Nord User Forum

Hi Guys,

I'm a new Nord Stage 2 owner, absolutely loving it. Its an amazing instrument.

I'm really just using this for my own entertainment at home i.e i'm not currently gigging. I'm still very much learning the ropes regarding the various different features but I do have a couple of questions about compression as this is something I've never used before.

Firstly, I've seen in a lot of posts on the forums various users mentioning using varying amounts of compression when trying to get a particular sound they are after. My understanding of compression is that it "evens out" the sound so at maximum compression there would be very little difference in volume between playing soft and hard on the keyboard. Is my understanding of this correct?

Secondly, how would you know to apply compression to get a particular sound, how does it generally affect a given sound (other than volume of key presses). When I see that somebody says they have applied compression I always think how did you know to do that and what was the purpose of applying the compression?

Hope that makes sense and that somebody could help answer my questions.

Many Thanks

I think compression is generally applied to drum sounds or applied when mixing down a track, to intentionally limit the dynamic range and make it sound more crisp or have it 'sit better' in the mix.

I think (in relation to compression on piano sounds) the compression is yet another setting to customize the sound, allowing you to (potentially) subtly change a sound. A compressed piano sound will probably fit in easier with other instruments when it is not the main focus of a song. You could also use it if the piano is causing the outputs of your Nord to clip (digital distortion, which can sound really nasty and may cause clicking); i.e. the piano is sometimes too loud in relation to the sample sounds. You could use the general volume know (also lowers the volume of the sample sound) or turn the volume of the piano section down, but maybe you only want to quiet down notes that are played very hard, without loosing their characteristic sound.

Anyway, I'm just guessing here

Hi there,

Yes, in simple terms, compression evens out the volume. The more compression, the less variation in volume.

However, it's quite a technical thing and it's not simply a case of turning some notes up and others down. I don't really understand how it all works, but the result of using compression is that quiet notes sound louder, and loud notes sound... punchy? It's almost as though the compressor turns the master volume up, then very quickly turns it down again when it sees a note that's too loud, then turns it back up again when it gets quieter.

If you apply lots of compression to a piano sound, for example, and play a loud note, you'll hear a punchy sort of sound when you first press down on the key. Then, as the note decays, the volume will rise back up, so you eventually hear the decay sound at the same volume as the attack.

Honestly, my advice is just to find a sound that you know really well (for me it's a dry piano). Then turn on compression and play with the level control, see how it changes the sound for yourself. You won't break anything by experimenting.

All the best,
Matthew

If I might add a bit more!
Yes, compression does do automatic volume control, but it can then be confused with "limiting" which is expressly intended to clamp the level at a maximum. With compression, once a threshold is reached, attenuation is applied - it can still get louder than the threshold, but the rate of increase is reduced. Typical attenuation is 2:1 or 3:1 above threshold, 1:1 below it. "Make-up gain" is then applied and it's this that raises the low level (below threshold) audio. Much higher compression ratios are often used as a radical effect heard on contemporary electronica and dance recordings.

The trick of adding punch is to delay the onset of attenuation. The delay period starts the moment the threshold is reached and is adjusted just long enough to allow the attack portion of the sound through at 1:1 plus make-up gain.

On my Electro4, I get the impression the compressor is using the one control to both lower the threshold and increase make-up gain as the compression amount is increased - it's very easy to use!

As most people know instrument sounds only from records and if it was compression that helped create that sound, then that's what's needed to recreate it.

It's interesting to consider that the sound on record may never have been heard like that by the performer until they themselves heard the finished record! Many vintage electronic keyboards sound surprisingly unspectacular without some treatment when we're used to knowing them by the polished studio sound.

Jim

What does the red actove light on the compressor mean?

the red light lights up when the compressor is compressing (working) ,the signal that goes in to the comp..has gone above the threshold and the comp.. is turning the initial attack (sound or signal) down.
Comp.. are often confusing at first!

JiminWales wrote:Typical attenuation is 2:1 or 3:1 above threshold, 1:1 below it.

Yes, this is correct. Though i start out a 4:1 and then move higher or lower as required. i could not see anyone wanting more than 6:1 for a gigging Nord piano patch.

Regarding the LED, just make sure its not on all the time !!

Check out the many Compresser videos on You Tube. Some are obviously better than others but you will definately learn a great deal from studying the more informative ones. i watched the Cubase and Logic tutorials on this topic.

Hope that helps dude.

best,

Paul

Cheers guys. That's clears it up a bit.

Thanks.