Use
An audio engineer might use a compressor to reduce the dynamic range of source material in order to allow it to be recorded optimally on a medium with a more limited dynamic range than the source signal or else in order to change the character of an instrument being processed.
Engineers wishing to achieve dynamic range reduction with few obvious effects might choose a relatively low threshold and low compression ratio so that the source material is being compressed very slightly most of the time. To deliberately soften the attack of a snare drum, they might choose a fast attack time and a moderately fast release time combined with a higher threshold. To accentuate the attack of the snare, they might choose a slower attack time to avoid affecting the initial transient. It is easier to apply these controls with a basic knowledge of acoustics.
Read more about this topic: Dynamic Range Compression
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