Weird idea...limiter

[Transmogrifox]

Start by picking one of the compressor/limiter circuits above.  Build it on your breadboard.  We can help you through the troubleshooting process with that.  Once you have a compressor working, then we can help you modify it on the breadboard until it does what you would like it to do.  Once you have a working model on the breadboard, then you can build it onto a perfboard and stick it in a box with knobs, switches and LED's and call it a stompbox.

The best way to start solving a problem is to do some stuff.  I gather that a compressor/limiter is NOT what you want, but the variable gain circuit blocks found in a compressor/limiter are useful for getting to the effect you want.

take care
transmogrifox