When I try to teach what compression is and how to use it, I'll always use the "shape of a waveform through time" as a way to explain what compression can do. In the synthesizer world, this is referred to as the "envelope," which includes four stages of modulation: Attack, decay, sustain, and release (ADSR). Newfangled Audio's Articulate is a plug-in that provides control over the ADSR of a sound, allowing for detailed transient reshaping. There have been other transient shapers before, notably SPL's Transient Designer hardware [Tape Op #21] and Universal Audio’s UAD plug-in version, products I use often. Articulate is similar in idea but gives us much more control, breaking the audio into bands of Attack (Smack), Decay (Punch), Sustain (Body), and Release (Air), adding a mix (Separation) between dry (Smooth) and wet (Focused), a Sidechain input, and a bonus peak Limiter ("artifact-free") in case you push everything too far. The ADSR bands can be muted or solo’ed, which helps immensely in understanding how Articulate breaks down sound components.
Articulate has over 70 presets for a variety of sources, but it was easy to dive in and make my own settings, as there are not that many controls, and the ADSR format made a ton of sense to me. On an inside kick drum mic, I found myself gravitating towards an almost gated sound, removing the ring of a front head and snare bleed, and going for an 80 to 100 percent blend of the effect. I favored the Attack, with less Decay and none of the Sustain or Release: A combination that created the gated sound. On an outside kick mic, I used Attack only, creating a quick, deep thud to blend in with the inside kick. I compared my results by simply filtering all the high end out with a stock EQ, but Articulate worked far better, as there was no phase shift from the EQ – the tracks were at the same exact level, but the EQ was far thinner sounding. On snare, I used a 50/50 blend of the effect and added Sustain and Release back in for a more natural sound. I was impressed that with Articulate a fantastic drum mix was coming together before any use of EQ or traditional compression. On bass guitar, I could increase Attack when the tone was too soft and non-articulate. For those sometimes-too-plucky basses (Danelectro!), the plug-in performs wonders in taming the initial pick hit via less Attack. It does the same for electric guitars that have similar issues, especially on a track that I was sent with a clicky tremolo effect. The ability to place focus on the recorded instrument’s tonal content instead of its clicky picking was a mix saver. I'd be hard-pressed to think of a vocal use for this plug-in, and trying it on a track recorded with a cheap mic made me want to open up iZotope RX [Tape Op #164] and get to work instead.