I wonder... How about setting attack and release times according to fractions of the song's tempo? I mean, should one think in terms of whole, half, quarter, eighth notes, triplets, dotted durations? Does this approach make any sense to any of you guys? Would any instrument benefit from this sort of compression or limiting?
The attack setting depends on what kind of dynamic control effect you are after, however setting ther release time for, say a snare drum, to a quarter note or less is quite common, since you may not want any gain reduction remaining at the next hit. The way these controls are used is entirely up to the effect and control you are after for the type of music being mixed.