FL Studio Mobile

Multiband Compressor

Multiband Compressor is a three-band stereo compression dynamic processor. Compression is the process of automatically limiting the volume range so that the quiet parts can be made louder without causing clipping. With Multiband compressor, it's possible to set different compression settings for Low, Mid & High frequency bands allowing targeted loudness contouring on the sound to create a dynamically rich & detailed sound that cuts in the mix. Particularly well suited to mastering complete mixes.

To load presets tap the 'Default' (upper right) and choose from the Presets List.

Parameters

There are 4 tabs: Low, Mid, High and Master with controls for the band frequency splits/width and the overall output levels.

  • Master - The default view is set to Master, where you can set the cutoff frequency between the bands, mix level and overall gain:
    • Low Freq - Low frequency crossover point to start of the Mid frequency band.
    • High Freq - Mid frequency crossocer point to the start of the High frequency band.
    • Width (Low, Mid & High) - Stereo width for each band. Up 'widens' the sound, down 'narrows' it. It's often good for bass drum and other bass heavy sounds to set the low band to narrow the stereo field. NOTE: This function relies on their being stereo information in the signal. If there is no stereo, there is nothing to 'widen'.
      • Full - The extent to which the side (stereo) information can be isolated. At 100% (top) allows a pure 'Side' signal as in Mid/Side processing. NOTE: Mid/Side processing separates a stereo signal into the 'Mid' component (center pan) and the 'Side' component (stereo sound). By processing these components separately, you can adjust the stereo image. It's often used in mastering to improve clarity and create spatial effects. 100% 'Side' signals don't sound good in isolation.
      • Safe (Recommended) - At 100% (top) the stereo width will be at maximum. It's safe because it won't go as far as 'Full' where the stereo image breaks down into a purely 'technical' Side signal. 100% 'Safe' is equivalent to approximately 75% 'Full'. This mode matches the stereo separation tools in FL Studio Desktop.
    • Dry Mix - Controls the mix level of compressed signal & the original signal. Useful to create parallel compression where a portion of uncompressed signal level blends with the heavily compressed signal version.
    • Gain - A master gain control knob.

    NOTE: The Mid frequency Band is defined by the frequency range between the Low and High cutoff settings.

  • Low, Mid & High bands - Each tab contains the same controls as follows:

    • Input Gain - Input level control. This adjusts the audio level entering the effect.
    • Thres (Threshold) - Sets the dB level at which the compressor starts to act. The useful threshold setting will depend on the relative input level and the type of audio material. If no signal passes threshold, or not enough, then the compressor will not be active.
    • Attack - The amount of time taken to reach full level compression once the threshold level has been exceeded. Fast attack means that compression will be instantaneous tending to squash transients, while slow attacks will allow some of the transient through before full compression is reached.
    • Release - Controls the amount of time the compressor takes to return to normal once the level has fallen below threshold. Short release times will make the compression more able to adapt to the input signal, but may cause fast changes in gain that may sound distorted. Longer release times produce a more even signal with less distortion, but make it harder to maximize the overall compression because small variations in signal level will be ignored.
    • Ratio - Controls the amount of compression (gain reduction) that will be applied to the signal once the threshold level is reached. The ratio denotes the difference in dB between input and output levels, i.e. how much the signal above threshold level will be compressed. For example, a ratio of 4:1 means that when the input level increases by 4dB, the output level of the signal above threshold will increase by 1dB.
    • Gain - Per band gain level knob.
    • On, Bps, Mute & Solo - Band activity switches to set individual band to either On (Default), Bypass (No compression), Mute (No sound) or Solo (only this band). NOTE: Solo is linked to the Master tab Band Solo controls.
    • Visualization - The central panel shows the incoming signal as a series of peaks moving from right to left. The horizontal line shows the current Threshold value. When the Threshold is below the peaks, the input signal peaks will show grey above the threshold. This indicates limiting is active. The variable line at the top of the display shows the amount of limiting when it dips down below the topmost position. Band activity status reflects on the graph, when muted for example, the visualization shows grayed graph.