Compressors - explain it to me like I'm 5. What are you compressing?

For me, when fingerpicking, it mellows an overly hard attack and at the same setting will boost a softer attack. I’ll keep the settings at noonish. Exept for the ‘level.’ That may be more or less depending on the guitar.

I don’t get the rest of it either.
 
Too Many Notes said:
Simple question - are you compressing volume or frequencies when you use a compressor? What exactly is the purpose of the effect?
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Compression – a dynamic effect that smooths out the highest and lowest volume levels of your guitar signal to a more consistent level. A compressor also has the side effect of increasing the sustain of your guitar signal. Compression boosts the overall level of your guitar while clamping down on the volume of the loudest parts to prevent clipping. Compressors usually have an attack knob that allows you to control how fast it takes the compressor to start effecting the tone and a threshold knob that sets the volume level that the compressor starts clamping down on peaks.
 
JBCustoms said:
Compression – a dynamic effect that smooths out the highest and lowest volume levels of your guitar signal to a more consistent level. A compressor also has the side effect of increasing the sustain of your guitar signal. Compression boosts the overall level of your guitar while clamping down on the volume of the loudest parts to prevent clipping. Compressors usually have an attack knob that allows you to control how fast it takes the compressor to start effecting the tone and a threshold knob that sets the volume level that the compressor starts clamping down on peaks.
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^^^^^ This is pretty much the function of the compressor pedals we use. Studio grade compressors offer a much wider range of compression and more sophisticated ways to control it. Tracks are engineered more specifically for that instrument and it's effect.

They tend to be a necessity for a bass both live and in the studio. Guitar compression is a little more by choice. I tend to play with a light touch so I use mine 100% of the time to sweeten the tone a bit and level out the volume. I seldom use hard compression.
 
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