In order to control the dynamics of your source, Trash
provides a multiband compressor and noise gate. You can use this module to tame
the peaks of the signal, increase sustain, gate noise and more.
There are two sections to the Squash module - a compressor section and a gating section. In general, the compressor section is used to limit the peaks of the signal, while the gating section can remove low level noise.
Controls
Band Gain: Adjusts the output gain of the band. This is useful, for example, after compressing or limiting a band to makeup the decrease in volume.
Comp Threshold: Sets the level where compression will take place. Signals above this level will be compressed.
Comp Ratio: Sets the ratio for the compression. Higher ratios will result in more extreme compression.
Compressor Attack and Release: Attack sets the time before the compressor "kicks in" after the signal exceeds the compressor threshold. Release is the time that the compressor continues compressing after the signal has dropped back below the threshold.
Gate Threshold: Sets the level where gating will take place. Signals below this level wil be gated or reduced in level.
Gate Ratio: Sets the ratio or amount of gating. Higher ratios will result in more extreme gating of low level noise.
Gate Attack and Release: Attack sets the time before the noise gate "kicks in" after the signal has dropped below the gate threshold. Release is the time that the noise gate continues gating the signal after the level has increased back above the gating threshold.
Multiband Operation
You can use the Squash module as a multiband processor to control the dynamics of individual frequency bands. This allows you, for example, to compress the lows while allowing highs to pass through unaffected, or to selectively gate high frequency noise without affecting low frequency signals.
To use the Squash module as a multiband processor, click the multiband button in the top right corner of the screen.
To select a band, click on its corresponding section in the multiband spectrum. The controls and dynamics meters will be updated to display the currently selected band.
You can learn more about using multiband modules here...
Visuals
The dynamics section has three meters to help you visualize the dynamics within the selected band.
The left meter is a level histogram, or a level meter that keeps track of its history. This allows you visualize the overall "level content" of the audio by providing a running display of the history of levels in the audio.
The center meter is a gain reduction meter. It shows in dB the amount of gain reduction the compressor and/or gate is providing.
The right meter is a traditional dynamics curve, where the x or horizontal axis is the signal going into the dynamics module, and the y or vertical axis is the signal coming out. More horizontal compression curves means that the signal is being flattened (compressed) more.
By default, the range of the meter is from 0 dB to -64 dB. You can adjust the range by pressing down the Ctrl key under Windows or the Command key under OS X and clicking with the left mouse button to zoom in, or clicking with the right mouse button to zoom out. Under OS X you can also Command-ctrl-click to zoom out.
You can also set individual options for this meter by right-clicking (under OS X you can also ctrl-click) on it to bring up the dynamics meter options screen. Learn more about the dynamics meters and options screen here...
Note: This help file is a quick reference for basic Trash functions and controls. We have separate "how to" guides that provide tips and techniques for getting the most out of Trash. You can download these guides from http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/trash/guides.html