Live Sound / Live Music
Course 10: Dynamic Signal Processing

In audio engineering, the dynamic range refers to the distance between the loudest possible sound and the quietest possible sound in an audio recording. Dynamic range control is an important part of balancing and blending performance. There are several kinds of dynamic processors that act on the signal in different ways, producing different effects that use the inherent dynamic range of acoustically-generated sounds.

Fundamentally, dynamic range can either be increased or decreased, but there are several types of dynamic processors that act on the signal in different ways, producing different effects that utilize the inherent dynamic range of acoustically generated sounds.

Course 10 will go over the job of the compressor and how it limits the dynamic range of the audio signal. Different instruments have different dynamic ranges, so you’ll learn how to shrink or to grow these ranges so can all be heard. You’ll learn how to use analog and digital compressors, different dynamic range processors, and processor parameters and limitations.

There are a range of techniques that can be used during dynamic signal processing, including de-essing, ducking, side-chaining, multiband and parallel compression, and several more. You’ll learn how these compressors give you an incredible amount of control over how the different tracks of a song sound together.