How to compress electric guitar in a mix

Clean and distorted guitars

The first question with any electric guitar is how much distortion is on it, because that decides how much compression it needs.

A distorted guitar is already compressed. The amp, pedal or plugin that adds the drive flattens the level as it goes, so loud and soft picking come out close to the same. Put a compressor on a heavy rhythm part and the meter barely moves, and if you push it until it does, the guitar loses the little life it had left. Most of the time a distorted part needs no compressor at all, or one set so lightly it only touches the odd peak.

A clean guitar is the opposite. A clean tone keeps every change in how hard the player picks, so the part jumps around in level and the sharp attack of each note can poke out of the mix. This is where compression helps the most. The leveling stage on this page uses the RMS detector at 2:1 to 4:1, with an attack of 10 to 30 ms so the pick still comes through, and aims for 2 to 4 dB of gain reduction.

A crunch tone, with a little drive, sits between the two. Start with the leveling stage, watch the meter, and use less than you would on a clean part.

Strummed chords and picked lines

A strummed part has a sharp attack on every strum and then rings out. The leveling stage evens out the strums so a big downstroke doesn't jump out over a light upstroke. A release of 80 to 200 ms lets the compressor recover between strums. If the part starts to sound like it is breathing, with the ring swelling up after each strum, shorten the release or ease the threshold.

A picked line, with single notes, shows every uneven note. A soft note can vanish under the vocal and a hard one can jump out. The leveling stage helps here too. On a clean part, the optional peak stage catches the sharpest pick attacks, with the Peak detector at 4:1 to 6:1 and a fast attack of 1 to 5 ms. Add it only if single notes still poke out after the first stage. Distorted lines almost never need it.

Funk and other rhythm parts that live on the attack need care. A slow attack keeps the snap of each strum, and a fast one dulls it. If the part sounds dull after compression, slow the attack before you touch anything else.

Compressing a guitar against the vocal

In most songs the guitar sits behind the vocal, and a steady guitar is much easier to tuck in than one that jumps around. When the guitar holds one level, you can set its fader just under the vocal and leave it there.

Watch for a guitar that gets louder exactly where the singer comes in. If a strummed part swells under the chorus vocal, the leveling stage holds it back. If the guitar and vocal still fight, the fix is usually EQ, a small cut in the guitar where the voice is clearest, instead of more compression.

Two guitars playing together, such as a pair of rhythm parts panned left and right, can share a bus. A gentle compressor on that bus helps them move as one part. Keep the gain reduction small, because each track may already have its own compressor.

Mistakes that make guitars sound small

Too much compression on a distorted part is the main one. The amp has already flattened the level, so a compressor on top only takes away the punch and the space between the chords. The part then sounds smaller, not tighter. If the meter is moving more than a dB or two on a heavy guitar, raise the threshold.

Too fast an attack on a clean part is next. It grabs the pick at the start of each note and leaves only the ring, so the guitar sounds soft and far away. Keep the attack on the leveling stage at 10 ms or slower.

Judging louder as better catches everyone. Makeup gain makes the guitar louder, and louder sounds bigger for a moment. Match the level before you compare with the compressor off.

Compressing in solo is the last. A guitar can sound thin and squashed alone and sit perfectly in the mix, or sound huge alone and turn to mush once the bass and drums come in. Make your final choices with the whole track playing.