IH>>I just recently purchased an Alesis 3630 compressor for my system.
  >>However, I haven't worked with compressors before, and I was hoping
  >>someone might be able to tutor me in their use.
Well, haveing a unit like yours leaves you with a fairly transparent
sounding device. If you are looking for that cool sucking sound of
compression you should turn your threshold and ratios way up. Otherwise
the principles of compression are fairly straight foreward. In the
glory days of recording the engineer sat there with his fingers on the
faders and pulled them down when a singer or player got out of hand.
Reson being you want to maximize your signal to noise ratio. ie: turn
up the level to tape untill it distorts then back it off a bit. This is
great if everything stays at the same level (like a keyboard or
distorted guitar) Enter the compressor, an automatic device that pulls
the level down for you. If your nice hot signal ocasionally gets out of
hand insert a compressor into the signal. First set the ratio to 4:1
this means for every decible above the threshold the compressors kicks
it down 4 db. Thresholds should be set so only the loud bits get the
boot. Limiting is just like setting the ratio WAY up so no db's get
past. Remember compressors REDUCE dynamics. Great for rock and roll
thrash, but not for classical recordings. Experiment, but always ask
yourself "Is this helping or hindering the sound?"
Good luck
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 X SLMR 2.1a X Calling from Vancouver, Canada
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