After EQ, compression
is THE most powerful tool for making punchy and powerful mixes.
It's easy enough to use compression to slam your drums, push your vocals out of the speakers, and glue your mix together.
But it gets a little trickier when you're
compressing a piano track.
Depending on the performance and style of the piano recording, your approach to compression will vary. You don't want to lose the natural dynamics, but you also want to tame the peaks so that the piano track doesn't jump out of the mix too much.
So, let's look at how to compress a piano track and what you need to keep in mind when you're doing it.