Compressor/Sustain stompbox controls?

K, so I wanna get a compressor/sustain pedal to use with my Strat. My question is: what does the “Attack” control do?

Answer #1

The attack affects the beginning of a sound. You might be familiar with something called the ADSR envelope as it related to synthesized sounds. It stands for Attack, Delay, Sustain, Release, and those are often the things that you can alter in a sound. The ATTACK is reallly just how the sound starts – or how long it takes to get to full volume once it starts. A fast attack would mean it reaches full volume immediately, like hitting a piano note very hard. A slow attack - imagine a string section in an orchestra playing a very slow quiet piece of music. The note might take a while to get to its fullest volume.

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