I have to admit, though I use compressors and limiters in mixing, I really just know enough to get them to make something sound like I want. I really don't have enough of an idea of WHY it's doing what it's doing.

What I dream about, is a real world tutorial...not a tech manual.

Something that would say...

"OK, let's bring up the SONY OXFORD Compressor here in Pro Tools. Now what we have, is a gal singer who starts this song very softly, and then wails about midway through. In addition, there a bunch of "S" words in this piece, so that makes it even rougher. Here's what we want to do...." etc.

And the same for bass, guitars, brass sections, whatever.

I think if someone wrote some guides like this, for those of us who better composer/producers than engineers, it would help a lot of people.

Has anyone seen any practical tutorials on EQs, comps, etc, out there?

Thanks
TH

Purchase "Mixing with your Mind" by Mike Stavrou. He includes a good technique for understanding what each knob on your compressor does to the sound. Check out the website HERE . Oh, and that price is AUSTRALIAN dollars!

CHeers, Will.

A good 'tutorial' idea that I've done a few times...mostly out of necessity.
Ever done a great track, but forgot your settings?
Well, I had this vocal track that was fabulous. I remember at the time thinking, oh man, perfect. So perfect in fact, I'll never forget these settings. Dumb ass. Of course, forgot the settings of the preamp and the comp. Rembered the chain (mic>pre>comp) but forgot where they were set.
So I spent at least an hour, comparing settings, listening and comparing visual wave forms.

THat is a great tutorial.

So record a track. Maybe have someone else do the settings, voice / snare whatever. Then scramble up the settings, and your job is to find out what they were. Its a great ear trainig exercise, and it'll really help you to understand how changing the parameters effect what your hearing. It'll also remind you to write everything down.

Do this exercise just a few times with different instruments and different pres and comps, and you'll be somewhat further ahead than you is now.