If you use a compressor plug-in you're already manipulating the dynamics of a sound or the mix. In this enlightening long-read tutorial, Joe Albano explains exa
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Macro and micro dynamic
If you delve into the literature on audio levels and dynamics, you may come across terminology like macro and micro dynamics. The terms themselves are not all that common, but they do serve to illustrate the different ways dynamics are addressed in recording and mixing. Macro dynamics refers to changes in level over a longer period of time. For example, a rhythm instrument—guitar, keyboard—may play more quietly in the verses of a song, than in the choruses. Micro dynamics might refer to either of two things. It could describe more rapid changes in dynamics, like from note to note in a phrase, where some notes are accented (louder). It could also be used to describe differences in level within a note—for example, a hard-played piano note or drum hit will start off with a louder impact noise—a Transient—and then the rest of the note will be lower in level, gradually (or quickly) decaying to silence. The waveform graph in Fig 3 shows level (vertical) vs. time (horizontal), and you can see the variation in level of a typical percussive note, with its initial Transient, which lasts only milliseconds (thousandths of a second), and the main portion of the note, that either sustains (holds), or decays (falls off in level, as in this example).
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Fig 3 A waveform graph, showing an audio wave with a brief loud transient and the lower level of the body & decay of the note
The Macro-Micro terminology itself is not really important, but understanding those different ways that dynamic levels vary in music is. It’s these dynamic variations that recordists and mixers must know how to control and modify, either for technical purposes, or creative ones. And that’s accomplished with the standard Dynamics tools—the processors, both hardware and software, that we use on a daily basis to affect audio and musical dynamics.