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smoothing on the honky part of a vocal in relation to the sibilants, or
growl on guitar vs. the hash, or the bite of a VI synth vs. the fizz.
Edge Contour is also killer on a mix, as you can dial with extreme
specificity how much low end ‘pump’ you want the compressor to
impart in relation to the mid and high frequency glue. I often like it
two or three ticks to the left, getting the Threshold LED to flicker
with the transients, then massaging Curve and Release until things
are swinging juuust right.
Attack
Truth
: Attack determines the speed with which Tweaker applies its
Gain Reduction, with a range from 20
micro
seconds to 70
milliseconds.
Hype
: Tweaker doesn’t reinvent Attack, but it does offer a new
experience of the animal by significantly expanding its range
outwards in both directions. On the fast side it’s absurdly fast – 20
microseconds at its fastest --- but it balances that aggressive
capability with a downright leisurely 70 milliseconds at the other
extreme.
In practical terms, this means the Tweaker is capable of shaving all the
transients flat, or letting all of them thru with a satisfying degree of
impact & transparency.
For those used to defaulting to slow-attack / fast-release compression,
you may find that the slowest attack is a lot slower than you’re used
to, and setting it somewhere between noon and 3 o’clock produces
more familiar results.
As with all controls on the Tweaker, each click makes a meaningful
difference to the sound, so you won’t be struggling to hear what this
thing is doing as you step thru the options; on the flipside, each
increment is close enough to the adjacent steps that you can find
pretty much any degree of transient snap you’re looking for.