Compressor Knee - Even PRO Sound Engineers Don't Know THIS...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.พ. 2025
- ➡️weissadvice.co...
Compression is tricky enough, but nothing is quite as confusing as the "Knee" function. Let me explain what it does, what it's for, and why your compressor is actually doing more gain reduction at lighter ratios!
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Im currently a student at Full Sail, I asked this question to many of my instructors a while back and this explanation is 1000% more transparent than anything I was told. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but my brain likes to interpret it somewhat like the attack of the threshold.
Me too 🔥🔥🔥
I'm looking to be a full sail student as we speak. How has your experience been so far? I'm super excited to start!
I tend to be a stickler for terminology, I think it helps us sort through ideas - so I don't know if I'd personally use the phrase "attack" of the threshold. I might be more inclined to say the "approach" to the threshold, the "onset" of the threshold, or the "range" of the threshold.
I honestly can say you are the best engineer on TH-cam that explains everything so clearly yet making it interesting. The consistent uploads is also nice thank you 🙏🔥
Thank you Marcel! I kinda blew it today - I uploaded a video and forgot to schedule it.... but I'm trying to get 5 videos a week rolling.
I’m loving the consistent uploads. If you keep this up you’re gonna blow up no doubt.
I say this as I accidentally missed an upload day - but yea, that's the plan. 5 a week. Yeesh.
@@WeissAdvice Hey man we are all human. Your work ethic is admirable!
Is there anywhere I can get access to some of your older videos? The dissecting dilla and modernizing drum breaks were great resources and I wouldn’t mind revisiting those.
Indisputably the best mixing tutorials on the web!
Thanks Troy!
I have been trying to explain Knee for years to interns and colleagues. This is by far the best explanation and demonstration on the topic I have ever seen. Concrete examples to hear and thoroughly explained in a way easy to understand. Congrats, and thanks, as now I will just send them to watch your video when the topic comes up again :)
Shoot em' on over! Thanks Ace!
Dude.... you explained this SO well... i've been watching mixing tutorials for most of a decade, i never understood knee in this way until now.... i really can't say enough how well you explained it
Thanks Nick! I'm so glad to hear that!
This is the Best 'Knee' Explanation i have ever heard ! it's good explaination that Knee is Second Threshold
Thank you!
That was amazing. I have several of your tutorials. The one on mixing with Reverb completely changed my life. Sooo....Let's go!
Thanks Bam!
This was fkn 🔥🔥🔥
🤫🤫Honestly, I am one of the guys that never understood the knee.
Now i know and it can't be unlearned cause I had no understanding so I never touched it. 🤣
Even a lot of engineers/producers who understand what it does don't really know how to use it.
LETS GO!!! OK. I'm pressing play in 3-2-1. Bam!
My guy!
This is the best explanation of this parameter that i've found. Thanks is not enought !
For extra thanks: hit that Share button! Thanks Leo!
No one I've ever listened to has explained this as clearly as you have. Thank you so much for clearing things up and keep up the great work!
Thanks Johnny!
very good explanation! so much more helpful than text
Nothing like seeing it in action and hearing the results!
waaht... mind blown! Thanks so much for doing these videos, I would have never have noticed that secret knee tied to the ratio, time to re-think my whole approach!
I love your channel man. It's my pick for #1 for sure
It's pretty common too - 1176 knee if tied to ratio, SSL same thing, and Fairchild there is no "ratio" to speak of, but there's a DC threshold that acts simultaneously as knee and ratio control.
@@WeissAdvice I'm noticing it more and more now, I'm getting less compression at 10:1 ratio if I leave the threshold where it is than if I pull down the ratio to 2:1 on some of the Logic stock ones.
I'm not sure if I would have ever noticed that. Thanks for sharing, honestly
I love the PA NEOLD V76U73 compressor and just sort of came to accept the fact that the gain reduction reduces when switching from Comp mode to Limit. I never knew why. Now I know. Thanks!
Yup - it's that sneaky built in knee function! Thanks Leon!
I bought your original Compression course but I am tempted by the updated version...
Contact me through the site, I'll generate a discount as an "upgrade"
i really love your video man.. it has a very clear explanation, straightforward, and understandable.. it makes me even more confident on using compressors, especially analog emulation plugins🙏🏻
Glad you dig it!
Thanks Mat. Always learning when I watch your videos.
Thanks Gary!
Great video on the function of the knee! Thank you.
Thanks Aaron!
Oh, and thank you! You are appreciated
Right on, it's good to feel appreciated.
Very clear explanation. Thank you.
Thanks K-Nath!
I REALLY LIKED HOW THE SOFT KNEE SOUNDED ON HER VOICE AMAZING VOICE BTW AS WELL AND MIX 💢🔥
Thanks Brandon!
Great vid, never new about the SSL Bus comp knee thing, very useful info
Yup, true in many other compressors as well!
Thanks for the insight :)
Thank you Dipshankar!
Wow! Excellent. This is the type of teaching at which, IMO, you excel. However, I will continue to “follow” whatever you need to do to build a larger subscriber base. To infinity and beyond!
Thanks Federico! It would be nice to just be able to teach and not concern myself with algorithms and SEO and all that stuff - but... is what it is.
By far, the clearest lesson on what knee does. Thank you!
By the way, how long is the "Mixing With Compression" course?
I look forward to many more great lessons from you!
It's just around 4hrs in total.
@@WeissAdvice Thank you☆
Awesome explanation! First vid of yours I’ve seen but I’ll def be checking out your catalog now, you know what you’re talking about, and you explain it clearly and effectively! Great content!
Thanks Zach! Stick with the channel - I'll be organizing all the content better over the next couple weeks so you'll be able to easily reference everything.
Great video on a topic i haven’t seen covered
Thanks Demetrius!
This is good content Mr Weiss! I thought I knew most of this stuff but apparently I was missing some fundamental knowledge concerning what the knee actually IS. I knew what it was doing… well, sonically. But I thought it was after the initial compression. And figured it was a second stage limiter or something of that nature. And because the compression was first the limiting was subtle. Well, what I saying is.. I had no idea how it actually worked. Thank you! Lol. I’d be honored to purchase your book! I’ll take a gander here in a few. Thank you again!
In fairness, if you know how it sounds that's really what counts - but never hurts to know how it actually works!
acabo de entender como un ssl compressor tiene el cambio de knee y de paso una master class de compression! En el manual Serpent audio sb4001 solo dice que en el ratio de 10to1 suena mas punch pero nunca explican el porque! gracias Mat! tremenda clase este video! y ni que hablar si usamos el sidechan de frecuencias a esto!
¡Sí exactamente! 10:1 es más impactante, particularmente en tiempos de ataque más lentos. Y, por supuesto, el extremo inferior golpeará más usando la cadena lateral para eliminar los graves. Disculpen el traductor jajaja
What a lovely explanation. Do you know of any good acustica soft knee compressors?
Never heard this before. Thank you!
Glad to help Michael!
Nice one! This is good timing, after your last video I went searching for a knee graph for the SSL bus comp but the closest I could find was for a C2, pretty interesting stuff.
Might not have a knee graph, but you could probably figure it out by ear. Run it at 10:1 hitting about 3db of compression, switch to 4:1 and listen to how much more it grabs and just imagine what that would look like as a graph, then switch to 2:1 and do the same. To me it sounds like it goes pretty deep. At least 20db probably more.
This video was extremely enlightening!!! Many thanks! But I beg you to make a similar video discussing about the ratio :)))
It would be a short video. The ratio is the intensity of the compression.
Still getting a better education on audio engineering from Mr Weiss on TH-cam vs the bachelors in recording arts I received some 14 years ago 🤦🏻♂️
Thanks Shaun! I do my best.
Another great video Matt. You are the best.
I appreciate you Mike. It's funny, I went to high school with a dude named Mike Benz. I think about that whenever I see your comments.
I LOVE your work man.
If i'm being honest, I wish you kept the music at your vocal level or lower. When I turn down my laptop because of how loud she is, I can barely hear you.
You know, you're the second person to mention this. I always debate the levels because I really want viewers to HEAR what's happening with the music. But maybe I'll even it out a bit more.
Thank you Matt, i learned something new. When using a compressor with a knee function to sidechain, does the knee have a impact the same way as when used in normal compression?
Yes, the knee will still dictate the compressor action. Of course, the compressor will be reacting to whatever is going through the side chain, but the knee will still function the same way.
Good topic…I tend to leave for later learning/adding compressors recently. I don’t hear much of a difference when using any compressor but I really like my UAD la2 and 1176 plugins. Tried Analog Obsession plugins which I think are VERY good. Also PA SSL bus comp sounds interesting. Just realised that most compressors which I use have no control over knee…hmm.. 😅
The knee of an LA2A is fixed, but the speeds are program dependent which can have a "knee" like effect - 1176 the Knee is tied to the ratio, just like the SSL.
Man, your videos are excellent!
I appreciate that! Your TH-cam handle is excellent, Taco Cat!
Nicely done 😊
Thank you Dennis!
Thanks for another amazing video!!
Thank you!
awesome in depth knowledge right here
Well learnt, thanks.
Thanks for tuning in Kev!
Hey man! I don't understand how the Input and Output work together in the graphic?
Fantastic Video Thank You!
Great video. I wonder if anyone has experience on using this technique for dialogue. I'm thinking 4:1 compression ratio with -10 db knee.
I like a combination of soft knee compression to gently even out dialogue, along with hard knee compression to catch emphatic jumps.
First comment! Love these videos. Hope your channel blows up soon!
Thanks so much Hermian! Don't be shy with that "Share" button!
@@WeissAdvice You know I'm gonna spread the word!
Great vid
Thank you Angelo!
I noticed you referred to "7 to 1" as a threshold numerous times in this video. 7:1 is a ratio, not a threshold. It explains how many decibels over the threshold (for example -20 dB) the signal can go before 1 dB of signal can pass thru. ie: for every 7 dB over -20 dB, the compressor will let through 1 dB of signal. The knee is more similar to being a secondary attack time .
I see - let me clarify. When I am referring to "the main threshold is at 7:1" what I am saying is the main threshold has a target ratio of 7:1, in comparison to the onset point which is much lower and begins a progressive ratio. I do specifically say at 2:29 "basically a 7:1 ratio". I then explicitly refer to 7.24:1 as the "ratio" again at 4:24; but it might get a little muddy when I'm comparing ratio as amplitude approaches our main threshold vs what the actual ratio is set to.
The knee is not a secondary attack time. There are compressors that have progressive attack times like the LA2A, but that's typically referred to as "program dependent attack". The knee is an amplitude curvature. With that said, as I mention in the video, changing the knee can alter the effective attack time because an onset that is lower in amplitude will inherently be earlier in time.
The vibe/vocal style mismatch on the track is pretty cool imo
My buddy Derek produced it, and his wife Iveen is the singer/songwriter. They're super talented.
im n class im here🙋🏾♂️
Whattup J!
…my clipper has a control over its knee. Manual says that hard setting has less distortion.
Probably means that the onset of distortion is less gradual - so like digital square waving would be a 100% hard knee, no distortion at all until you're actually clipping.
I can’t believe I just watched this for free…
Believe it!