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<spanid=toc-menutitle="Table of Contents"><iclass="fas fa-list-alt fa-fw"></i></span><olclass=linksitemscopeitemtype=http://schema.org/BreadcrumbList><metaitemprop=itemListOrdercontent="Descending"><liitemscopeitemtype=https://schema.org/ListItemitemprop=itemListElement><metaitemprop=positioncontent="3"><aitemprop=itemhref=/ardour-tutorial/en/><spanitemprop=name>Home</span></a> ></li><liitemscopeitemtype=https://schema.org/ListItemitemprop=itemListElement><metaitemprop=positioncontent="2"><aitemprop=itemhref=/ardour-tutorial/en/mixing-sessions/><spanitemprop=name>Mixing sessions</span></a> ></li><liitemscopeitemtype=https://schema.org/ListItemitemprop=itemListElement><metaitemprop=positioncontent="1"><aitemprop=itemhref=/ardour-tutorial/en/mixing-sessions/dynamics/aria-disabled=true><spanitemprop=name>Dynamics</span></a></li></ol></div><divclass="default-animation progress"><divclass=wrapper><navid=TableOfContents><ul><li><ahref=#limiting>Limiting</a></li><li><ahref=#compression>Compression</a></li><li><ahref=#gating>Gating</a></li><li><ahref=#continuing>Continuing</a></li></ul></nav></div></div></div></nav><mainid=body-innerclass=highlightable><divclass=flex-block-wrapper><divid=head-tags></div><article><h1>Dynamics</h1><p>One of the problems you may encounter in a mix is that, depending on the
material, the loud parts are too loud, and/or the quiet parts are too quiet.</p><p>This kind of problem cannot be easily solved using faders to adjust the levels
alone. You may set the levels so high that they clip, or you may add unwanted
background noise by simply turning levels up. These are all problems with what
is called the <em>dynamic range</em>, i.e., the difference between the loudest and
quietest parts of your session. There are several types of tools for adjusting
the dynamic range available mostly as third-party plugins within Ardour,
including <em>limiting</em>, <em>compression</em>, and <em>gating</em>.</p><h2id=limiting>Limiting</h2><p>A <em>limiter</em> is a tool that prevents the volume of a track from going over a
certain level, usually the peak level (0dB) or something close to it. Many
limiters have the option to boost the levels of the incoming signal before they
are limited, and in this way you can “close the gap” between the loudest and
quietest parts of your mix. A limiter can be used on the <em>Master</em> bus to prevent
the overall mix from clipping. Limiters are almost always used post-fader.</p><p>In the example below, a plugin named <em>Fast Lookahead Limiter</em> is used (if you
don’t find that specific one among your installed plugins, look for any other
called “Limiter”). To set how much it limits, simply adjust the <em>Limit (dB)</em>
slider. The <em>Fast Lookahead Limiter</em> literally looks ahead in the signal by a
few milliseconds, and when it sees that the signal is about to go over the limit
you have set, it automatically turns the levels down.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-fast-lookahead-lmiter.pngalt=limiter></figure><p>The <em>Input Gain (dB)</em> slider determines how much the levels are increased before
they reach the limiter, and the <em>Attenuation (dB)</em> meter on the right-hand side
shows how much the levels are being reduced at any given moment. While the
reduction in volume is nearly-instantaneous, the <em>Release time (s)</em> slider
determines how long it takes the limiter to return to 0dB of <em>Attenuation</em>.</p><p>Note that the “harder” one drives the limiter (by increasing the input gain
and/or decreasing the maximum peak limit allowed), the more reduction the
limiter is forced to make, and the more likely it is that artifacts of the
processing will occur (such as distortions or erratic changes in volume). On
the <em>Master</em> bus, it is generally best to avoid excessive limiting.</p><h2id=compression>Compression</h2><p>A <em>compressor</em> boosts the overall volume of a sound, but then “squeezes” it
depending on how loud it is. This can make vocals sound more even or drums
sound fuller and louder. The end effect is similar to how a limiter can reduce
the range between the quietest and the loudest sound, however the effect is
more selective when using a compressor.</p><p>A typical compressor will have these obligatory controls:</p><dl><dt><strong>Threshold</strong></dt><dd>Sets the level at which the compressor will start to act.</dd><dt><strong>Ratio</strong></dt><dd>Controls how much the compressor will “squeeze” the sound.</dd><dt><strong>Attack</strong> and <strong>Release</strong></dt><dd>Control how quickly the compressor affects the sound.</dd></dl><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-ace-compressor.pngalt="ACE Compressor"></figure><p>The <em>ACE Compressor</em> plugin on the screenshot above has two additional controls:</p><dl><dt><strong>Threshold level</strong> (in dB)</dt><dd>Sets the level at which the compressor will compress or squeeze the sound.</dd><dt><strong>Makeup gain</strong> (in dB)</dt><dd>Boosts the whole signal after the compression occurs.</dd></dl><p>To soften out a vocal, for example, you could set <em>Threshold level</em> of −10dB or
so and a <em>Ratio</em> of 2.5, and then bring the volume back up with the <em>Makeup
gain</em>. The other three controls — <em>Attack time</em>, <em>Release time</em>, and <em>Knee</em> —
allow you to control the shape of the compression.</p><p>For soft vocal compression, you would want a semi-fast attack time so that the
compressor catches the beginning of each word, a slower release time to let the
voice ring out, and a soft knee radius to create a gentle form of compression
that isn’t too noticeable.</p><p>If you want to make drums sound big, you might try a slow attack time so that
you don’t compress the pop of the drum, a fast release time so that the
compressor can catch the next hit of the drum, and a large ratio to make the
dynamics between the beginning and end of the drum hit similar.</p><p>Below is a screenshot of a similar compressor from the <ahref=https://lsp-plug.in/>LSP plugins
suite</a>:</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-lsp-compressor-mono.pngalt="LSP Compressor Mono"></figure><p>If you want to speed up learning how to use a compressor, a generally good idea
through.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-hard-gate.pngalt="Hard Gate"></figure><p>Other kinds of gates, such as the <em>LSP Gate</em> plugin on the screenshot below, are
those described for the SC Compressor above.</p><figure><imgsrc=en/ardour7-lsp-gate-mono.pngalt="LSP Gate"></figure><h2id=continuing>Continuing</h2><p>Now that we’ve explored some tools for getting the dynamic range exactly where
<scriptsrc=/ardour-tutorial/js/search.js?1652723066></script></div><divid=homelinksclass=default-animation><ul><li><aclass=paddinghref=/ardour-tutorial/en/><iclass="fas fa-home"></i> Home</a></li></ul></div><divid=content-wrapperclass=highlightable><ulclass=topics><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/title=Introductionclass=dd-item><inputtype=checkboxid=section-9278c07c1c4f7473c66529d5a0c6e688class=toggle><labelfor=section-9278c07c1c4f7473c66529d5a0c6e688></label><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/><b>1. </b>Introduction</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/conventions/title=Conventionsclass=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/conventions/>Conventions</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/what-is-digital-audio/title="What is digital audio?"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/introduction/what-is-digital-audio/>What is digital audio?</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/title="Getting started"class=dd-item><inputtype=checkboxid=section-6ba418844f4e8ce868bfa62d1bf5b9b1class=toggle><labelfor=section-6ba418844f4e8ce868bfa62d1bf5b9b1></label><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/><b>2. </b>Getting started</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/starting-ardour/title="Starting Ardour"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/starting-ardour/>Starting Ardour</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/title="Overview of the Interface"class="dd-item alwaysopen"><inputtype=checkboxid=section-65fa48091b8ede8e5c409cc42ad6af14class=togglechecked><labelfor=section-65fa48091b8ede8e5c409cc42ad6af14></label><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/>Overview of the Interface</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/editor-window/title="Editor window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/editor-window/>Editor window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/mixer-window/title="Mixer window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/mixer-window/>Mixer window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/recorder-window/title="Recorder window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/recorder-window/>Recorder window</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/cue-window/title="Cue window"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/overview-of-the-interface/cue-window/>Cue window</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/creating-tracks-and-busses/title="Creating tracks and busses"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/creating-tracks-and-busses/>Creating tracks and busses</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/importing-audio/title="Importing audio"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/importing-audio/>Importing audio</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/setting-up-the-timeline/title="Setting up the timeline"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/getting-started/setting-up-the-timeline/>Setting up the timeline</a></li></ul></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/title=Recordingclass=dd-item><inputtype=checkboxid=section-f34c0a5099ecaf52ba2ddf859ecf8564class=toggle><labelfor=section-f34c0a5099ecaf52ba2ddf859ecf8564></label><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/><b>3. </b>Recording</a><ul><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/recording-audio/title="Recording audio"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/recording-audio/>Recording audio</a></li><lidata-nav-id=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording-audio/understanding-routing/title="Understanding routing"class=dd-item><ahref=/ardour-tutorial/en/recording