Not a total n00b here, but everything I've learned about recording/mixing comes from going to the library and scouring the internet and so I have some gaps in my knowledge. The questions that have been nagging me lately are about the nitty gritty details of compressors. I understand the basic ideas: Threshold tells the compressor when to start and stop working, Ratio tells the compressor how hard to work, Attack tells the compressor how quickly to get to full compression, and Release tells the compressor how quickly to relax its grip. I also am familiar with Opto and Electro compressors and the different way they release (opto is a concave curve while electro is a straight slope - I think).
What I don't know: are all compressors electro style if they're not opto (or is there another flavor)? I'm assuming the attack time is generally a slope (as opposed to a delay), but does the knee setting (if present) make the attack a concave curve or convex curve (i.e. start slower and accelerate or start faster and decelerate)? And finally, the compressor settings are responding to the input signal, so the release time shouldn't have any affect on when the next transient triggers compression, right?
And before anyone says "just use your ears" - I'm the kind of guy that prefers to understand something as fully as I can, so I can formulate a hypothesis and then test that hypothesis with my ears.
