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Nota Compressor

Nota Compressor evens out a signal: it turns down what goes over the threshold, then makes the result louder again. Glue a drum bus, level a vocal, pump a pad from the kick.

Nota Compressor, Curve tab with the transfer curve and reduction historyNota Compressor, Curve tab with the transfer curve and reduction history

Layout: the Level column on the left (threshold against the live level, make-up), a centre panel with three tabs, a right panel (Dynamics / Output) and a status line.

Curve

Section titled “Curve”

The transfer curve and the history of gain reduction. Drag the curve to set threshold and ratio.

Motion

Section titled “Motion”
Nota Compressor, Motion tabNota Compressor, Motion tab

The gain-reduction envelope drawn against the input, so you see attack and release work rather than guess.

Sidechain

Section titled “Sidechain”
Nota Compressor, Sidechain tab with the key filtersNota Compressor, Sidechain tab with the key filters

What the detector listens to: Internal (the track) or External key (another track, picked as the device’s sidechain source, Pre or Post its fader). The key’s spectrum is drawn under its filters — drag the HP and LP handles; Q shapes both. Listen lets you hear the key.

Dynamics and Output

Section titled “Dynamics and Output”
Control What it does
Thresh · Ratio · Knee Where it starts, how hard, how gradually
Attack · Hold · Release How fast it clamps, holds, lets go — Auto release follows the material
Detect Peak, RMS or Auto
Lookahead Reacts before the peak arrives; the delay is compensated automatically
Range The most it will ever reduce
Char Five voicings: Clean, Glue, Punch, Opto, FET
Makeup · Auto gain Gain after compression, by hand or automatic
Mix Dry / wet — parallel compression in one knob
Stereo link One gain for both channels, or each channel on its own

Presets

Section titled “Presets”

31 factory presets: drums (Drum Glue, Drum Punch, Snare Punch, Kick Tighten, Room Smash, Overheads Tame, Hat Smooth), bus and master (Bus Glue, Bus Parallel, Mix Bus Gentle, Master Leveler, Brick Limit, Peak Catcher), vocals (Vocal Opto, Vocal Leveler, Vocal Presence, Rap Vocal, De-Esser), instruments (Bass Even, Bass Pluck, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Sustain, Piano Smooth, Pad Breathe) and ducking (Kick Duck, EDM Pump, Gentle Duck, Voice-over Duck, Bass Under Kick).

Tips

Section titled “Tips”
  • Sidechain pump: External key from the kick, fast attack, release to taste — or start from EDM Pump.
  • Parallel drums: a heavy ratio with Mix around 40 %.