Audio Compressor Solutions

Here are some true-to-life scenarios of common problems and solutions that can be easily applied using the Comp16 or other compressor.

(1) Our pastor wears a lapel microphone clipped to lapel on his sport coat and sometimes it is hard to understand what he is saying, we?ll call him pastor Bob. First, replacing any lapel with a headset microphone will improve the sound by placing the microphone closer to the source. Bob is slow to accept change and clings to the use of his lapel mic. Bob is way behind the times as most pastors use a headset microphone like the Countryman E6i. (show link) To help this scenario connect the PreSonus Comp16 to the pastor’s mic channel, select VOCAL preset #1 and follow the simple **5 step directions** prior to the service at sound check.

This should increase the average volume and clarity of the pastor’s voice. If it is a step in the right direction but not quite enough in your real world application choose VOCAL # 2. If you pastor needs even more compression (he sometimes shouts and is extremely theatrical) you may want to experiment with VOCAL#3 preset.

(2) We have a soloist that is a good singer but tends to choose songs that have a wide dynamic range. In addition she tends to get a little louder toward the end of the song as she gets into it. What the audience hears are some parts that seem a little soft and a few parts where the volume causes people to.

Like the scenario above, try Voice setting one or possibly two to smooth out the dynamic range a little, and still leave some difference between soft and loud passages.

Also use VOCAL#1 for background vocals to even out their inconsistencies without putting them to forward or “out front” in the mix.

(3) You have a couple of different bass guitar players, one is a seasoned veteran lets call him John and one is a new volunteer from the youth department that just started playing bass, well call him Bill. Bill joined because John is not able to participate two Sundays per month so Bill volunteered to help, “go Bill”.

Bill is a fast learner and tries hard to play as smoothly as possible, especially since noticing this is an issue for not only worship team members but people in the congregation as well. Try as he may his inexperience has him concentrating on job one, hit the right note in time with the rest of the band.

Unfortunately, as fast as he is coming along he does not play consistently in volume and the attack varies quite a bit. To help Bill sound more professional we will insert the PreSonus Comp16 using the insert/connect to the bass guitar channel on the sound mixer. The bass guitar is a fretted instrument and we have a preset dedicated in that group for bass guitar. Now I would have Bill play while I set the compressor. All I need to do now is select the bass guitar preset and follow the same directions listed above it is that simple. There is a cult following of well-known bass players that sing the praise of the PreSonus Comp16 and once you try one you will know why.

(4) In our group we have two drummers, Les and Paul (ok I just bought a Les Paul guitar I could not resist). Les is a pounder and used to play in a Van Halen tribute band. Paul is a light-handed country drummer; they are both good drummers and do their best to play the songs the way the worship leader directs.

We have a minimum of mics on the drum set, Kick Snare and overheads but we run our sound system in mono and have a dedicated bus to control all the drum sounds with one slider.

Using compression on drums usually means having more than one compressor, and the comp16 works well for this because 3 of them will fit in a single rack space. For an example we will insert/connect the Comp16 to the drum mix bus on the mixer and choose the preset perc #2. this should help smooth the sound of both drummers out a bit. You may find yourself increasing the input (turning it clockwise) when Les is playing and returning back to its original input setting when it’s Paul’s week. A small piece of board tape to mark the settings per drummer may be a nice addition and probably a necessity for any volunteer help.

(5) The comp 16 has useful presets for keyboards and real pianos and the descriptions are easy to follow.

(6) The settings for the guitars can make a huge difference in the sound quality and levels, depending on the player at your church it may already be a necessity.

We will call our electric guitar player Jim. Jim has lots of pedals and effects and likes to use them to emulate the Hillsong guitar sound. Unfortunately, sometimes he is too loud and other times he disappears completely. Jim’s choice of effects and overall volume can be hard to judge while he is practicing at home. Sometimes his overall volume ends up completely wrong when played with the full band, leaders and choir. Jim had his sound completely dialed in while playing along with the MP3 he downloaded from CCLI. Jim can improve and should, but we can give him a helping hand with the use of a compressor.

Select the electric guitar preset and follow the same instructions to make him sound more consistent (can you see a pattern developing here?).

(6) If you use in ear monitors you know how wonderful they can be, but if your system doesn’t have a full set of level controls for each person on the team, then this should help tame the sends and help preserve hearing while making the monitor mix easier to listen to.

Take the sub-mix of drums, keys or guitars and connect the Comp16 choose either the appropriate individual setting or choose limit 1 or limit 2 to make the mix more consistent and this will also reduce ear fatigue especially for those longer days that include rehearsal and multiple services.

You should now have an understanding of why you would use a compressor and may have thought of some uses for the one we have mentioned about 50 times in this article. The reason for the resounding endorsement is simple: compressors can be hard to figure out, but Presonus Comp16 gives you all the benefits of compression and it’s a breeze to use. It also is a good learning tool since its professional sounding presets are spelled out for you so you can understand how to apply compression with any unit.

I hope this article can be a resource to you and your church or ministry.