Transient shaping

https://www.makingascene.org The Place the Indie Artist Goes to Build the New Music Industry Making a Scene Presents - Transient Shaping: Controlling Punch Without Compression There is a moment in almost every home studio mix where the artist reaches for a compressor because something does not hit hard enough. The snare feels soft. The kick feels buried. The acoustic guitar sounds flat. The electric guitar does not jump out of the speakers. The drums feel like they are sitting behind a blanket instead of driving the song forward. So the first instinct is to compress it. That instinct makes sense. Compression is one of the most important tools in recording. It can control volume, add weight, glue sounds together, shape tone, and help a track sit in the mix. But compression is not always the right tool for punch. In fact, sometimes compression is the reason the punch disappeared in the first place.