More compressor confusion:
“I’ve never quite been clear on what a compressor is for. I saw an ad for a compressor (Blue Max, I think) that has a dozen presets, including keyboard presets. I’m wondering if I ran my Roland VK7 organ through one of those, if it would fatten or warm up the sound to more accurately approximate the warmth of a real B3 running through a nice warm-sounding Leslie.”
In my years (too numerous to mention) of working with audio, the good old compressor still confuses by far the most people. There is so much mystique around this process, probably because it is used for so many different things, but it is really pretty simple. A compressor does nothing more than reduce the dynamic range of a signal. This, however, can produce many side effects ranging from increased sustain, higher apparent volume, more “warmth” or power, less attack, more apparent attack, “fatter” sound, darker tone, less “air” or high frequency content, loss of transients, and many more. The list of ways in which they can be used is virtually endless and an in depth discussion is beyond the scope of inSync, although we have and will continue to tackle specific issues from time to time.
The answer to your question about the Blue Max making your VK7 sound more like a B3 through a real Leslie is… (drum roll please)… “Possibly.” Now how’s THAT for a definitive answer? Used correctly it certainly could beef up the sound somewhat, and there is often a timbral shift associated with compression, but whether or not this would pull it in the direction of sounding more like the real McCoy is too subjective to positively say. The best I can do is say that if you experiment with its settings and the settings on your VK you are likely to get results you are happy with, and it certainly could make a big difference in how it sits with the rest of the music (assuming you’re not just doing solo organ music).