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The compressor in Live Members

A compressor turns down what goes over its threshold, by its ratio. I take it apart on the input and output graph; then you level a vocal, keep a drum's punch and copy three sounds by ear, a limiter last.

Threshold, Ratio, Knee, Gain reduction, Attack, Release

See inside it: Fig 12, the compressor (free)

15 steps: Watch 9, Try 2, Make 3, Explain 1

The noise gate Free

A gate lets through what is loud and turns down what is quiet. On a vocal recorded in a room, with hiss, hum and a knock between the phrases; then you gate the vocal, a kick drum and whole words.

Threshold, Range, Attack, Hold, Release

14 steps: Watch 8, Try 2, Make 3, Explain 1

Sidechain: the kick ducks the bass Members

The kick and the bass fight at the bottom. With a sidechain, the compressor on the bass listens to the kick, so each kick turns the bass down and comes through. Then the club pump and the swell, by ear.

Sidechain, Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release

14 steps: Watch 7, Try 2, Make 3, Describe 1, Explain 1

The keyed gate Members

A gate usually listens to its own track. Keyed, it listens to another one, so the kick and snare open it. A rhythm of your own first, then the gated reverb of 1980s drums.

Key, Threshold, Release, Gated reverb

See inside it: Fig 13, the gated reverb

13 steps: Watch 6, Try 2, Make 3, Describe 1, Explain 1

The de-esser Members

When an 's' makes the top of a voice loud, a de-esser turns the voice down for that moment and leaves the sung notes alone. You hear what it listens to, then tame the esses without a lisp.

Frequency, Listen, Threshold, Ratio, Attack, Release

12 steps: Watch 6, Try 2, Make 2, Describe 1, Explain 1

Parallel compression Members

A copy of the drums, squashed hard and mixed in under the untouched drums, lifts the quiet parts, the ghost notes, while the hits keep their punch. On a return track first, then with one Dry/Wet knob.

Return track, The blend, Dry/Wet

12 steps: Watch 6, Try 2, Make 2, Describe 1, Explain 1

The dynamics family Members

Gate, expander, compressor and limiter as four shapes of the same line on one graph, heard on one vocal: which side of the threshold each one turns down, and by how much.

Gate, Expander, Compressor, Limiter

11 steps: Watch 6, Try 2, Make 2, Explain 1

Which tool? Members

Eighteen problems, heard or in words, all mixed up. I show how I choose, by asking when the problem is there; then you pick what fixes each one, and hear it fixed. Where the paper credits a second answer, you hear why the first is better.

Noise gate, Compressor, EQ, De-esser, Sidechain, Fix it at the recording

22 steps: Watch 2, then two rounds of 10

ADSR on Operator Members

Same synth, same note, and one plucks while the other swells: only the envelope has changed. I take Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release apart on a graph of the level over time; then you finish my settings, copy sounds by ear and draw the shape.

Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release

14 steps: Watch 8, Try 2, Make 3, Explain 1

Oscillators Members

Sine, triangle, square, sawtooth and noise on the same note, each heard and seen with its harmonics before I ask about it; then frequency, the octave and the level.

Sine, Triangle, Square, Sawtooth, Noise, Octave

12 steps: Watch 7, Try 2, Make 2, Explain 1

The filter Members

Low-pass, high-pass and band-pass, the cutoff, the slope and resonance, each heard as it moves; then you draw them on the exam's grid.

Low-pass, High-pass, Band-pass, Cutoff, Slope, Resonance

11 steps: Watch 6, Try 2, Make 2, Explain 1

FM Members

Two oscillators: the carrier you hear, and the modulator that bends it. The modulator's level sets the brightness, the ratio decides between in tune and a bell, and an envelope makes the brightness move.

Carrier, Modulator, Level, Ratio, Envelope

11 steps: Watch 6, Try 2, Make 2, Explain 1

Delay through the eras Members

What a delay does, one control at a time: time, feedback, wet and dry, the filter, ping-pong and tempo. Then one delay from each era, from slapback to the DAW.

Time, Feedback, Wet/Dry, Filter, Ping-pong, Tempo

See inside it: Fig 1, the tape echo

19 steps: Watch 12, Try 3, Make 2, Describe 1, Explain 1

Reverb through the eras Members

Where is the tail made? Five reverb machines, one from each era, each drawn with the tail it makes. Silent on purpose: you hear the real sounds in Live, with the card at the end.

Watch, then Try, then the real sounds in Live

See inside it: Fig 4, the spring reverb tank