Korg PA3 Compress/DeEss, Compress/DeEss with Adaptive On

Voice Processor

Voice Processor Setup: Mic Tone

Advanced

•High band shelving

The 2 “Shelving” EQs boost or cut all frequencies below or above

the the frequencies set by the Low and High controls respec-

tively. These are most like the common Bass and Treble controls

on a stereo system.

The “Parametric” EQ boosts or cuts the frequencies within a

selected band that is defined by a center frequency (lower Mid

knob) and a width control (center Mid knob). For vocals, the

gain of a narrow parametric band is typically reduced to over-

come room or voice resonances and smooth the sound although

experienced users may boost a band felt to be missing in a par-

ticular voice as well.

The 3 Gain (upper) controls allow +/-12 dB of adjustment. The 3

Frequency (lower) controls range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

Low Gain

Boosts or cuts the range of frequencies below the frequency set

by the Low Frequenc y control.

Low Frequency

Allows you to define the frequency range for the low shelf by

choosing the highest frequency below which boosting or cutting

is possible.

High Gain

Boosts or cuts the range of frequencies above the frequency set

by the High Frequenc y control.

High Frequency

Defines the frequency range for the high shelf with the selection

of the lowest frequency ab ove which boosti ng or cutting is poss i-

ble.

Mid Gain

Boosts or cuts the band of frequencies centered at the setting of

the Mid Frequency control and its associated Mid Width.

Mid Frequency

Defines the center of the parametric band.

Mid Width (Q)

Defines how narrow or wide the parametric band is to be. The

ends of the control range are labelled “Narrow” and “Wide” to

add meaning to the numbers in the middle of the control range.

Compress/DeEss

Adaptive

This activates the automatic Compressor/DeEsser algorithm and

changes the control set. When the Adaptive checkbox is checked,

most of the adjustment is done automatically so fewer controls

are required.

Compress/DeEss with Adaptive On

When Adaptive is checked, it allows for simplified editing.

Compress

With the Adaptive control activated, the Compress control

reduces the amount of range between louder and softer singing

to produce more even-sounding vocals. It does so by listening to

your singing over time (less than 30 seconds) and adjusting

accordingly.

Typical compressors require multiple controls, knowledge and

experience, and time spent testing and refining over a perfor-

mance. With TC-Helicon’s Adaptive Compress feature, these are

not required.

The factory setting of 50% strikes a good balance between mod-

erating dynamics in your singing without incurring feedback, a

side effect of compression used in a live mic setting. If you have a

high quality monitoring/amplification setup with a flat fre-

quency response and you want more compression, by al l means

add more with the Compress control. Be aware though, that

average quality systems have frequency peaks that may cause

feedback with lots of compression combined with Adaptive

Shape EQ.

Compression: A Primer

You may not notice this effect as easily as with Shape. It can be

quite subtle until you educate your ears to compression. Follow-

ing is a very brief description.

We typically sing dynamically, like this (capitals are used to show

louder dynamics):

“I LOVE to watch you WALK down the STREET”

At acoustic singing levels with no, or very quiet instrumentation,

this would sound fine. When amplified however, the loud words

become strident and even worse, quiet words can be lost in the

instrument sounds. The louder the amplification system and

band the more pronounced the loud parts become. Compression

seeks to do the following to your dynamics:

“I LOVE to watch you WALK down the STREET”

Applied appropriately, the difference between loud and soft is

reduced without killing the interesting dynamics in your perfor-

mance.

DeEss Level

There is a side effect that comes from adding high frequencies

and compression to your voice, and that’s excessive sibilance.

Sibilance can be described as the brief whistle that accompanies

“S”, “T” and “D” syllables in your vocal performance. Again,

when singing acoustically, there is no issue with these sounds. It’s

when you amplify and combine with boosted highs and com-

pression that they can become pierci ng.

The DeEss Level control monitors the level of sibilance and,

when it is detected, will quickly and t ransparently reduce it.Typ-

ically, it’s only briefly required and it then gets out of the way

allowing the silky brightness to remain on the voiced portion of

your singing.

VPs