Alesis 7-51-0121-A manual De-Ess, Pump, Fat

Using the Smashup 3

De-Ess

De-essing is commonly used to process voices where the “s” sound and other sibilants are too loud and distracting. By telling the compressor to be extra sensitive to a certain range of frequencies, the “s” sound can be almost completely removed from a voice. The ratio is 8:1 with a soft knee, but because the detector is listening most closely to 4.5 kHz, the resulting sound is still relatively transparent.

Pump

On the other hand, PUMP is designed to emulate a limiter deliberately overdriven to provide creative processing. With a 100:1 compression ratio and a hard knee, the [THRESHOLD] sets a wall that the input signal can’t rise above. The PUMP type has some secret ingredients that are especially suited for extreme guitar and drum processing. On drums, adjust the [ATTACK] and [RELEASE] controls properly, and you’ll make a polyrhythm out of the resulting pumping sound. Note that even at full counter- clockwise, the [RELEASE] setting is still relatively short; though the release times will vary according to the [THRESHOLD] setting automatically.

In many standard compressors, a “detector loop” is included. By placing an equalizer in this loop with a boost at around 4 kHz, the detector will be more sensitive to the “s” sounds in that range. Note that the tone of the signal doesn’t change—it will just compress the signal when the high frequency content rises above the threshold.

Fat

FAT is a close relative of PUMP, but designed for extra bottom end. This is another heavy compression type with an infinite ratio, but has a softer knee than PUMP. The most important characteristic of FAT is that it won’t compress the bottom end as much, and adds a little high end EQ for brightness. Pressing [SIZZLE] doubles this effect.

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