Hi everyone. I hope you are all doing good. Today I celebrate one year of workouts, which is almost the same as one year on SoundGym. According to my wallet, I did my first workout on the 20th of August 2024 and did another 8 workouts from then since October of the same year. Then, on the 5th of April 2025 I bought the Pro version and haven’t stopped since (only one day I accidentally skipped the workout, but I did play some games).
My first proper contact with EQ and compression was at the same time, through the free long courses on the topics by Mastering.com. Even though I was recording music prior to that, I never released anything, never mixed or mastered, never really used EQ and compression(!).
Now, one SoundGym year later, I find myself with 14 million SPI; a percentile of 100%, consisting of above 99% on all 18 games (3 of them 100%); a percentile of 100% on BeatRace, holding the 10th position on its top legends; 48 medals of which 22 are gold; a gold medal on all but one of the last 12-16 weeks on EQ Ace (can’t remember the exact number). Lastly and most importantly, I find myself approaching my first release ever.
It’s fair to say that I’ve grown a lot in this time, to a point I never believed was possible. I remember my first days on SoundGym, seeing great scores on the Olympics, the EQ Ace, high SPIs, and thinking: ‘no way I can go even in the vicinity of such level, let alone reach it’. I really did go from Zero to Hero, as they say, or, as Greek mythology has it, from Nobody (Οὔτις) to Odysseus (Ὀδυσσεύς).
I want to say a big thank you to everyone in this community with whom I’ve interacted, and from whom I got support, whether musical or psychological. Cheers to this great community, cheers to what’s to come!
I am on level 27 of Dr. Compressor and am finding it trick to tell which is more compressed - the indicators I was using (like things sounding further, or ambiance getting lounder, or even consistency of the part) are frequently not there. Any suggestions as to what I should be listening for?
The description of the game says 'Listen to two sounds - one is more compressed than the other, with very short attack and release for easier detection. Can you identify it?'. I used to try to hear for more pronounced ambience and room sound but now this feels tricky to me. I'm nearing level 100 and most of the time I rely on transient differences, which is what the description implies we should do. If I pay close attention to the transient of the less compressed version, it is more pronounced, snappier. Conversly, the transient of the more compressed version is smoother, more sanded (to use a woodworking analogy). I mainly focus on the kick, and secondarily on the snare. Sometimes it comes easily, sometimes not, but if I have the patience I usually pass the level.
Thanks for the reminder on the description @Stelios Mavroyiannis , I didn't remember it was short release as well. That description does imply you could focus almost entirely on the transient, and it should sound 'duller' I have noticed sometimes with the kick it is easier to hear, With a short release the ambience or sustain should also be more pronounced. i have to guess as you get to higher levels the compression ratio is lower, which would make it harder to hear...
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Mar 25, 16:53
Mar 26, 04:52