase in hiss as the gain increases and is applied to whatever noise is in the input signal. It tends to sound like someone taking a long inhale - hence "breathing". It is MOST obvious (and annoying) if the compressor is preceded by a high-gain device.

2) I find one of the best and most helpful uses of a compressor is to maintain volume level when you're strumming and singing at the same time, or simply backing up a singer. Paying attention to what you're playing, and how loud you're playing it, can sometimes require more concentration than you have available. Compressors let you focus on one thing and not have to worry or think too hard about the other. You can flail away and not have to worry about accidentally drowning out anyone, including yourself.

3) RE: Noise. Compression serves not only to pull back on gain of peaks, but also apply gain to quieter signals. I can't think of a single analog compressor under a few thousand dollars, and able to fit on a pedalboard, that can tell the difference between a vibrating string slowly decaying, and incoming hiss/noise/hum. As far as the compressor is concerned, that soft signal (i.e., noise) is in *desperate* need of help, so it boosts it. *ALWAYS* make sure that no matter where you stick a compressor in your signal path, you feed it the quietest most noise-free signal you can.

4) RE: Before vs after. Yes, compression ahead of a dirt pedal *will* produce a more consistent dirt-tone since the compression is maintaining the signal at a constant level, relative to the clipping threshold. BUT, all dirt pedals *will* reduce the dynamics of the signal at least a little bit. So feeding a dirt pedal to a compressor will monkey with what the compressor is able to detect. Any before-vs-after comparison will depend on how much you squish with the compressor, how much distortion/clipping one aims for with the dirt pedal, and how hot the output signal is from either the compressor or dirt pedal.

That said, as noted earlier, if you feed a compressor with a cranked dirt pedal, the dirt pedal's noise is going to introduce *heavy* "breathing" during your non-strumming moments, so be careful. That doesn't mean you *shouldn't* stick compression after dirt. You just need to manage noise levels sensibly.

[thebeardedpaladin]

I've been years watching tutorials regarding correct compression and this one is the best hands down.

[joshscus]

Such a great video, Brian! Been a huge fan since the early podcast days with Travis. You seem to be one of the only people on YouTube that's able to explain and demonstrate these types of concepts and practices in such a way that most people can really understand. I love your videos and always have! Bravo!

[blacktoothfox]

I love this channel.
🍀tell you what; between you and Josh, you've given me a greater confidence in my own ears and opinions.
I've taken quite a lot of crap over the years from my purist friends; yet, brilliantly, you guys back up my own takes, as well as enrich them.
Few among YouTube channels actually GIVE my playing something.
Blessings and best regards from the UK 🍀

[AsherHoe]

Best video about Compresser pedal I have ever seen on YouTube...The hands on examples beat any theorical explanation I have ever heard...

[shinjial]

I really like to keep a compressor on all the time, really subtle, to round off the edges of the sound. Also it gives a very nice percussive pop to the tone, and just helps all around with the consistency of the sound.

[EasyHeat]

A blend knob on a pedal compressor is absolutely brilliant. I have mostly limited experience with pedal compressors other than a Dyna Comp. I'm definitely going to have to go test drive an Ego though ASAP!
Thanks!

[Pandamasque]

A compressor set below unity gain and placed before a crunchy amp-style overdrive pedal can give you a sound of that amp-like pedal that's clean but still "louder" than the clean you'd get by turning the guitar volume knob down. So, say, a Vox-like overdrive can turn into a nice clean Vox tone by using a compressor as an "underdrive" pedal in front.

[mistershabadoo]

Great examples, Brian!

I have a Diamond and a Mooer Yellow Comp; the Mooer stays on the board before my drives because of the real estate it affords me. The compressor is honestly my tonal secret weapon; always on.

Cheers!

[paulogp]

Great lesson, Mr. Wampler. I discovered this year (when started to use analogic pedals) that a compressor can save our sound (adding volume mainly) when we want use the splitted humbuckers. It's a must have/know pedal.

[MITCHYMITCH]

I told Robert Keeley that I didn’t like his 4-knob at gearfest…. and he told me there was a simple answer: it’s because I was wrong.

[giantessmaria]

Great explanation Brian...it still remains one of the most mysterious pedals to me, but this helped a lot! Great tone you've got there too, by the way!

[jayslabotsky]

Subtle compression is a great always-on effect to tame single coils. You keep the snap with less harshness and the sustain sounds fuller. Fairly fast attack, moderate ratio and slow release.

[thedeadxtras]

Nice one Brian you certainly are the master at explaining how it all works, it’s all about trying what’s best for everyone’s setup as they’re all different and can act differently depending on what pedals you’re using and order you have them, so it’s trial and error folks, yes there’s suggested order of where to run your pedals but no hard fast rule. Thanks for your video Brian always very informative, helpful and useful.

[farruca]

Born in another millennium and die hard analog player, the only reason I’m here is to watch & learn from people who really know their stuff 😘great job sir🥂

[allanharris]

Wow thank you for clearing up a couple of confusions on compression. Some great examples of how it works and why. Dude! some really nice pickin. Good right hand making those tele strings snap and pop. Cool guitar. I never considered that often recorded guitars that have some compression, get compressed again during mixing but I am sure that's the case. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[bluzzjazz]

Hey Brian, I love the Ego. It's been on my main board for about 4 years. To me, it really accentuates my overall sound and tone.

[valuedhumanoid]

Here's the thing people: The big shiny button on the top is more than a "take a break" button. If you are playing your rhythm parts with the compressor and you get to a part you need uncompressed tone, simply step on it and you have all your dynamics and uncompressed sound you can handle. When you're done with your solo or flashy part, simply turn it back on, step back like Malcolm Young would do and continue the song. I know that's extra work, but for the love of Pete it's not that bad. Case in point: I watched Eddie showing us his new 5150 IIIs and he was playing the opening riff of Unchained. He would step on the phaser when he wanted that sound, then turn it off for a few seconds, turn it back on, then off....he was actually USING the effect like an instrument by itself. In the first 8 bars he must have turned it off and on half a dozen times. You can do the same thing. On when you want compression, off when you don't. I know that sounds overly simple and it is, but the complaining by some about a great piece of gear is dumbfounding.

[xthexadvantagex]

I leave mine on all the time but only for this new band I’m in. I’m backing up an acoustic player and I have to set my big 100 watt amp, with two tubes removed and in lower mode, extremely low. Safe to say there is always a lot of headroom and even set low I have to play fairly soft. So in my case the compressor allows me to play better as I can express a little more without becoming too loud. The sustain also helps a lot with the slow long notes I’m playing.

[zlonxman]

Thank you, Mr. Wampler, for this video. For years I didn't use a compressor pedal, but I recently purchased your Ego pedal and your Tumnus Deluxe overdrive, and I love them both! I placed the Ego right before the Tumnus on my board, and both pedals seem to work great together in that order.