How would you describe the tone and quality of your latest audio mix?
When you speak with sound engineers, you’ll hear plenty of terms that ultimately deal with our familiarity with sound.
We use warmth to describe mixes with harmonic density, while cold terminologies are used for lighter harmonies.
If a sound is “thick” or “has body,” it describes the bass frequencies within the audio mix.
When you want to have fun with it, you can use any noun as a description. “That track felt like a velociraptor stomped through it.”
That leads us to transients.
What Are Transients in Music?
Transients in an audio mix are short energy bursts that perform at the beginning of a sound. This moment helps the human ear articulate the size and shape of the sound heard, translating to tangible physical and mental responses to the audio.
Think about the last time you heard someone hit a snare drum with a drumstick. What was the first thing you heard?
It was the initial impact. As the stick cracked into the drumhead, a loud soundwave echoed throughout the room.
If you were listening through a mixing board or sound system, that initial crack would leave the note’s first impression.
When that impact is loud and powerful, it prepares the listener for a driving beat. If it is softer and more graceful, you’ll have a different expectation.
This reflection between power and gentleness occurs because we need transients to articulate the movement of audio and music for us.
The human ear doesn’t understand the shape of the soundwaves without that initial impact.
If you have too much transience in a composition or mix, the sounds might feel harsh or jarring because of the multiple impacts.
When there isn’t enough of it, everything could seem muffled or problematic to hear.
Why Do Sound Engineers Compress Transients?
You’ll notice that your voice shapes different transients based on the consonant pronunciation used when you say specific words.
Words like “bee,” “participle,” “park,” or “bicycle” all contain first-syllable transients that affect how we interpret the sounds.
Try saying those words right now out loud.
You’ll notice that any words with “b” or “p” sounds create small explosive vocal noises, especially when they get used at a singing volume.
If too much stress exists on that first syllable, the transient can overwhelm the rest of the word or phrase. It causes the listener to focus on that “pop.”
The same effect happens when a drum gets struck loudly, a power chord gets twanged, or strings on a bass get hit with too much force.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the words and sounds where we expect to hear transients, but they don’t appear.
If you say the word “bee” without at least a moderate transient, it will sound more like “ee” when spoken.
The human mind focuses on the syllable emphasis for any noise, making it an understanding priority.
An excellent example of this involves pecan pie.
Do you say that you have a “PEA-kahn” pie? Maybe your family pronounces it as “puh-CAN” pie?
You might even be one of the few who says “PECK-an” pie.
Although everyone describes the same tasty dessert, the pronunciation emphasis creates three different interpretations.
That’s why the first step for mixers and audio engineers is to control the transients before they do any processing or shaping work.
How Does a Transient Form?
When you analyze the soundwave pattern for transients, you’ll discover that five specific elements dictate how the sound gets shaped.
- Amplitude is the extent of the oscillation or vibration that occurs when an instrument or vocal noise occurs. It gets measured from the equilibrium position.
- Attack Time refers to how long it takes for a compressor to modify sounds after a signal exceeds a pre-determined threshold. If you need to tame transient peaks or clip them entirely, you might set a time of 10 microseconds to get the results you want.
- Release time controls the shape of the sustain. When you smooth out the dynamics to even out the multiple transients that occur, you can add aggression, excitement, or a breathing effect into the mix.
- The threshold is what it takes for the compressor to modify the sound to go from the attack to the release. It serves as a baseline for the composition so that the performance feels balanced.
When you manage these sounds through a DAW, you can balance out the individual tracks one at a time to reduce the effects of a transient impact.
It can be painstaking work, but the results speak for themselves when you finally publish the audio.
■ What about a Multi-Band Transient Processor?
If you record the sounds live, a multi-band transient processor is often necessary to accomplish a balanced result.
Instead of using an all-or-nothing tool, a multi-band transient processor works on specific frequency ranges without impacting the other music or audio parts.
When you know that a bass guitar is dying in the mid-range, this tool lets you pull it out of the woods to provide support where it is needed the most.
When you have a multi-band processor to use, you’ll see three basic controls: attack, sustain, and cut-off.
The first adds more aggression to the transient; the second causes the note or sound to hold; the third takes it away entirely.
You might also see phase controls for the different tracks.
This element manages the volume and impact of the transients so that you can balance the composition in whatever way works the best for your needs.
■ Four Common Compression Types to Handle Transients
The compressor type selected for an audio mix plays a significant role in the overall sounds that a listener eventually hears.
Some offer faster attack or release times, while others change the sound’s personality to make it more vintage, colorful, or modern.
If you use compression to achieve the transient modifications you want, you’re likely using one of these four physical or digital techniques.
- Tube compression is the oldest method used to control transients. It has a slower response, contributing to a unique final sound that the other types cannot duplicate.
- Optical compression uses a light element and optical cell to attenuate the output signal’s preferred amplitude.
- Field Effect Transistor (FET) compression uses transistor circuits to emulate tube technologies. It’s a quick, reliable, and clean way to manage the vocals and bass. This option also adds more excitement to the input.
- VCA compressors are punchy and fast. You’ll find numerous options to increase the character of individual instruments or sounds with this technology.
When using these compression techniques to modify the transients, listening to each sound carefully is crucial.
Each method can adversely impact the instrument’s timbre to create unpleasant results
How to Manage Your Transients Effectively
Transient shapers are one of the best tools you can use to shape your sound.
They work like the phase portion of a multi-band transient processor while offering more options.
You can lengthen or shorten the attack or sustain of the initial impact with this tool.
With the multi-band transient processor, you’re creating custom results from a live mix.
The table below offers different examples for when you’d want to use one device or the other for your audio mixing needs.
| Mixing with Transient Shapers | Mixing With Multi-Band Transient Processors |
| – You can soften or emphasize the onset of percussive or bass sounds through the attack controls. – It can control clarity, presence, or punch of the melody, lead, or bass. – You can “round” the sound or make it darker by decreasing the attack. – It alters the sustain of loops, drum sounds, or instruments to improve the mix or increase transparency. – You can de-verb sounds by removing the tails found on some notes. – It removes the bleed you receive from open mics, including background sounds that might exist. – You can amplify picking sounds, finger movements, or staccato moments. – It can hold the sounds of your pads, pedals, boards, or strings with greater sustain. | – You can alter the different frequency bands from other instruments independently. – It lets you add more or decrease the sustain in the fundamental frequencies heard in the mix without affecting the other sounds. – You can enhance specific frequencies throughout the entire composition or mix to add depth, punch, and clarity. – It helps you limit the dynamic range in specific places to achieve balance. – You can set specific thresholds to offer audio variance without overwhelming the composition. |
Should I Apply These Techniques to My Entire Mix?
If you want to manage transients throughout an entire composition, approach the work with caution.
Most music and audio mixes require a relatively consistent signal level.
When you use compression to counter a transient by applying a technique to the entire mix, you’ll drop everything instead of the specific frequency that requires attention.
This effort results in a bass reduction that can cause a pumping effect to occur.
That’s why a multi-band compressor is useful for improving the mix. You can also use a transient shaper to modify specific sounds or components.
If your transients could use some improvement, the dbx-560A professional compressor delivers the results you need for a balanced piece.
When that technique doesn’t work, try a transient shaper instead to achieve your preferred outcome.