Insider’s Secrets
__________________________________________________________
- 10 -
The LA-2A is also used by many engineers on kick drum. Often, a kick drum does not need a lot of
compression, but a compressor can nonetheless tame the big peaks, and add some character and tone
to boot. The LA-2A has just the right attack time to let the beater hit come through, then the program-
dependent nature of the release time gracefully pulls the volume back as the low-end thump occurs.
Michael Cooper noted in his review that “Limiting a kick drum track with the LA-2A, the dynamics
were... reined in tightly, yet so smoothly. Instead of providing a warmer, rounder tone, however, the
LA-2A gave the kick a snappier sound—somewhat like the old trick of taping a quarter to the drum
head where the beater strikes. The rigorously consistent output levels the LA-2A provides, along with
the extra “point” on the sound, was just the ticket... I could crank the kick drum track to where it
rocked hard without any need for rolling off excess bottom end or adding top.”
Electric Guitar and Bass
There’s something very special about the mix of
tube compression and electric guitar and bass,
and this is an area where the LA-2A positively
shines. Ted Spencer described a session involving
a bass overdub as follows: “The LA-2A sounded
just sensational... providing a certain “blended”
quality to the sound but not at the expense of
clarity or dynamic impact.” He went on to enthuse, “For a mix of a pop rock track in Pro Tools,
using the LA-2A inserted on electric guitar was even more of a no-brainer...
if you often compress
electric guitars, buy an LA-2A and you can thank me later.
”
Ace engineer Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco) says, “I use LA-2As all the time. I use
them on bass, and it's one of the compressors I use for reverb. Often I'll send a bunch of things to one
LA-2A and bring it back into the console like a return—it’s great for drums, great for kick drum
especially.”
“LA-2As warm things up,” he adds. “They EQ all the warmth and low mids and bass. When you put
bass and drums in them they get fatter and bigger. And unless you hit them way hard and make the
tubes sizzle they don't really distort. Of course, you can get them to sound like an AC-30 if you want to;
just turn them all the way up.”
Cooper also used the LA-2A to limit a DI'd electric bass guitar, reporting, “As always, the dynamics
processing was completely transparent. And the LA-2A put some much-needed “hair” on the relatively
lean-sounding track, making it beautifully round and lush.”
Acoustic Guitar and Bass
Due to its unique attack and release time characteristics, you’ll find that compressing acoustic guitar
or bass with the LA-2A yields equally excellent results. The pick or slap of the string will sneak through
cleanly, and then a little mild compression will really bring the tone forward: just slowly raise the Peak
Reduction knob until the channel’s meter is almost always showing gain reduction in the -1 to -3 dB
range.
“
If you often compress electric guitars,
buy an LA-2A and you can thank me
later.
”
— Ted Spencer,
Pro Audio Review
