1176: wow

[b1j]

Wobbly newborn user of compressors here with a tale of emotional impact.

As I've recently disclosed, I'm working on an all-acoustic (plus one bass) song. I started mixing by balancing each track for faulty note attack (by my performance) through the use of gain-envelope markers. Then I took down gain envelopes here and there among events to volume-balance them against and with each other and create a smooth dynamic flow to the lines. So far so good.

Then I noticed the the highest guitar, the Gurian high-strung, was a little in your face, and the bass could afford to be stabilized a bit more prominently, so I gently applied basic threshold/ratio/attack/sustain to each track with the standard Studio One "Compressor." I think this helped move both tracks comfortably in among its neighbors without having either of them shout for attention. I liked where it went.

Today, now that I have things volume-balanced within and between tracks, I thought I'd try one of the compressor emulators on the mix bus to see if it would improve tone. I tried "Tubecomp" first. I guess that's the LA-2A emulation. It didn't do much for me, although as of now, I don't remember why.

That's because, after reading up on the 1176 compressor, I tried Studio One's emulator, "FETcomp." At first, I parked it at its longest attack, 0.8 ms. It felt like a slight improvement in the shaping of the tone. Then I noticed that the 1176 is famous for having the fastest attack, 0.02 ms.

The reason I'm posting today is that, when I moved to 0.02, what it did actually moved me to tears. A pro might tell me I ruined the recording for all I know, but to my ears it finally sounded exactly as I had imagined and hoped it would sound. All the ringing clarity of the notes came out.

I then moved Release from maybe 200 ms to 1.1 sec, and things got even sweeter to my ears.

Now that I've publicly embarrassed myself, I think I'll leave it there and go back to slurping up the sound. I also think I'd better leave it as is!

I've never heard a tone improvement from a compressor before today. But through frequent on/off comparisons, it is unquestionably there.

[Bowie]

I've never thought of the 1176 as a tone machine, but getting the right attack can definitely make all the difference in the world. Especially on an acoustic with a fast comp like a 176, Distressor, etc. Really satisfying to get it in that pocket.

[KevWind]

Quickly first, thanks b1j thanks for alerting me to Bend Markers (time stretching) in S1 I knew it was likely a feature in S1, but not being my main DAW I did not know what it was called,

I do have a question which is as far as "volume balance" do you mean Event Gain envelope rather than Bend envelope ?

[Bob Womack]

Yeah. I typically record electric bass through a physical Avalon VT-737 channel strip and use the tube compressor to put about three to four db of compression on the transients. The onboard compressor is a combination of optical and tube so that it doesn't have an incredibly fast attack so it is perfect while recording. Before mixing I take the bass into a Waves RBASS plug-in and add some undertones and then it goes to the UA 1176 plug. I've discovered that typical ensemble stuff doesn't want a whole lot of dynamic range on the bass so I use the 1176 to moderate the bass to where it has a smooth, dependable level without a lot of transients popping out. That leave space for the kick drum to provide most of the transient bass "stuff."

I've monkeyed with parallel processing to put fuzz or distortion on the bass and then blending between clean and dirty to get more definition but it just isn't my sound. I'm more into the Lee Sklar thing unless I am going for a Chris Squire or Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash) thing.

Bob

[b1j]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Quickly first, thanks b1j thanks for alerting me to Bend Markers (time stretching) in S1 I knew it was likely a feature in S1, but not being my main DAW I did not know what it was called,

I do have a question which is as far as "volume balance" do you mean Event Gain envelope rather than Bend envelope ?

Kev, yes, I did mean Gain Envelope markers. I had previously made copious use of the bend markers before working on volumes, so I used the wrong term in my original post. I have just corrected it.

So, I did a substantial part of the "compression" task with the gain envelope adjustments. Only after doing that did I apply the 1176 emulator compressor.

[b1j]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Yeah. I typically record electric bass through a physical Avalon VT-737 channel strip and use the tube compressor to put about three to four db of compression on the transients. The onboard compressor is a combination of optical and tube so that it doesn't have an incredibly fast attack so it is perfect while recording. Before mixing I take the bass into a Waves RBASS plug-in and add some undertones and then it goes to the UA 1176 plug. I've discovered that typical ensemble stuff doesn't want a whole lot of dynamic range on the bass so I use the 1176 to moderate the bass to where it has a smooth, dependable level without a lot of transients popping out. That leave space for the kick drum to provide most of the transient bass "stuff."

I've monkeyed with parallel processing to put fuzz or distortion on the bass and then blending between clean and dirty to get more definition but it just isn't my sound. I'm more into the Lee Sklar thing unless I am going for a Chris Squire or Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash) thing.

Bob

As this is an acoustic context, I need a little dynamic range in the bass, because the volume swells and falls sensitively in various phrases. So I didn't level and flatten the bass dynamics for this particular piece.

Your bass recipe sounds right for a pop or Americana song that calls for a dependable, steady bass. In the past, I've just used the standard Compressor for that. Now, I'll turn to the 1176 for this. (I'm taking it on faith that the Studio One "1176" emulator does a credible job of doing what a real 1176 does. Who knows?)

I haven't heard of RBASS to add undertones. I may have gone the other way by doing a low cut on the bass. I just noticed it was at 80 Hz. I switched it to 20 Hz and now there's plenty of hefty but clean bass. I think I'll live with this for a while and see how it grows on me.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Before mixing I take the bass into a Waves RBASS plug-in and add some undertones and then it goes to the UA 1176 plug.

Bob

While I realize this plug in was not designed for use with Acoustic Guitar, Is there any value to using the Waves Renaissance Bass plugin for Acoustic Guitar?

Don't know that I would actually need it, but always fun to explore every possibility. If one wanted to make sure the Deep bass of an Acoustic Dreadnought stood out, without stepping on an Even Balanced Dreadnought's tone.

I sure like Waves description:
"Renaissance Bass enables you to deliver rich bass even over the smallest playback systems"

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

While I realize this plug in was not designed for use with Acoustic Guitar, Is there any value to using the Waves Renaissance Bass plugin for Acoustic Guitar?

Don't know that I would actually need it, but always fun to explore every possibility. If one wanted to make sure the Deep bass of an Acoustic Dreadnought stood out, without stepping on an Even Balanced Dreadnought's tone.

I sure like Waves description:
"Renaissance Bass enables you to deliver rich bass even over the smallest playback systems"

“That way madness lies”

[Bob Womack]

I haven't tried it but the thing about these processors is you never know until you fiddle with it!

Bob

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

While I realize this plug in was not designed for use with Acoustic Guitar, Is there any value to using the Waves Renaissance Bass plugin for Acoustic Guitar?

Don't know that I would actually need it, but always fun to explore every possibility. If one wanted to make sure the Deep bass of an Acoustic Dreadnought stood out, without stepping on an Even Balanced Dreadnought's tone.

I sure like Waves description:
"Renaissance Bass enables you to deliver rich bass even over the smallest playback systems"

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

While I realize this plug in was not designed for use with Acoustic Guitar, Is there any value to using the Waves Renaissance Bass plugin for Acoustic Guitar?

Don't know that I would actually need it, but always fun to explore every possibility. If one wanted to make sure the Deep bass of an Acoustic Dreadnought stood out, without stepping on an Even Balanced Dreadnought's tone.

I sure like Waves description:
"Renaissance Bass enables you to deliver rich bass even over the smallest playback systems"

I don't have any Waves plugins anymore so have no idea how it might sound. But there is a fairly standard EQ move that I have found can enhance the low end response AND as counterintuitive as it may sound,, is simply using a high pass filter set somewhere between 70 hz and 100 hz with a 12 to 18 db roll off. And possibly also depending on which specific guitar a slight medium Q cut centered somewhere between 250 and 550 hz
And one more option some would say the purist option (is again a bit counterintuitive) is use a top address SDC close in, pointed just below and behind the bottom end (treble strings ) of the bridge.