{"id":3565,"date":"2013-03-25T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/?p=3565"},"modified":"2017-10-15T10:51:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T15:51:33","slug":"is-using-a-bass-compressor-cheating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bestbassgear.com\/ebass\/gear\/is-using-a-bass-compressor-cheating.html","title":{"rendered":"Is using a bass compressor cheating?"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Quick shortcuts to bass compressors for those that don’t like to wait: See the MXR M87<\/a>, Aguilar TLC<\/a> and Pigtronix Bass Philosopher<\/a>. More provided at the end of this article.)<\/em><\/p>\n

The compressor effect is something that’s been around a very long time and is a genuinely useful thing to have. Some consider using a compressor as “cheating.” Is it? Well, before I answer that, let’s examine what bass compression does for you.<\/p>\n

What does a compressor actually do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The technical term for what a compressor does is dynamic range reduction<\/em>, meaning a specified “floor” and “ceiling” range. The floor is the minimum starting volume and the ceiling is the maximum ending volume. Lower volumes are increased to meet the minimum floor, and maximum volumes are decreased so they do not exceed the maximum ceiling. Some refer to this as the audio signal being “squashed,” and while that may sound negative, it is an accurate description.<\/p>\n

This is a 10-second audio clip in visual form uncompressed:<\/p>\n

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This is the same 10-second audio clip with compression applied:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

Notice how the wave has been “fattened up” quite a bit. Lower volumes have been brought up, and higher volumes have been kept from exceeding the maximum range (which in the above is 0db).<\/p>\n

Still confused? Here’s a video that explains how bass compression works in a mix:<\/p>\n