Major Tom

Name: Major Tom
Price: 59 USD
Author: Stillwell Audio

by Stillwell Audio · Compressor · Program-dependent compressor

Not rated yet

Major Tom is a compressor with adaptive attack and release that follow the signal level, inspired by classic dbx-style compression.

It ranges from smooth leveling to aggressive pumping and costs $59.

Best for: Drums, Bass, Vocals, Mix Bus. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: drums, bass, pumping, vocals, classic, hardware emulation, aggressive, inspired by, vintage, punchy, 70s, bus processing, CPU-light, extreme, full mix, glue, mix bus, mixing, musical, perpetual licence, rhythmic, simple, single-band, smooth, subtle.

What it does

Major Tom is Stillwell Audio's program-dependent compressor, inspired by the dbx 160. It drops manual attack and release controls and lets timing follow the signal, aiming for musical, rhythmic pumping rather than transparent gain reduction.

Program-dependent timing: attack and release adapt automatically to how far the signal goes over the threshold.
Threshold-led workflow: you set how much compression you want and the plugin handles the timing.
Character: from subtle smoothing to snarling, aggressive pumping.
Vintage roots: modelled on classic dbx-style compression rather than a clean modern design.
Targets: drums, bass, vocals and mix elements that need character.
Simple panel: a reduced set of controls built for speed.

This is version 4.1.2. A free evaluation copy is available, and updates are free with no subscription.

Source: Stillwell Audio product page

When to use it

Major Tom is for fast, characterful compression where you would rather not think about time constants. Compared with Pro-C 3, it gives up manual attack, release and the detailed display for a quicker, more coloured result. Compared with The Glue, it is less about gentle bus glue and more about punch and pumping on single sources. Compared with MJUC, it offers one dbx-style character instead of several vintage variants. It is also cheaper than most rated compressors.

Best for: quick, punchy compression on drums, bass and vocals.
Genres: any; especially rock and pop drums.
Look elsewhere if: you need precise attack and release (Pro-C 3) or smooth bus glue (The Glue).

What producers say

Feedback is old and sparse but positive, mainly about ease of use and value.

Audiofanzine user (2009, 5 out of 5 from 1 review) called it "extremely user friendly", easy on CPU and "an incredible deal", and described threshold, ratio, gain and soft-knee controls.