From the Post-production House to Your House!
Originally developed for post production as part of Harrison’s iconic Motion Picture Consoles, the Harrison Audio MPC Spectral Compressor plug-in has found a permanent home within many Sweetwater music producers’ workflows. Its 18 spectral bands provide you with the utmost control of your mix’s dynamic range, whether you want to shape each individual band or the entire mix using the global controls. Six Depth sliders determine gain reduction for three corresponding frequency bands, and there are also controls for Knee and Output trim. With these comprehensive controls for compression, frequency range, and depth, plus a handy Gain Reduction Graph, the Harrison Audio MPC Spectral Compressor is all but guaranteed to find a place in your mix templates as well.
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How it works
Attached to the input meter on the left is the Threshold slider. This slider sets the input signal level to where the compression effect begins, with a range that can be set anywhere between -60 and 0dB. Below the graph are the six Depth sliders. These determine the maximum amount of gain reduction applied within each slider’s control range (from -24 to 0dB). Each Depth slider controls three of the MPC Spectral Compressor’s 18 bands. You can set your Range to hone specific frequency areas or to Full Range and work within the entire 16Hz–20kHz spectrum.
A plethora of valuable controls
The Harrison Audio MPC Spectral Compressor retains many useful controls found on other famous compressors, including controls for Knee and Output Trim. First, Knee values range from 1 to 30, and a low (hard) Knee value will activate the compression more abruptly as the signal crosses the Threshold. Likewise, a high (soft) Knee value applies gain reduction more gradually. Next, Output Trim adjusts your output level for gain compensation, and it can be adjusted from ±10dB.
Excellent visual information
Sweetwater’s mixing engineers will be the first to tell you not to “mix with your eyes.” However, they agree that visual information can be a lifesaver when a tight deadline approaches and ear fatigue creeps in. The MPC Spectral Compressor’s excellent Gain Reduction Graph lets you visualize gain reduction across the entire frequency spectrum. The red Reduction curve is displayed above the orange-yellow Input curve, indicating the applied gain reduction’s frequency location. The red line inside the Input curve relays the compressed signal’s level relative to the input signal’s level.
Harrison Audio MPC Spectral Compressor Plug-in Features:
- Powerful spectral compressor plug-in originally part of Harrison’s Motion Picture Consoles for post-production houses.
- 18 bands give you precise control over the entire frequency spectrum
- 6 Depth sliders affect gain reduction for their corresponding bands, with each slider controlling 3 bands
- Frequency Range control can be set to work on specific ranges or across the full spectrum
- Controls for Knee and Output Trim
- Gain Reduction Graph provides you with superb visual information