Presswerk

All the sounds that you use for your compositions need to be tamed and polished one way or another, and one way to achieve this is through dynamic range compression. The function of the compressor is to reduce the dynamic range between the loudest and quietest parts of your audio signal; in other words, the quiet sounds of a track or mix will be “turned up”, while the really loud sounds will be attenuated.

Any digital audio workstation that you work with will have its own compression tool, but once your music production skills advance, you may start to notice the stock plugin’s limitations. Or, on the contrary, it may be too difficult for you to achieve the sound you want with just a stock compressor. In any case, it probably wouldn’t hurt to take a look at Presswerk.

Presswerk is not unlike other audio plugins from u-he. Plenty of effort was put into designing the interface which looks great and mimics the “feel” of a hardware analog unit, but it is also easy to use and offers you useful information. In case you find it a bit cluttered, you can always switch to one of the six special views: Easy Compressor, Vocal Compressor, Drum Compressor, Bus Compressor, M/S Program Compressor, or Limiter. These can improve your workflow, as they allow you to focus on the exact parameters that you need for a specific task.

The names of these views are also a statement of how versatile Presswerk can, as they suggest that it can be used for compressing, well, anything. And like any good compressor, it can be used for sidechaining, but it can also add a bit of saturation to your tracks and mixes.

Although Presswork isn’t as well-known as other plugins within a similar price range, it can be best described as a complete tool. If your purpose is to add a warm analog-sounding compression to your music, then this plugin will most likely do a great job.