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My nifty Wacom Tablet nestled between my Microkorg, laser mouse, and super-thin apple keyboard.

This might be old news to some of you, but I finally got around to hooking up a Wacom USB Pen Tablet to my computer for use in editing audio, and if you get through the adjustment period, this thing will save you a world of time. I initially only imagined using the tablet to finally be able to “draw” over waveform blips with Pro Tools’s “Pencil Tool.”  But as I got a sense of all the custom controls available I realized I could use the tablet to make some really fast workflows.

The Verdict:

The Wacom Pen Tablet works great IF the situation calls for it.  Automation-heavy sessions and fine-tuned dragging of regions and Midi notes seem tiresome on a mouse but completely natural with a pen.  The 6 customizable action buttons (2 on the pen and 4 on the tablet) give you a ton of flexibility and offer some unique setups.

However, the Wacom tablet was utterly infuriating in certain situations.  When trying to tab through tracks quickly, spot-listening to find the desired edit location, two-thirds of my clicks resulted in hair-thin “selections” that caused Pro Tools loop when I wanted it to play through.  I believe this happened because I my pen taps weren’t as precise as I’d like.  I also couldn’t find a setting to compensate for my lack of precise handling, although after a few hours of use I was starting to get the hang of it (though this problem never really went away).

Also, I found that there are just some things I’m faster at doing with key commands.  This might be the product of years of rote-memorization and practice, but there is a reason that Pro Tools’s “Command Focus” set of commands is so widely used.

Pen Tablet Setup:

First off, the tablet is the Bamboo model by Wacom.  These guys make a lot of pen tablets, and this one is definitely the cheapest – why?  Well it doesn’t come with any software aside from drivers, has a relatively smaller tablet space offers less tactile “resolution” and “depth.”  Think of it as being able to draw Midi notes and assigning only volume data as 10, 20, 30, etc. instead of all the values from 0-127.  Still, it’s more than enough for me as most of the fancier models are really aimed at visual artists who do fine-tuned digital artwork.

On a Mac, after you’ve installed drivers, you get a new mutli-tabbed pane on your System Preferences like this:

System Preferences tab for the Pen.

System Preferences tab for Tablet Settings.

That’s where you go to reassign all the buttons to either one of their generic options or custom keystrokes.

I set my Left and Right Arrow buttons to nudge buttons (+ and – on the numeric keypad) so I could do fancy nudging.  Thakfully they tablet’s buttons sync up to the normal keyboard’s modifiers so I can still use shift, ctrl, cmd and opt keys with the nudge keys.

The center circular touch wheel I assigned to do scrolling, which is handy for moving around big sessions, especially when you’re zoomed in.  (Hint: Hold down shift and scroll to go left and right with the wheel)

The two extra function buttons on the tablet I assigned to keystrokes I use relatively often.  The first being selecting 30 seconds from where I’m currently selected.  That usually involves using “/” on the keypad to select the edit selection length at the top of the arrange window.  Then “.” to get into the seconds portion.  Then “30″ for 30 seconds, and lastly “Enter” to finalize the time selection.  Using the tablet, I entered all those commands once, have them saved to the button, and instantly recalled whenever I press it.  That saves me only a few seconds, but TONS of thinking time.

My Custon Keystroke on my Wacom Tablet for Selecting 30 seconds in Pro Tools.

The other function button I assigned to consolidating regions, because that’s another function I find myself using often while editing, plus it’s an awkward key command.

Lastly, there are two awesome buttons on the pen itself, which when assigned creatively, let you pretty much do away with your mouse all together.  I set the lower button to be the modifier “ctrl” and the upper button to “option.”  Now I can hold down the lower button and tap with the pen for a right click, and do the same with the upper button for an opt-click (which in most audio software works like a “global” modifier – turning all solos on or all mutes off, etc.

Best of all, fancier tablets have more buttons and scroll thngs, etc.  So once you settle on a model that fits your budget and space, you can really tighten up your workflow and get away from mousing all over the screen.

Reaper 3

So this isn’t really a full post – really just a comment I left over on Synthtopia (which everyone should read btw) about Reaper.  But I spent so much time on the comment, I figured I’d just go ahead and post it here too.

My comment:

Got to say, Reaper is a fun change of pace from Logic and Pro Tools which I’ve used for years. I can understand getting frustrated with it, as it handles a lot of tasks different than some other DAW’s but if any new software is a TIME INVESTMENT.

It’s great when things just turn on and do what we want, but tuning a technical tool to meet the needs of a creative process requires flexibility – not pre-programmed functionality. Reaper’s Action List lets you see all sorts of key commands, even customize the keystrokes.

Beyond that it helps you build entire workflows. You can combine actions and commands in to larger macros that operate on at the touch of a button.

Example: Sure Reaper doesnt have an “export region” function as such. But if you’re thoughtful about it, then it’s pretty simple. Here’s one custom action to accomplish exporting regions (exporting audio on just one track of a multi-track project):

1) Track: Unmute All Tracks
2) Track: Unsolo All Tracks
3) Track: Toggle Solo for Last Touched Track
4) File->Render project to disk…

I setup this action on “E” and now to do quick audio edits and export i just have to make my edits, select a region by clicking or dragging and hit E.

The Render window opens up and i choose “render time selection” and all the other tracks are already muted.

Seriously – if Reaper doesnt do something you wish it did…there’s probably a way to get it done. Just have to look hard. OH and i’m still on evaluation license because i’m trying to determine if it will really work for me (they let you demo it for as long as you need).

anyway, one my writers (i’m the lead editor for AskASoundGuy.com) has some videos and other stuff about Reaper in action.

Extra Stuff:

If you’re really interested in Reaper, there are some other awesome characteristics going for it.

It works with a ton of file formats and lets you export/import in all of them.

The application itself is SMALL – I’ve got it on a flash SD card on my Hp Mini and it runs fine – with 40 stereo tracks.  That’s pretty spectacular. If you’re looking for a small DAW to take with you on the road, etc.  it’s a good choice.

Lastly – to actually edit Actions head over to “Actions>Show Action List” in the menus or just type “Shift /”  (which is listed as ?) in the menu.

Then hit the button that says “New” in the “Custom Actions” section of the popup window.

Now you can search for, drag over and combine actions from the List on the Left into your “custom action” on the right.  BTW: Actions in Reaper are the kind of functions you might assign to key commands.  Things like copy, paste, cut, split, etc.  But you can COMBINE them – putting a bunch in order to create larger functions.

Don’t forget to assign keystrokes to your custom actions.  Once you’re done creating it hit “OK” and then choose your action from the “Actions” list window that should still be open.

Next, in the bottom left, you can click “Add” to create a new key-command shortcut for your action.  Easy as pie.

As Sanjay’s been working on his series of compression tutorials, I’ve been posting them on various production forums and the reception has been pretty well. However, someone made a comment that I hadn’t thought about and rang very true: there’s tons of articles on what the knobs and parameters of a compressor (none as good as Sanjays, though!), but no real articles about how and when to use compression. Hopefully this article is the first, and even if it’s not, hopefully it’s useful!

Before we get going, you really should read part 1 and part 2 of Sanjay’s articles.

Compression vs Limiting

For right now, it’s important that you understand that there’s a difference between compression and limiting. Limiting IS a form of compression, but not the one you’ll be using in your everyday productions (unless you’re a mastering engineer). I will also be talking about single-band compression and not multi-band or de-essing, both frequency specific forms of compression.

Compression is generally used in two major ways: 1) to control the dynamic range of an instrument and 2) as an effect like in sidechain compression seen in most popular dance music. Limiting, however, serves two slightly different purposes: 1) to make sure the levels between songs on an album/EP are equal to each other 2) and, sadly, limiters are often made to make stuff horribly loud.

If you’re doing everyday music production (whether it be with acoustic instruments or otherwise), you’d probably be best to stay away from limiting. Stick to using a compressor.

Compression the Utility

Like I said above, compression is both a utility and effect. The utilty being the ability to control a sound’s dynamic range, making it extremely dynamic or squashing it to make it loud.

When Should I Use It? In a recording situation, a great example would be drums: most drummers are not able to completely control the velocity at which they hit their different drums, which can make a drum recording sound uneven and sloppy (depending on the drummer). You can even run into issues of a drummer hitting the microphone and/or clipping the preamp. So in this case you would apply light compression on whichever drums you think need to be controlled: usually the snare, toms, and kick. When I say light, I mean around 4-5dB of gain reduction. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules, so compress it to taste.

Likewise with a guitar player. Sometimes their strums can be real quiet or clipping-ly loud. So treat it like any drums you’d compress. You can also compress an electric bass lightly depending on what you’d like to do. All this is also a technique (along with EQ) to get your instruments sitting right in your mix, that is, get them playing along with each other.

Throwing a compressor on a channel isn’t the only thing you can do to compress your mix. Here’s a few techniques to consider:

• Parallel Compression: This is a technique that blends an uncompressed and compressed signal together. I guess it’s pretty arguable as to whether or not this falls under the utility or effect category, but it’s a nice trick either way. When using this technique, you’ll typically want to buss a group of something (usually used with drums, but can be done with a synth, guitar, or vocal group) to a stereo aux track. Place a compressor on it and smash it pretty hard. Then, blend in the heavily compressed signal on the aux with the rest of the mix.
• Buss Compression: Very, very, very simple technique. Simply place a compressor on your master channel. You should be lightly compressing at around 2-3dB of gain reduction. This is often referred to as “mix glue,” meaning it helps glue your mix together a little bit better. Be careful with this, though. I would suggest not using this while you’re recording or even mixing. Save it for the end of your mix. It’s very easy to get carried away with this!

Compression the Effect

The only thing I can think of, off the top of my head, is sidechain compression. You know, that thing that makes synths pump in dance music? (If you’re still not sure, listen to Deadmau5).

Sidechaining is when the compressor listens for an external signal to trigger it. So in typical-House scenario, you’d set up a compressor on your synth track and have the compressor’s sidechain listen for the kick. So everytime the kick hits, the compressor effectively compresses your synth and, with the proper settings, you’ll get the desired pumping effect.

You can also get the pumping going on basses and pretty much anything else you can think of. I’ve even heard it on crash cymbals. The pumping effect usually isn’t desired with most acoustic instruments, though. So if you get a bunch of it while mixing your rock bands’ tracks, you’re over compressing.

Frequency-Specific Compression

I said I wouldn’t go into detail on frequency-specific compression, but here’s a quick overview of those technologies:

• Multi-Band Compression: Like limiting, this is typically a mastering engineer’s thing. Multi-band compressors will give you the ability to compress various frequency ranges. Some offer options like low, low-mid, mids, high-mids, and highs. Others might be three band and offer low, mid, and high. A good MBC will also have crossovers so that you, the engineer, can have some freedom.
• De-Essing: This is a single-band, frequency-specific compressor often used to remove sibilance from vocal takes. It has a sidechain and allows you to listen to offending frequenices.  You can then compress and hopefully remove and irritating frequencies from your vocals.

Hopefully this article will be of some help to you next time you’re mixing. If you have other questions, feel free to email us: askasoundguy[at]gmail(dot)com

Logic's Vanilla Compressor.

Well, hopefully Part 1 was simple enough at explaining how compressors basically work.  Now comes the techy-stuff.  The Basic Control covered here are the ones you’re most likely to encounter on any compressor.  Some have fewer and some have more controls than these, so I’ll just cover the ones that are fundamental to understand how to start controlling your dynamics.

1) Threshold – The threshold is the most basic of compressor controls.  This the “listening volume” that you setup for your compressor to look for.  If audio get’s louder than this volume level, then the compressor knows to start working.

2) Ratio, Gain Reduction, etc. – The Ratio usually looks like 2 : 1 (spoken “two to one”) or 4 : 1 up to 100 : 1 or infinity : 1.  These ratios refer to how much to turn your audio down when it passes the threshold.  Basically if a snare hit is 4 dB above the threshold and you set the ratio at 2:1, then the compressor will turn it down by 2dB (or divide the amount that passes the threshold by 2).  If the Ratio was 4:1, then the compressor will divide that 4 dB by 4 leaving you with 1dB above the threshold.

An important thing to note here is that the compressor doesn’t say “this is the threshold and audio will NEVER pass it.”  Rather it turns things down by dividing them if the audio passes the threshold.  In both examples above, the snare hit is still louder than the threshold, just by less. What this means practically speaking, is that if you can still clip a track with a compressor on it because the threshold isn’t like a “safety line” destroying all audio that passes it (that’s a limiter/compressor with infinity:1 ratio).

3) Attack – The Attack acts similarly to the attack controls on a synth’s ADSR envelope – it’s a measure of time that determines how quickly a unit will start to act.  On a compressor that means the amount of time it takes a compressor to “hear” audio go past the threshold and turn down the volume to the full amount of attenuation.

The trick to understanding this is that compressors aren’t perfect units who instantly grab audio and turn it down.  They’re more like a hand on the volume knob.  You can’t skip straight from 50 dB down to 0dB by turning the knob.  You have to pass through 49-1 dB first on the way to 0dB.  Compressors have the same limitation, although some of them can work exceptionally fast – there’s still a certain amount of time necessary for turning down the volume.

4) Release - The Release control is a bit like the opposite of the Attack.  It is the amount of time it takes the compressor to turn the volume back to “normal” after the audio has gone back down below the threshold.

The Attack and Release controls are pretty important controls in that if you make them too quick you might hear some clicking and clipping, but if you make them too slow you can hear funny “sucking” or “pumping” sounds.  I know that doesn’t adequately explain how to use the controls but it really comes down to listening to the track that they’re on.  If you’re hearing weird things in you A/B the compressor on and off, then perhaps a tweak of the Attack and Release will make it sound more natural.

5) Makeup Gain - This is an “output volume” control desgined to bring the whole track up in volume after it’s loudest parts have been compressed.  The basic idea being that if the loudest peaks are now quieter, you can bring everything up a bit louder without those peaks clipping the track.  I’d say use this sparingly, especially if the compressor is one of many plugins on your track.  There’a bunch of math/programming behind why, but it basically puts your audio through unnecessary processing because your fader will do the same thing.  If using your fader, you can’t get the track where it should be, then I’d go to the makeup gain and use that to help the fader.

6) Auto-Gain – Crap.

Sorry, that’s just my opinion.  But Autogain is basically an “automatic makeup gain.”  As you compressor your loudest parts, the auto-gain turns up the whole track a corresponding amount.  The basic idea is to turn up the track after it’s been compressed, but using the amount of reduction applied in the compression phase as automation points for the makeup gain.  If that is kind of confusing, I’d suggest you just let it go and not worry about it.  Instead try turning it on and seeing if you like it.  Then turn it off but DON”T compare that to the auto gain.  It’s quieter and therefore your brain will tell you it’s worse.  instead, turn up the makeup again and compare THAT to the auto-gain setting.

Then just use what sounds better to you.

7) Knee - The knee control of your compressor basically blurs the threshold a bit, allowing the compressor to apply some compression BEFORE the audio hits the threshold.  It doesn’t work EXACTLY like this, but as an example it will help explain what it’s doing.

If you set your threshold at -10 dB and the ratio at 4:1, then when the audio is at -6 dB (4 dB above the threshold) the compressor will output at -9dB (just 1dB above the threshold).

If the audio coming is -12dB (2dB below the threshold) the compressor will do nothing because the audio is below the threshold and the knee is set to a “hard knee” setting which means it will act as usual.

Now turn your knee control to a soft knee setting on the imaginary compressor.  Now if the audio coming is is -12dB (2dB below the threshold) the compressor will apply PART of the compression to the track.  The compressor would see the audio that is 2dB below the threshold as approaching the threshold, so it would turn the audio down by say 1dB and output at -13dB.  That’s just an example and not PRECISELY what it would do.  But basically as the knee gets “softer” the range over which the compressor will apply “some” compression expands.

I like to use the knee when I’m using a compressor to add some character and pop to a track – setting it so that the compressor “rides” the track a bit, always applying a tiny bit of compression.

Well, those are the basic controls of a compressor, although there’s lots more to be done with them.  Also lots of compressors combine the controls into weirdly named things like Yamaha’s lower-end compressors on mixers (which sound surprisingly good).  Those compressors have just one control called ‘compression” which simultaneously affects threshold, attack release and ratio, etc.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of Intro to Compressors which will feature more interesting uses and techniques, and come of the weirder controls.

Logic's Vanilla Compressor.

It’s kind of funny, considering our target audience, that we’ve yet to do a basic intro to compressors.  It is especially important to cover when you think about how often they are used counter to their design.  In fact, men with much wiser than me have compared compressors to loaded guns pointed at your eardrums.

But I think if you take a little time to think about what they do and how, you’ll find you’ll be slamming things with loudness while doing much less damage to your tracks. Lets examine the general purpose and function of compressors.

Your compressor basically is a robot-volume knob.  It turns the volume down whenever the audio gets louder than a certain level (which you get to set).  To do this your compressor copies the audio coming into it.  The copy goes to the “sidechain” which is really the ears of your compressor.

The original audio actually gets “processed,” which means it get’s turned down by the compressor when the audio passes a certain level.

Hopefully, that’s not too confusing, but if it is just picture it like this:

How a compressor "compresses" your audio.

So it’s a little blurry, but you can see that if you audio (green) gets louder than the threshold volume (red) then it turn the audio down.  Also note, that the compressor is not “selectively” turning the loudest thing down etc.  If you’re compressing a whole mix, then it turn the WHOLE mix down during the parts that are louder than the threshold

So basically a compressor is an automated “turning down” knob.  You might wonder then, why compressors are used to get things really loud?  Well when you turn down the loudest peaks on a mix, you can turn the WHOLE TRACK up in volume without those peaks clipping.

So hopefully this made a little bit of quick sense of “how” compressors work on your audio.  Keep in mind that this isn’t the cleanest process.  If applied incorrectly, compression makes things sound weird like theyre sucking in and out.

Also if you compress too much and too hard/fast, then you’ll start to hear crunchy clipping and distortions of your audio.  Usually resulting in a nasty harshness.

That’s why it pains me to get sessions from bands and find synth tracks with compressors slamming them into incredible volumes while the fader on the track is pulled all the way down. It’s not that they’re doing anything “wrong.” In fact, if you wanted a super-compressed synth track without dynamics, which is sometimes appropriate, that’s one way to do it.  The problem is that most artists aren’t trying to create that situation – they just want the keyboard to sound louder or fuller.

In the next installment, I’ll start to tackle the basic controls on compressors.

The third section will be advanced controls/techniques like sidechaining.

So stay tuned for compressor madness, because we just scratched the surface here.