Clasp

Clasp is the compressor you reach for when you want control, not colour: a soft knee, peak or RMS detection, a high-pass on the detector so the low end doesn't pump, and Mix for parallel compression. It has no character of its own on purpose. When you want a flavour, reach for Lumiq, Fettle, Mortar or Mutone instead.

The controls

Threshold

The level where compression starts. Lower it until the loud parts are being turned down.

Ratio

How hard it turns down above the threshold: 2:1 is gentle, 4:1 firm, 10:1 and above is limiting.

Knee

How gradually it starts. A soft knee (6 to 12 dB) is smooth and natural; 0 dB is sudden and obvious.

Attack

How quickly it reacts. Slower attacks (10 to 30 ms) let the front of each hit through for punch.

Release

How quickly it lets go. Too fast distorts low notes; too slow keeps the track turned down.

Detect

Peak reacts to every spike; RMS follows the average loudness, which sounds smoother.

Key HP

A high-pass on what the compressor hears (20 Hz is off). Raise it to 80 to 150 Hz so kick and bass don't drive the compression.

Stereo Link

100% treats both sides as one; lower lets each side compress on its own.

Make-up

Level after compression, to match the bypassed sound.

Mix

Blend in the uncompressed signal: parallel ('New York') compression in one knob.

Best for

• Vocals: even out a performance before the colour units
• Drum bus: punch with a slow attack, or parallel squash with Mix
• Bass: a steady level that sits under the kick
• Anything that needs exact, transparent control

Starting points

Load Clasp, set these, then adjust by ear. In the plugin, Level match helps you judge the sound, not the loudness.

Hints and tips

• Watch for 3 to 6 dB of reduction on the loudest moments; more than that is a sound, not control.
• Set the release so the reduction recovers between phrases or hits. Its movement should breathe with the music.
• Raising Key HP on a mix bus is the quickest way to stop pumping.
• Match the level with Make-up before judging: louder always sounds 'better'.

Chains it works best in

Every Original works in a chain with the others and with members' hardware. These are good places to start.

• Wicket then Clasp then Lathe: a clean drum channel: gate, control, shape
• Clasp then Lumiq: control the peaks cleanly, then let Lumiq add its smooth character
• Clasp (sidechain) on bass: send the kick to the sidechain so the bass ducks under each hit

Sidechain

Send the kick to DigMusiK's sidechain and Clasp ducks the bass or pads on each hit. Key HP and the plugin's Key filters shape what it hears.

Watch out for

• Very fast attack and release together on bass: you'll hear the waveform distort.
• Compressing hard and boosting Make-up on a noisy recording: the noise comes up too.