Compressor - The basics

I received a question about the compressor.

Question:

Ok, im making my own home studio. i had a problem with the vocals. When I would hit higher notes it would record louder. Someone told me get a commpressor. I bought a dbx 266xl. I still can't figure it out. do i need to purchase something else? could you help me? Thank you so much for your time. im still an amature at this.

Answer:

You have the right tool. After your microphone goes through the pre amp, put the out put of that into the input of the compressor. Then set the channel to these settings. On the compressor Threshold -20dB, Ratio 2:1 Attack at the 9 o'clock position (pointing to the left set closer to fast) Release set to 12 o'clock (straight up). Now sing into the microphone and watch the red lights (Gain Reduction dB) they should only hit around 6db. Play with the threshold and try to adjust it. The threshold controls when the compressor is active, the ratio controls how hard the compressor is working. I hope this helps.