the bass’ inherent sustain. Other instruments, such as horns, vary in
loudness depending on the note being played, and benefit similarly. Note that if the
compressed bass sounds smooth, but too thin for your needs, try pressing In the CONTOUR
button to thicken the sound.
To control untimely volume shifts in “hot” guitar or synth parts and to keep them from
overloading your tape deck or mixer during recording and live performances, start with a
slow Hard Knee compression, the RATIO at approximately 5:1 and the THRESHOLD set to the
average maximum level of the track - this will ensure that only the offending “hot” part is
compressed. Use CONTOUR, if necessary.
To add sustain to guitar or synthesizer string sounds, begin with a higher RATIO (from 10:1
to
∞
:1), then adjust the THRESHOLD control to taste. For example, to alter the envelope of a
synthesizer sound that has a bite on its attack, but ends with a long release time, begin by
playing slow, but steady, synth stabs or chords, while compressing the sound heavily (with a
higher RATIO). Heavy compression of guitars and synths, as they are being recorded to digital
formats, can often help revive their sense of “analog life.”
Fattening Kick Drums and Compressing Other Drums
Weak, flabby kick drums often have too much boom, and not enough slap. To tighten
them up, start with the 166xs adjusted for a medium to high RATIO (e.g., 6:1), adjust the
THRESHOLD control so that the GAIN REDUCTION meters show 15dB of gain reduction, then
increase the RATIO if necessary. In OverEasy mode, the 166xs takes slightly longer to react
than in Hard Knee mode, and will therefore emphasize the slap at the beginning of the note
and reduce the boominess of its body. The 166xs also works well for tightening snare drums
and tom toms and can be used with drum machines to effectively alter the character of any
electronic drum sound.
Cymbals and tom-toms can be effectively compressed (using the 166xs Sidechain) to help
prevent analog tape saturation. Split the drum signal, sending one channel directly to the
166xs INPUT and the other channel to an equalizer (e.g., dbx’s 2 Series, 12 Series or 20 Series
Graphic Equalizer). Then connect the equalizer’s output to the 166xs SIDECHAIN INSERT. The
equalizer can be adjusted for boost with a peak of about 5kHz, causing the cymbal to be
compressed on a very loud crash, stopping tape saturation at high frequencies, where there is
less headroom. However, gentle tapping of a drumstick or brushing of the cymbal will not be
affected. Assuming the tom-tom is a lower frequency instrument and can be better tolerated
by the tape, it has less need for compression. Equalization in the Sidechain circuit means
that the compressor is not triggered as readily by a loud tom-tom beat as by an equally loud
cymbal crash.
For drum kit submixes (e.g., mixing multiple drum tracks to two tracks while using both
channels of a 166xs for compression), consider backing off the RATIO on each channel (down
to 2:1) to avoid an excess of cymbal “splattering.” In larger multitracking systems, compress
the kick and snare separately. A further possibility is to heavily compress a stereo
submix of toms and leave the remaining percussives unaffected.
Section 4
Operating Notes
16
dbx 166xs
