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The snare if done correctly can be part of your signature sound, if you take a listen to a lot of 80s hair rock you’ll hear a very definite style of snare.

Using presets for your compression and eq can be a good starting point, but if you’re interested in learning to sculpt the sound, experimenting with your eq and compressor can be very rewarding.

:::Compression Settings:::

Set your Threshold/Input to start the compressor working.

The following settings will all depend on taste and your music, they are general settings to give you a starting point to find your sound

Ratio: 4:1 to 6:1ms

Attack: 5 to 10ms

Release: 125 to 175ms

Gain: As with all compression, you want the volume to match the input volume

:::Equalization Settings:::

As with the above settings for compression use the following as a general starting point and work with them until you get what you need for your mix.

To add warmth try a 1 or 2 db boost in the 100 – 150hz region.

A similar boost in the 250hz region will add depth or body.

To reduce boxiness a cut of between 2-3db in the 800 to 1000hz region should be a good start.

A boost in the 3-5khz region of about 1 to 3 db will add attack.

And a boost in the 8 to 10khz area of 1 or 2 db will add crispness.

As stated before these eq and compression settings are starting points and should be treated as such.

Use your ears as always.

Be cool.