Advanced Tricks
Here are a few tricks that are not really for rookies. They come from guys doing major records for
years and won’t work unless you’ve mastered the basics. In other words if we gave you a Strat and
Marshall it won’t make you another Jimi. Also we don’t suggest that you try these out while paying
big-time studio rates - they may not be easy to get right at first. OK, you have been warned.
Trick#1. Each compressor or device in the chain has certain flavours and characteristics and with experi-
ence we grab the ones we like because of the sound - not because “it is a compressor”. The idea is to
use several cool compressors in a chain getting flavours from each depending on how much GR (gain
reduction) is used in each and how hard they are driven. It’s this second concept that can be tricky. How
far to turn up each Make-up Gain to overdrive or not overdrive the next unit - and still not get flooded
with noise when the music stops. You can chain the two channels of the ELOP
®
and turn up the make-
up of the first channel. This works best with classic discrete and tube units and usually IC units are to be
avoided. The finesse comes from which order they are patched. See how long it might take to get best
results .....
Trick#2. This one is easier but also requires serious listening. Rather than just “inserting” a limiter, try
driving the limiter from the tape patch (pre EQ), returning it to a spare fader and mixing it with the origi-
nal. So what is so tricky ? How you EQ and automate and add effects to these channels. You can also
have fun phase reversing one of the channels. You get cancellation but only at a certain level. It is sort of
like gating but different - it is a way of controlling the “ambiance”.
Trick#3. Using one track to “duck” another. This may work better with compressors with attack and re-
lease and ratio controls if you are thinking drums. Bass and vocal is very cool with the ELOP
®
. Set it up
like trick#2 with bass in one channel and vocal in the other (in LINK mode) and experiment with each
threshold. Two guitar tracks also work here sometimes. Obviously we pull out this trick when two tracks
are stepping on each other and EQ isn’t making enough room for clarity.
Trick#4. Drive the compressor from an AUX send and return it to a channel. Once you have some limit-
ing, carefully turn up that aux send on the return channel to “feed back” into the limiter. Watch out for
real howling feedback and over the top limiting. If you are lucky it won’t scream during the quiet parts.
The key is balancing the faders, track auxes, the return auxes, the thresholds and make-up gains. The
technique can get pretty crunchy and wild. Works best with not-so-clean compressors but is interesting
with the ELOP
®
.
Trick#5. This one is a way to get a very good single channel De-esser from the ELOP
®
or other compres-
sor good enough for lead vocals. Mult the Insert send of the vocal to the ELOP
®
and to a spare channel.
EQ the snot out of that second channel -boosting the 5 or 6KHz band and chopping everything below
that. Use the insert from this channel to drive the other channel of the ELOP
®
but it is unlikely that you
want this fader up. Set the ELOP
®
to Link. The threshold of the first channel sets compression and the
second channel sets de-essing. Unlike some de-essers it will not chop highs but reduce wide-band which
is less obvious. The only drag is that the release is a little slow. Remember good de-essing is not to
remove esses - the idea is to reduce esses and make them natural sounding. BTW if you need to de-ess,
you might want to re-think your choice of gear. There are 3 main reasons we get horrible esses: 1) a gap
in the singer’s teeth or just a strange voice, 2) too much or wrongly choosen EQ, or, 3) gear that distorts
the highs. If the cause is “1”, try sticking some dental wax in the gap. No joke. If the cause is “2” then
we can tell you some EQs allow one to boost highs with less problems with the esses or you might try
boosting a higher freq, or less during tracking. If it is “3” you may want a better mic or sell off some
of that cheap IC gear that seems to be distorting the top in a way that you don’t like. Actually we have
heard some pretty expensive gear - both tube and solid state - that has this particularly ugly distortion. If
in doubt, try some tough percussion through it like shakers or tamborines, and see how they sound...
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