Dear all,
I've been trying hard, through looking through the archives and newsgroups,
etc as well as reading up, about compression. As a newbie, I understand WHAT
compression is supposed to achive - more or less, still learning. But I am
still stuck at HOW you actually apply it.

Do you apply compression to an incoming signal as it is played "live", or do
you apply it to a pre-recorded track as you mix or ping pong?

Can compression make tracks which clip, reduce their level? My experiments
say no, but I am just learning.

Finally (whilst I'm here, may as well go for broke) - although everyone
wioll have their own taste and style, and each song will have different
requirements, is their a basic starting point for people like me, as to what
kind of compression to apply - i.e. settings - for say,
vocals
guitar
final mixdown

Any advice, or pointers to websites, books, etc would be greatly
appreciated.

Jim