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the way of vocals because the upper, spiky, harmonics are flattened a bit. When you are dealing with an occasional peaky
guitar where certain chords or notes take your head off, the dynamic action of the WARMTH control can be very useful.
Don’t overdue this though, especially while tracking.
To smooth out solos, try the Tracking compressor with TRANNY and warmth. REMEMBER TO SETUP COMPRESSOR FIRST.
The WARMTH heavly interacts with the compressor.
PLUCKED INSTRUMENTS & ACOUSTIC GUITAR -
Plucked instruments can benefit greatly from the FATSO’s processing.
Back in 1998, a prototype FATSO was taken to Greece and used on many very troublesome ethnic plucked instruments.
At Grammys, a club in ATHENS, some bizarre FATSO behavior was immediately noticed, when the extremely transient
acoustic instruments “swamped” some internal circuits. The compressor needed a heavier knee with more “sponge” in
the attack. The Tracking compressor (Red LED on) was tweaked first. The fast attack of the TRACK or ELEVEN Compressor
canhelp get a “glassy” full sound since the pick noise will be attenuated and the sustain lengthened. Also the threshold of
the warmth circuits were lowered so they could grab the transient picked edges easier. This allowed a solo instrument to
be louder without the sharp attacks hurting.
Sometimes you may want to keep the dynamic range of a plucked instrument but need to smooth out just the hard front
edge of the attack. Warmth processing is perfect here. Adjust the WARMTH until you have a smoother, more natural sound
- usually 3 - 10 dB of HF attenuation is enough. It’s important to listen very softly, and very loudly to the adjusted track to
make sure it isn’t too dull, or still in need of“softening”.
Acoustic guitars can be so creamy. Many times you will have an acoustic part that is very even and you can nicely brighten
it up with a top end EQ (high frequencies).... except for that one part where he really bangs it! Use the Warmth control to
grab those clangy brash freqs. Usually 1 - 5 dB is enough but on really brittle parts,10 - 15 dB on peaks may be ok on
extreme peaks. Again don’t over do it, especially during tracking. Listen really softly and really loudly to test evenness.
Its often best to roll off subs or low frequencies to prevent mud before the FATSO. This keeps the compressor from reacting
to them.
DRUMS -
Without any processing activated, the saturator which is always inline, will pack those peaks down smoothly
giving you 2 - 6 dB more average level. Distortion indicator LEDs, the O VU and the Pinned red LED give you a good idea
of what’s going on. On percussion, peaks can light up the Red Pinned LED without any nasty distortion, if they are short
enough. Analog tape can not handle all the top end and will round out the sound... as will the FATSO’s warmth processor
and saturator. Don’t use more than 5 - 10 dB of WARMTH on drums though.... or you are probably asking for a dull sound!
Try putting digitally recorded tambourines etc through the FATSO and listen to the difference. That clacky front edge will
become warm and easy to listen to - like the old analog tape and vinyl.
Snares/Kicks/Toms -
If you don’t want to lose the basic sound, try setting the compressor to BUSS compressor
first. This is a very gentle slow compressor that will leave the transients untouched. If thereare areas with over eq’d
highs or unnatural transients, get into the WARMTH processing. On snares that have had 8 - 10K added and have some
really overly dynamic hits, 5 - 10dB of WARMTH may fold the highs back (attenuate them) and smooth out the tonality.
Use the High Frequency saturation that the WARMTH control provides on Kick drums that have the occasional clacky hit.
The TRANNY will be useful also. If the Kick drum is too boomy or too thumpy without enough clarity, the TRANNY will add
some upper harmonics to the low freqs, while rolling off some of the subsonics that could rumble in a mix.
Overhead Mics -
Also for over dynamic and brash cymbals, the WARMTH processing can be a real sweetener. To soften
the edge of cymbals try WARMTH on 4 or 5 setting and turn the input up to control the amount of warmth. Watch anything
over 5 dB of WARMTH as this is really attenuating a lot of high end. But if it is just the front edge of the cymbals, it can be
very pleasing. Of course compression may be used but if it is, set it up first.
Room mics -
Again, the most gentle compressor for the room mics will be the BUSS compressor. However, radical room
compression is currently in style. The TRACK or ELEVEN compressor will be useful over a wide range from 1 dB of GR
to 20 dB depending on what you are going for, and what the tracks will allow. But for over the top treatment, try SPANK!
The SPANK is not the NUKE of the Distressor yet it can add some of the same sustain and intense size to it. The bargraph can
be run right offscale withthe SPANK type compressor, and still be a very useful sound. Fifteen to twenty dB of compression
is starting to have that John Bonham thing that the Distressor can do. Watch over-heating the tracks though. Also, any
loud cymbal playing will become annoying with lots of compression on the room mic. Sometimes it may help to feed a
compressed room signal back to the drummer while tracking to give him a feel for balancing his cymbals and drums.
SECTION DETAILS
Details of the four processors in each channel
THE COMPRESSORS
Each FATSO compressor or compressor “TYPE” as we call them, sets the threshold, the ratio (in the standard sense of the
word), the attack, and decay. This was done to provide an easy to set, yet versatile group of curves. There are essentially
4 discrete compressors with the fourth (SPANK) able to be combined with the other three.
THE FOUR FATSO COMPRESSOR TYPES:
1. BUSS
- Very gentle 2:1 type ratio with Slow attack and fast release. 1 - 4 dB of compression is usual for this compressor
type. Very soft knee; Five or more dB of BUSS compression is hitting it hard!
2. ELEVEN
- ELEVEN replaces the old GP Ratio, and emulates the famous UREI 1176LN in 20:1, with the slowest attack,
and fastest release. This 1176 setting has been used on countless hit records through the decades. Can be used gently
or aggressively.
3. TRACK
Compressor - A Distressor type compressor is that’s great for tracking instruments and vocals during the
recording process or during mixdown. Mellower in ratio than ELEVEN.
This compressor now has its own LED, as the
original FATSO Jr used both the GP and the BUSS LEDs to indicate the TRACK Compressor, causing some people to
think it was a combination of the BUSS & GP compressors, which it wasn’t.
4. SPANK
- This is a radical limiter type compressor that was specifically designed to emulate the nice squeeze of the older
SSL talkback compressors from the 70’s & 80’s. Quite a bit higher fidelity though.The SSL Talkback compressor was used
on “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins on the drums.
By combining SPANK with any of the other 3 types of compressors, one really has 7 compressor types (or ratios), although
the SPANK’s aggressive nature will tend to dominate when combined. The release curve of all types is logarithmic, meaning
it lets off quickly at first and then slows. This release curve is a big part of the FATSO’s compressor sound.
JUST WHAT IS A SOFT KNEE?
A “soft knee” is a compression curve where the first few dB of gain reduction occur at very low ratios, gradually increasing
as the signal increases (gets louder). This makes the onset of compression very hard to detect. The knee usually extends
for a few dB and gradually flattens out toward a final ratio. All the FATSO compressor types have dominant knees except
for SPANK. The BUSS Type Compressor has a knee that can be as long as 15 dB, It was setup for 3 – 5dB to sound HOT
like tape.
VINTAGE COMPRESSOR EMULATION
Since the unit is based on the oldest compressor topology, the unit can be made to sound similar to older classics.
The nonlinear nature of the older gain control elements of opto-couplers, FET’s, pentode (or triode) tube bias or “Mu”
modulation, etc., can be closely emulated if proper settings areused.
Some Examples:
•
LN1176 High Ratio
– The ELEVEN ratio closely emulaties the 1176 on 20:1, slowest attack, fastest release.
It is a deliberate emulation of this beloved setting.
•
LN1176 or Distressor Lower Ratio
- Use the Tracking compressor which emulates a lower ratio than
the ELEVEN ratio. Good for tracking and Mixing.
•
DBX160 2:1 (for over easy)
- Try the BUSS for gentle compression, or ELEVEN Type Compressor
for more aggressive treatment, no TRANNY.
•
SSL type BUSS compression
- Use the BUSS type Compressor. No TRANNY.
•
SSL Talk back compressor
- Use SPANK. Spank that track into submission.
DIFFERENCES IN THE NEW X VERSION AND THE OLDER FATSOS
Unlike the older units, the FATSO is uniform and predictable from one unit to the next. Precise factory calibration assures
that if you go from one FATSO to the next, these settings will all sound the same. The only big variable is the input and
output pots, which is why we use high resolution knobs, for recall. Differences in the new X version and the Older FATSOs
The FATSO Jr was redesigned to lower power consumption and heat, as well as make the interface operate more like it
was originally envisioned. The controls can now step backwards one setting by holding the associated button for less than
a second. This enables the Bypass to be accessed with one button press from any state, as well as compare compressor
and WARMTH settings more easily.