compacted/compressed behind the bullet or is it "measured in my TC powder measure after tapping it a couple times? "

Measured in your powder measure after tapping it a couple of times. Then you seat the bullet on top of the powder charge after you've poured the powderdown the barrel and apply about 50-60 pounds of pressure on the bullet with the ramrod - try to use exactly the same pressure on the bullet each time for uniformity of powder burn....... Pyrodex needs more pressure on the ramrod than plain BP does.