In the latest edition to our How To Listen series, award-winning engineer Fab Dupont explains one of the most famous compressors of all time, the SSL Bus Compressor.
Known for it's predestined use on the 2 bus of SSL consoles, it was quickly revered by many engineers as the secret glue for mixes. Fast forward 30 years, and there is a myriad of emulations in both the hardware and software domains, and it continues to find it's way on to countless productions.
In this tutorial, Fab explains:
The controls of the SSL Buss Compressor
What an I/O Loop Insert is so that you can hear the tonal impact of going through converters when using hardware inserts
How to calibrate levels when using external hardware for a fair level matched comparison
The effect of Pan Law
Multiple styles of compression on the 2 Bus, Drum Bus, and Synth Bass, giving you a wide range of options with one compressor.
How to listen to the differences between the hardware and different software emulations.
After you have seen the video, download the presets Fab creates in the video and the example files to put what Fab taught you to use.
Learn how to get the most out of one of the most coveted compressors in history, from Fab Dupont. Only on pureMix.net
Parts of this site and some files are only accessible to pureMix Pro Members or available to purchase. Please see below our membership plans or add this video to your shopping cart.
00:00:00 Good morning children!
Today we're gonna to
take a deeper look
at the SSL Quad G Series compressor
by the venerable Solid State Logic company
which is not to be confused
with the other Logic
which is in a different
state but still solid.
00:00:20 I have here a rackmount
reenactment of the original
Quad compressor that was
in the original 4000 series consoles
that came out in the late 70s
when that console came out.
00:00:31 It pretty much changed
the way people make music
because it was for the first time
in the history of making music
or recording music,
you had compressors and
EQs on every channel
because before that
you had whatever
was in the rack,
maybe a couple of LA-2s, LA-3s,
1176s,
maybe 1178s if you were fancy
but there were not
that many compressors
and here comes this console that has
unlimited amount of compression
because it has one on every channel,
on top of everything you
already had in your rack.
00:00:57 And then they put this
compressor in the Mix Bus so
you can turn a compressor on
across your whole mix bus
and when all that
capability came through
mixers went crazy,
engineers went crazy,
at the time mixers were
not exactly a concept.
00:01:12 At the time you mixed the record
at the end of the session,
that was that, maybe there was some recalls
but it was tough to do recalls,
until the SSL came in.
00:01:20 It was still tough but it was possible.
00:01:22 So, that compressor
on that console
being there all the time and sounding
the way it did
pretty much changed the way
the music sounded, and since then,
through all the iterations
of the SSL consoles,
that's being a constant.
00:01:35 And then when consoles
started to go away
because of costs and computers
people kind of missed that sound
and it's become kind of a legend.
00:01:45 Often,
when you're not fully aware of
what the machine does it becomes a legend
because when you don't know yourself
and sometimes you imagine stuff
and then imagination runs wild
and when you're wild and wild.
00:01:57 So, I thought we'd do today
is do two things:
A, listen to what a SSL G series
really sounds like,
this is a vetted version of it,
I bought it, put it in my rack,
this is what SSL thinks a
G Series should sound like.
00:02:11 Obviously I don't have a console here
but this their version
of that to put in your rack.
00:02:17 And then, a bunch of plug-ins.
00:02:19 We're gonna listen to
it and then we're gonna
try and make the most of it,
learn how to use it
and not misuse it or overuse it.
00:02:27 My intuition is
that the reason why
this compressor is
so widely adopted
and still one of the favorite ever
is not necessarily 100% about the sound
but also about the ergonomics.
00:02:36 Meaning, it's really easy to use
and it's hard to screw up.
00:02:39 Let me run you
through the controls,
you've heard of it before.
00:02:42 We have a Threshold.
00:02:45 We have an Attack time,
and it's fixed.
00:02:50 That's it, you don't have to
fuss around, you choose.
00:02:53 Most people I see,
the attack time is either wide open
or wide close in the first two,
for some reason.
00:02:59 Ratio, 2, 4, 10.
00:03:02 Some compression,
more compression,
a truck load of compression.
00:03:05 Release,
some fixed an then and 'Auto'
that actually sounds good
or is useful depending
on how you look at it.
00:03:12 Make-up gain.
00:03:14 On-Off button.
00:03:16 This unit has a side-chain,
the original console unit
did not have a side-chain
and this is fantastic,
it's called the Auto Fade,
in case you're too lazy to
lower the fader by hand,
you can press this button.
00:03:27 'I want it to fade 10 seconds',
and then it will fade out,
I'll show you that.
00:03:30 We're gonna listen
to the hardware unit.
00:03:32 But the first thing we're gonna
do is learn how to use it
using plug-ins because
it's easier to do
and it's easier for you to reproduce,
I hope.
00:03:39 Because of it's original
location in the console,
this compressor was mostly used
as a Mix Bus compressor,
meaning the whole mix goes through it.
00:03:47 There's actually a really funny line
in the manual from the original
4000 console that says and I quote:
"Note of warning:
be careful when mixing with
the compressor switched in
as you may end up
pushing the faders up
too far if you forget
that it is in the circuit."
Wisdom from the manual
on the SSL console.
00:04:06 Which also could apply to
many other compressors,
but, you know, this one in particular.
00:04:11 I have here a track from my good
friend Yuri, his band Rain on Mars
from South Africa.
00:04:16 I love this record,
I mixed this record.
00:04:18 These are the stems,
the post-mixing Stems.
00:04:43 I love it.
As I said,
the SSL G Bus compressor
tends to be used on mix buses
but you can use it on many
things, it's a compressor.
00:04:53 So a compressor compresses.
00:04:54 If it's good on a mix bus
it should also be pretty good
on a Drum bus.
00:04:59 Let's listen to
just the Drum Stem.
00:05:09 And bring up our plug-in.
00:05:10 I'm using the UAD one because I love it.
00:05:13 I own it.
00:05:14 And these are the people who make
good sounding plug-ins.
00:05:17 There's lot of options on the plug-in side,
there's the Cytomic Glue,
there's the SSL one.
00:05:22 They all sound slightly different,
I listened to all of them.
00:05:25 This one works for me
and that's why I wanna use.
00:05:27 So, check this out,
I'm gonna use this plug-in
as if were the original hardware unit,
I'm gonna ignore the stuff below here.
00:05:36 OK, if you want we can
play with the Auto Fade
of 10 seconds.
00:05:54 Madly useful.
00:05:55 OK, so...
00:05:56 As I said, I'll ignore these
modern
amenities,
the side-chain filter and the mix,
I'm gonna work on
the drums using just
your standard SSL G
Bus compressor controls.
00:06:07 Let's just lower the Threshold.
00:06:25 Make-up this gain.
00:06:27 What do we notice here?
We notice that,
if you pay attention
to the bass drum
and the attack of
the rest of the drums
you get more attack.
00:06:34 Without.
00:06:51 My level matching is not perfect.
00:06:53 But when you work with
a compressor like that
your level-matching
is never perfect.
00:06:57 This is not perfect, right here.
00:06:59 This is not perfect so
you're eyeballing it,
maybe we should say earballing it.
00:07:04 That's a new word, earballing.
00:07:06 So you're earballing it.
00:07:07 The ergonomics of the compressor,
meaning like
the taper on the button,
how it feels,
how it's marked even,
influence you in doing things.
00:07:16 Since you're earballing it
it's not really precise,
so maybe you're gonna
jack the level up a
little bit on the gain
and that's gonna
make you feel better
about what you're doing.
00:07:25 And that's OK.
00:07:26 That's part of the appeal
of the machine, right?
You're not being scientific.
00:07:30 You're trying to get
a sound you like.
00:07:32 You like this sound,
or this sound?
Obviously we know that if you do this,
which is what most people do...
00:07:49 'Oh, this is much better.'
And there's nothing
inherently wrong with that
but if you really wanna learn
about the sound of the unit
you can only learn it if you level match
or close to level match,
or let the machine drive
you were it wants to be.
00:08:06 So let's try and level match ish.
00:08:19 You could also use a meter.
00:08:27 I have here a prototype version
of our 'Decibel' meter
and let's look at it
pre and post,
I'm gonna look at short and momentary
and try to average the two.
00:08:49 Pretty even,
so now we can decide whether we want
or not want that sound.
00:08:55 Since we know now that we're
more or less in the ball-park.
00:08:57 Again, we started here.
00:09:07 The first thing I like
you to notice is the tone.
00:09:10 How does the bottom of
the bass drum sound?
This is where we started,
I'm actually gonna
bypass the whole plug-in.
00:09:16 This is the raw sound.
00:09:33 What happens to
the super bottom.
00:09:35 It's loped off a little bit, right?
So, it sounds tighter
or may some say
a little thinner.
00:09:40 Not as
wide open. Also listen to
the center
and the hi-hats
and transient on the clap.
00:09:49 Check it out, without.
00:10:05 It gets a little
brighter, right?
So, it gets a little thinner at the bottom
and it gets a little brighter at the top.
00:10:11 And actually it does that also
just without gain.
00:10:14 This particular plug-in is actually
maybe less over in that spirit
than say the hardware
or other plug-ins.
00:10:21 And that works for me because
I like the compression,
I don't necessarily like the tone
control when I use this machine.
00:10:27 But that's my personal taste.
00:10:28 But I know that a lot of people love
the SSL compressor because
it makes things a little shinier
and then it takes care of
that unruly bottom
that you ofter end up with
at the end of the mix.
00:10:38 So now let's dig further into what
the other controls can do.
00:10:41 We know that we're more or less
level matched with
these settings.
00:10:45 And we know that we get
a little more punch,
we get some bottom control
and some forwardness.
00:10:49 As a reminder this is
where we are right now.
00:10:58 I'm using the Auto Release
and a middle of the
road setting at 1.
00:11:03 If I want more attack,
I want it to be punchier.
00:11:06 Really snappy.
00:11:08 What I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna slow down the attack...
00:11:12 And listen to it.
00:11:16 So obviously the level jacks up.
00:11:18 The level jacks up because,
since it takes longer for the compressor
to get into compression
because it's lower,
then it's gonna let more
signal through
thus the level is gonna rise,
so now I have to rematch.
00:11:44 More or less, right?
So, here's the
problem with working
either with hardware
or working this way.
00:11:50 Which one do you like best?
Really hard to tell.
00:11:54 You can't remember what it was
like, right?
Because...
00:11:57 you have the impression of it
but you don't have the real
validity of it.
00:12:00 So that's the joy of the plug-in.
00:12:02 What if we did this?
What if we save this
as a preset?
Let's call it 'SNAPPY'.
00:12:11 Because the attack is slow
so I'm gonna call it 'SNAPPY'.
00:12:18 And indeed,
if I compare to the raw signal,
which is this.
00:12:30 I do get a nice
kind of like 'Ooomph' thing.
00:12:33 But, it feels a little clamped,
check it out.
00:12:44 I do get the transient coming through,
it's nice.
00:12:46 I'm at 2:1 by the
way but you see that
because you're
like at the screen.
00:12:49 Say if I want to make it even
snappier and get even more transient.
00:12:52 And make it even more like
in your face.
00:12:55 I could compress more,
thus lower the Threshold,
keep everything as the same.
00:12:59 And jack up the make-up.
00:13:01 It would do something like this.
00:13:35 I'm trying to be precise.
00:13:37 I'm gonna save this as
'SNAPPIER'
Cool.
00:13:45 So now I can go between
'SNAPPY' and 'SNAPPIER'.
00:13:48 So 'SNAPPY' sounds like this.
00:14:05 As a reminder, we started right here.
00:14:16 Which one do you like best?
So I'm gonna
put those settings
into a file which I will
attach to this video,
so if you have this plug-in,
you can
just import them,
if you don't have this plug-in,
you have a plug-in that have the
exact same settings
because all the plug-ins are trying
to imitate
something that's hardware
thus you should be able
to do the same experiment.
00:14:36 But I strongly recommend
you do run this experiment
with these sounds.
00:14:40 I pick this music for
one particular reason.
00:14:42 It's the same bar to bar.
00:14:44 So when you do A to B,
you don't have to focus
on how the player played,
this is not a player,
it's machine
so you know that the only difference
is the plug-in not the music.
00:14:53 And that's really important.
00:14:55 Let's do that again.
00:14:56 We started here, raw.
00:15:22 Cool, what else can we do?
Well, we could make it 'snappiest',
by...
00:15:28 speeding up the release
of the compressor.
00:15:32 Right now I'm in Auto mode
so the SSL compressor
is trying to analyze
the speed of the music
and trying to
understand
what would be the best
Release time in real-time.
00:15:42 Tough to do plus it is
70s technology.
00:15:46 How about we decide
what the release time should be?
Say I take my
'SNAPPIER',
it sounds like this.
00:15:56 And I just go to the
fastest release time.
00:16:02 And I'm gonna save it as 'SNAPPIEST'.
00:16:18 You can really hear it on the
claps, right?
Check this out,
this was 'SNAPPIER'.
00:16:21 On the claps.
00:16:30 You recognize that sound, right?
So that's the sound of the compressor
with the very slow attack
or a slower attack
and a fast release.
00:16:38 You can do that
with any compressor.
00:16:40 It just so happens
that this compressor
has a certain tone because
of the technology, it's a VCA,
and it's a VCA
from the 70s.
00:16:47 So it also does that like,
little tone on top of the gain control.
00:16:52 So you can go from here...
00:17:02 And we're starting
to see the appeal
of a compressor like this.
00:17:06 Could I do this with the Oxford Compressor
or the built-in compressor
of your DAW?
Yes, you could.
00:17:12 But you would not have the
emulation of the VCA sound
so you would not do the lop off
and the forwardness thing.
00:17:19 And also, you would have continuous
attack and release, most likely.
00:17:23 And so,
it would not behave exactly like the
VCA so it would sound a little different
but you can get that effect,
just not exactly like that.
00:17:31 Which is why people
latched onto this.
00:17:33 Because that's the
sound we have in our ear
because that's the compressor that
was in the middle of the consoles
when 80% of all hits
from the 80s and
early 90s were mixed.
00:17:41 And that's why it just hits us,
it's like when you hear
or smell something
that your mother cooked
when you were two years old,
it brings back memories,
makes you feel that way.
00:17:51 This is the same.
00:17:52 This is the smell of the 80s.
00:17:54 As I said earlier,
a compressor is a compressor.
00:17:58 And so,
I'm using this Mix Bus compressor
as I read about it all the time
into my drum bus.
00:18:07 But you can use it on
individual instruments,
for example,
let's look at this bass.
00:18:22 I love this stuff.
00:18:23 It is so delightfully
cheesy in a great way.
00:18:34 So I listen to this bass and I tell myself
it's a little wooly,
it's got a little bit
like an unruly bottom,
it's a little unfocused.
00:18:44 Sounds like a great job for
the SSL G Bus compressor, yo!
So...
00:18:48 Let me turn it on.
00:18:52 Right away I get the crazy gain
from the default of the plug-in
which I don't like so
I'm gonna lower that.
00:19:01 Notice the difference in sound
just with on-off and no compression,
this is without.
00:19:13 Even before compressing
the bottom is a little tighter
and the things are more in focus.
00:19:19 No compression.
00:19:21 A good friend of mine,
Chris Muth,
who is
a genius electrical engineer
and tech
was the head-tech for the
Hit Factory for 20 years
then built Sterling Sound,
the world-class
mastering facility
and then
started Dangerous Music
who makes, with Bob Muller,
the Dangerous 2-Bus,
that was their first product,
all the monitor sections that
we all love and use,
the Bax, the Dangerous Compressor,
that man once told me:
'You know,
people should start thinking
about using compressors as EQs
and EQs as compressors'.
00:19:56 And I was like:
'Yeah, sure! And you're the Queen
of England and I'm the Beatles.'
And then, as I got better at what I do
it was like: 'I know
what he's talking about'.
00:20:04 This is
no compression,
flat, no circuit,
and then no compression,
just the circuit.
00:20:17 It's like if I had a little bit of a shelf
but a dynamic ish
kind of not EQ like shelf
that makes this have more focus.
It's nice!
Then I wanna start compressing.
00:20:34 I want more punch.
00:20:35 I'm gonna slow the attack down.
00:20:44 Try and match this.
00:20:52 Let's just not be so
metrosexual about it.
00:21:01 It does good things.
00:21:10 It does that thing, right?
OK, cool.
00:21:12 Now listen to the bottom.
Without.
00:21:28 So,
we want it more focused
but this may be a little
smidgeon too focused
because it is the bass
of the track afterall,
if I play with the drums.
00:21:43 It's a little 'Ahn', right?
So one of the ways that
we can bring bass back
when you're compressing something,
specially with the SSL compressor,
is to speed up the release
because what it will do
is it will clamp down
but let go.
00:21:57 And so the bass has
the ability to bloom back up.
00:22:00 I'll go back to bass only.
00:22:02 This is where we are right now.
00:22:07 With the release sped up.
00:22:20 Did you hear the difference in bounce?
I'm gonna play it again, check it out.
00:22:23 So,
with the very fast release
the compressor just goes 'Ooomph'
and let's the thing move.
00:22:29 With the Automatic
or a slower release,
I'm gonna show you
a slower release,
then it just gets in and it stays
which means that
all that bloom at the bottom is
clamped down like if
you had a fader on it.
00:22:41 Stay down, stay down!
As opposed to
the fader that follows faster.
00:22:45 That's why the bass
has time to bloom.
00:22:47 So, I recommend,
no matter what the
compressions settings are,
to always pay attention
to what your
Attack and Release settings are,
specially with an SSL compressor,
we have so few controls.
00:23:00 This is really easy to do.
00:23:02 Lower your threshold until
you get into a zone
where you're comfortable
and then
screw with your attack and release speeds
to get the presence
that you're looking for.
00:23:11 It works good.
00:23:13 Check it out.
00:23:13 This is
very fast.
00:23:22 And this is the slowest
before Automatic.
00:23:32 Again.
00:23:34 Of course it's louder
but try and listen through
the level difference.
Check it out.
00:23:54 Let me help you,
I'm gonna make another preset.
00:23:57 Let's start here.
00:23:58 Was that our 'SNAPPIEST'?
No, I'll just redo
it really quickly,
that's the joy of
the compressor,
very slow attack,
very fast release.
00:24:20 Good enough.
00:24:21 Let's 'Save it as' and call it:
'FAST RELEASE BASS'.
00:24:28 And then,
slow the release down
and match level.
00:24:39 I'm using the
uncompressed signal
to try and match the level
and then,
I'll call it 'SLOW RELEASE BASS'.
00:24:49 We'll go back and forth.
00:24:58 Right?
It's immediate, check it out.
00:25:00 Fast release.
00:25:16 All that rubbery
yummy bottom goes away.
00:25:19 So if you know that that's
what you want, awesome,
say you recorded a bass where
you have a lot of basses
and if you EQ them
it feels thin or feels unnatural
then you can use a
compressor like this.
00:25:32 This is in particular
because of it's tonal characteristics
and the way it works to the tone
that bass down and to rule it in.
00:25:39 Myself, I like it
when it's bassy.
00:25:42 So let's go back to our
fast release bass
with the drums.
00:25:55 Let's compare with just these
two plug-ins in and out.
00:25:58 This is where we started.
00:26:14 It's more immediate and it's more
punchy and it has more transients
and it does the things that we
associate the G Bus compressor with.
00:26:22 Slow attack, fast release.
00:26:24 Slow attack, fast release.
00:26:25 That's my vibe.
00:26:26 What I'm trying to show you
is the impact of this
very simple settings
so that you're in control
so that when you have a problem
you know what the problem is.
00:26:34 If you, as the Solid State people
in their manual said,
go too hard into it, what's gonna happen?
What you just saw.
00:26:40 If you're on Auto and you have
quite of bit Threshold into it
and you compress quite a bit,
well, your bottom is gonna go away.
00:26:50 And that is the sound that we
know, right?
The sound of an SSL compressor
being pushed too hard.
00:26:54 The bottom goes away, a little bit.
00:26:56 Not completely,
or it could go away completely
if you push really hard.
00:27:00 But that's the sound we know.
00:27:01 And if you are aware
of what's going on
then you can fix that.
00:27:05 If
you don't like the sound.
00:27:08 Of course.
00:27:09 Now let's look at this exact thing
on the master bus.
00:27:12 I'm gonna remove the
solos and we're gonna hear
the whole song in it's all
glorious power.
00:27:34 These are stems as I said
so it's not, you know...
00:27:37 If I were mixing this today
I would do things differently,
the vocal is a little crispy
but often you get that
so let's see what a
SSL compressor plug-in
would do on the mix bus.
00:27:47 And yes,
we're gonna listen
to the hardware.
00:27:50 Just wait.
00:27:51 I'm gonna move
the hardware insert that I have this on
one down, so I can bypass all three
quickly like this.
00:28:02 And that will allow me to show
pre and post
the three SSL compressors as
the only processing
on this stem session.
00:28:08 So,
let's start this way.
00:28:17 So the vocal is a little forward.
00:28:19 Obviously I have control of it
because I have this amazing
tool called the fader.
00:28:22 But let's just imagine
you know, I'm in the
throes of this mix and
I have my compressor on.
00:28:29 And I'm gonna lower the threshold,
get in a 2:1,
let's see what I can do.
00:28:57 Let's go back to our Decibel,
the shipping version of
Decibel looks a lot better than this.
00:29:01 This is our
prototype but I love it
and it reads well
and it tells me what I need to know.
00:29:23 Good enough for rock and roll.
00:29:25 I would never
level match with a meter
in the middle of the mix, obviously.
00:29:31 This is just so that
we can really learn from it.
00:29:33 You would just push it
until it feels good,
usually you push it a little
louder and it feels great.
00:29:38 So let's see what we have here.
00:29:39 We have,
Threshold,
some make-up to try to level match.
00:29:44 Very slow attack.
00:29:45 Very fast release at 2:1.
00:29:47 It sounds like this. Without.
00:30:04 You hear that, right?
It does what people call
glue things together,
meaning the instruments seem
closer together because
it's in compression
and it's sort of kind of pumping.
00:30:14 Check it out.
00:30:15 Listen to the relationship between
the bass drum
and the vocal, that's really what matters.
00:30:21 Listen to their alignment.
00:30:22 Without,
the vocal is a little forward.
00:30:38 It brings everything
more on the same plane.
00:30:41 So, what will happen
if you do a lot of it?
It will bring
everything
too much on the same plane.
00:31:02 And the bottom stuff
just goes away.
00:31:04 Even with
the very fast release.
00:31:06 This is where you have to
be careful what you do.
00:31:08 The only difference here
is the 6 dB of compression
versus
3 or 4.
00:31:23 So,
that is where you have to have
your eye riveted on it
and with a plug-in
you have to open the plug-in
to be aware of it
or you have to use Pro Tools like
gain reduction meter, but often,
on a mix bus maybe
you have a limiter
so you don't really
know what's going on.
00:31:39 In hardware you have
this thing all day long.
00:31:42 In software
it's really easy to overdo it
because you don't
know what's going on
and it's like the frog
in the pan of water, right?
If you put a frog
into
a pan of cold water
and you put it
on a stove, don't do that.
But if you did that to a frog
and the water just
went up in temperature
this frog would stay in there.
00:32:02 Whoever was sick enough to do
that experiment is not my friend
but I'm told that's how it works.
00:32:08 But if you drop the frog
into the boiling water
the frog would jump right out
because we are senseful people.
00:32:14 With the compression is the same.
If you are
or you do your mix like this
and then you say: 'Oh, I need a compressor'
at the end of your mix and you
put this song and you use a preset,
you go here, I wanna use
my good friend Chris Coady's
'Classic 384 Drum' or 'Drum Room Smash'
or whatever,
just blazes on something
and the thing goes...
00:32:35 And all your bottom goes
away, you're gonna go,
'Oh, no!'
But if you start from the
beginning and start pushing into it
you're gonna end up with
too much compression on
the SSL bus compressor.
00:32:47 And you're gonna get that sound
the sound of the
late 80s or early 90s
where it feels like they forgot
to turn on the bass track.
00:32:54 So don't do that.
00:32:56 We haven't talked about the other ratios.
00:32:58 We've talked about
the attack and the release
extensively
but we haven't talked
about the ratios.
00:33:07 I personally
never use any other thing other than 2:1
because I use this for
what I just showed you
but now that you
know how it works,
there are applications
you can think of.
00:33:21 For example,
a 10:1 compressor is essentially a
limiter, let's be real, right?
So why would we use a limiter for?
Well,
we have this tone right,
we know that this is gonna lop off
some of the bottom.
00:33:33 That could be useful.
00:33:35 And then,
we know that,
if we have a limiter
and we have a very fast attack
then we can catch some peaks.
00:33:41 So maybe it could be useful to
use this SSL G Bus compressor
as a limiter at 10:1
with a very fast attack
and a very fast release
to just kiss does peaks.
Maybe that works.
00:33:51 That combined
with
the
you know, the tone of it.
00:33:57 If you wanna limit something
you put the Massey Limiter
or the UA Limiter
or the Sonnox Limiter
or whatever, the L2, Pro-L2,
all fantastic
for that kind of limiting.
But maybe,
there's something
we can do with this.
00:34:10 What's important is for
you to be able to picture
what it's gonna do
and if you have a problem
to use the tool you have
for its characteristics.
00:34:18 So that it gives the results you want.
00:34:19 If we listen to this, with nothing.
00:34:30 See that vocal?
That vocal is pretty forward.
00:34:32 What if we turn that on?
So, right now the Threshold is at +15
and nothing should happen.
00:34:43 Except of course for the tone of the VCA
and circuitry emulation
and then I'm gonna
lower the threshold.
00:34:51 Pretty brutal.
00:35:13 It's a little too loud.
00:35:22 See that?
It gives a certain shine,
catches those claps,
allows me to raise
the level of the track
having the claps being
pushed down a little bit
and that gives a certain tone
which is very different from the
tone we had before. Check it out.
00:35:37 This is raw.
00:35:52 Two very different philosophies,
let me save this settings.
00:35:56 'LIMIT'.
00:35:58 And match it
level wise with another one.
Give me one second.
00:36:07 And then,
maybe go back to our standard vibe.
00:36:23 Call that 'CLASSIC COMP'.
00:36:32 Different right?
I wanna open this so we can choose
quickly in-between.
00:36:43 So this is our limit.
00:36:44 Listen to the width
and listen to, specially
the presence of the bass synth
and listen to her vocal.
00:36:51 And of course the claps
but we heard that before.
00:37:24 So,
the 'LIMIT' is wider
the bass is more forward
but it doesn't do as much
for containing the vocal
whereas the 'CLASSIC COMP',
as a sound we know,
it's get that more steady,
more dense quality to it
but it's not as bouncy
and the side basses have been
pushed back a little bit.
00:37:43 At this point,
it's 100% a question of taste
as long as you can internalize
what the settings
are gonna do for you
and be able to apply them
in real-time
while you're working.
00:37:54 So now...
00:38:00 Here's what I've done.
00:38:03 Because a great deal
of what the
SSL G Bus compressor brings to the fore
is not necessarily
the
gain reduction quality of it
it's the tone of it.
00:38:15 There's a lot of
folklore around it.
00:38:20 So I think it would be
really interesting to
just try and match settings
between a plug-in and a compressor
and then...
00:38:27 For you to hear it.
00:38:29 And so, you can make your own opinion.
00:38:32 So this is a SSL,
I bought it used
but it's been
looked over by a tech
and it does what's
supposed to do
and it compresses in
G Bus kind of a way.
00:38:42 And so the first setting that's really
interesting to listen to is
flat.
00:38:47 That's a really
interesting setting.
00:38:49 So, I'm gonna
bypass
the SSL G Bus but to be very very fair,
what's really important
is to know
that the way that this is organized,
I'm using Pro Tools and I'm
using HD I/Os to be able
to do a real-time loop-through, right?
So,
If you see here, direct,
that means that the signal is going
out of a pair of outputs of my HD I/O
and then going back into
the same pair of inputs.
00:39:15 That's what they call an I/O loop insert
in Pro Tools.
00:39:18 So, if I do this,
it's the raw sound
digital in-the-box, no analog.
00:39:29 And then this
is just a run-through
D to A, A to D.
00:39:33 I'll do it a couple of times.
00:39:58 So the tone shifts
but it's not super drastic.
00:40:00 If you want I can point
you to what to listen for.
00:40:03 Listen to the bass drum,
the low-mids is the
first thing you listen to
when you start listening to converters
because that's hard to
and also the 3 kHz area
but in this case
listen to the low-mids
which means the 'uhmh' of the bass drum.
00:40:15 So,
all digital.
00:40:28 So it's a little leaner
doing the round-trip.
00:40:31 It's level-matched, I promise,
we spent time making
sure it's level-matched.
00:40:35 But here's the fun part.
00:40:37 I'm gonna go through
the Solid State Logic compressor,
the same system,
coming out of a pair into the
Solid State Logic compressor
and going back into
Pro Tools in real-time.
00:40:48 So, no compression,
just flat, right?
It's off.
00:40:53 So just the sound of the circuitry.
00:40:55 So,
this is all digital.
00:41:05 And this is the hardware.
00:41:29 But why does it sound so small?
It sounds so small because this
unit, which again,
it's perfectly well maintained
is 0.9 dB softer
when you pass it through it
just flat,
I don't know why,
it is what it is with this unit.
00:41:45 So, imagine a real life situation,
you're mixing,
you insert your SSL,
expensive as hell SSL
G Bus compressor rack mount
and everything goes...
00:41:56 And the your singer
in the back goes like:
"I don't like it".
00:41:59 You know?
So you got be careful
about this things.
00:42:01 So what I did is,
I basically opened the
Threshold all the way
and I matched
the level
and let's make absolutely sure,
this is gonna be painful,
watch your ears.
00:42:12 The way I did
is I used a sine-wave tone,
like this.
00:42:17 Painful.
00:42:18 And I ran it through the
straight system
and measured the level.
00:42:29 It's at -21 because
I'm using a -18 tone
and there's a 3 dB pan law.
00:42:35 And this is a mono tone
going through a stereo bus.
00:42:38 Wait, what? Pan law?
What do I mean?
What's a pan law?
Law, more laws? Yeah.
00:42:43 There's a law called the pan law.
Let me show you.
00:42:46 I have here a tone
at -18 and I use -18
because I'm using HD I/O
and they're lined at -18
and I'm using here my
vintage Decibel meters
and I use the vintage ones
because they sound better.
00:42:57 Let's pan it all
the way to the left,
I'll explain.
00:43:00 So,
my tone is panned all the way to the left
and I'm looking at my meter
and it says zero because
my meter is aligned at -18
and my tone is at -18.
00:43:13 If I change the pan
it goes up
like this in the middle
and you notice that now
it's going on both sides so
you see both meters moving
but at -3.
00:43:26 So, what manufactures
have realized
is that when you pan something
if they don't apply a pan
law, meaning,
if they don't adjust the level
when you in the middle
it gets really loud.
00:43:37 Because you now have the same level
going through two speakers
as opposed to going to just one speaker.
00:43:43 So to try and create
constant level illusion
they basically
pad the level of stuff that's in the middle
and then bring
the level back to it's normal level
when it's on the side
and that's called a pan law.
00:43:56 And that is why
I calibrated it to -21
when was making sure that
everything was perfectly leveled
because -18 -3?
Then I inserted the hardware
and I ran the same tone.
00:44:15 And I screw with the
make-up gain until
I got exactly at -21.
00:44:20 So now I know
for a fact
that it's perfectly
level matched.
00:44:25 So we can listen again.
00:44:26 So what's happening right now is
the compressor is on
but it's not compressing
because the
threshold is on stun.
00:44:33 Right? So all the way up.
00:44:34 It sounds like so.
00:44:52 Yes, it is the exact same
level I just showed you.
00:44:54 So, digital.
00:45:11 Let me guide you through
what to listen for.
00:45:15 Let's just focus on the vocal.
00:45:16 Listen to the 'pspspss'
part of the vocal.
00:45:18 Digital.
00:45:31 I'm not compressing.
00:45:32 This is just the tone of the box,
so it's get that forward like shine
and if your track is already
bright like this one
you get kind of a spitty thing going.
00:45:41 So that's a thing,
listen to the bass drum now.
00:45:43 Digital.
00:45:57 It does that loping off
and it has that thing
that people call punchy.
00:46:03 And that's fair,
it feels punchy because there's less
of that 'mmm' thing going,
a little bit less.
00:46:10 And so the transients
speak more and we get that.
00:46:13 As I reminder,
because I know what you're thinking.
00:46:16 I'm comparing digital to hardware,
I'm not comparing
the converter.
So, let's do that.
00:46:22 Which is why I have this,
because I know how you think,
sneaky!
So,
this is the direct
round-trip
of the converters
so we're gonna take the
converters out of the way.
00:46:49 So yes, it does do that.
00:46:51 Control or lop off the bottom
depending on how
you're on your semantics.
00:46:55 And then,
move things forward in the high-end.
00:46:58 And that's what I think
has seduced a lot of people.
00:47:02 So now, let's reproduce our settings,
very slow attack
very fast release,
then let's lower the threshold.
00:47:30 This is where you see that
the value of hardware
is it's really easy
to level match
because you can just do
it quickly like this.
00:47:37 Where with a mouse you have to
do this. So that's one
advantage of hardware,
it's being able to touch things.
00:47:44 I can touch things.
00:48:14 And it does what
it's supposed to do.
00:48:16 Now,
the moment we all
have been waiting for.
00:48:20 Let's try and match
the plug-in to it
with our Classic Comp preset.
00:48:24 Since I was hovering more or less
over unity it should be OK.
00:48:34 So 20.4 ish
on the software and...
00:48:44 Right, 20.4 ish on the hardware.
00:48:46 Perfect!
Let's make sure we get
the same amount of compression.
00:48:51 Where were we?
Almost four.
00:48:58 Again, you can’t really
match this perfectly but...
00:49:23 A little louder.
00:49:26 Come on girl.
00:49:34 That's pretty close.
00:49:35 Hardware.
00:49:42 Software.
00:49:49 So they're brothers.
00:49:50 Or sisters, depending on the
gender of your compressors.
00:49:54 But there are differences.
00:49:57 Check out the hardware,
listen to the vocal.
00:50:14 So the hardware has more
of that forward tilt 'pspsps' thing.
00:50:17 At least my hardware does.
00:50:20 I am sure, because I know how they work,
that this plug-in sounds exactly like
whatever G Bus Compressor
they sampled.
00:50:26 I mean, you can think of
it as being in the same
street
of the same
zip code
of the same town
of the same country.
00:50:41 Not exactly the same.
00:50:43 Because
that's my unit.
00:50:46 That was UA's unit
and then your unit
or a well or not
well maintained unit
inside a console with a
different power supply.
00:50:55 They all gonna sound
slightly different
but they all have that characteristic.
00:50:59 So, I'll do it again.
00:51:01 Software.
00:51:15 So if you like that forward tilt
and you like
the bass being lighter
you need to come work in my studio
and use my SSL G Bus compressor
because that's the way
that this one sounds.
00:51:25 If you like
the fatter, rounder,
less forward tilt thing
then the UA plug-in
will do for you
if you maybe can find a plug-in
that does what my hardware does,
I know that the
Cytomic Glue thing sounds...
00:51:38 has that 'fff' thing.
00:51:39 And that's probably why
I don't use it as much
because it's not useful to me.
00:51:44 Most of the tracks I get
are pretty bright already
so I'd rather have something more mellow.
00:51:48 But for some people
that's what they need.
00:51:50 I bet you a million and half bucks,
in the currency of your choice
that if we
bring a 4000 G console
from the early 80s
and connect it to the power here
that one will sound
different from this one
which should sound
different from that one
which will sound
different from say...
00:52:09 This one.
00:52:11 They all are gonna sound
a little bit different
but they're all gonna have
the same characteristics.
00:52:15 And so, once you know the characteristics
and you internalize them
as opposed to imagine
what they'll do
then you'll be able to
make educated decisions
based on a true problem solving
or tone seeking
logic.
00:52:33 Your logic, not their logic.
00:52:36 And that was the point of this video.
00:52:38 Et Voilà!
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Fab Dupont is a award-winning NYC based record producer, mixing/mastering engineer and co-founder of pureMix.net.
Fab has been playing, writing, producing and mixing music both live and in studios all over the world. He's worked in cities like Paris, Boston, Brussels, Stockholm, London and New York just to name a few.
He has his own studio called FLUX Studios in the East Village of New York City.
Fab has received many accolades around the world, including wins at the Victoires de la Musique, South African Music awards, Pan African Music Awards, US independent music awards. He also has received Latin Grammy nominations and has worked on many Latin Grammy and Grammy-nominated albums.
Parts of this site and some files are only accessible to pureMix Pro Members or available to purchase. Please see below our membership plans or add this video to your shopping cart.
I thought Fab's outboard SSL sounded way better. Does anyone know if the Stam SA4000 MK2 is a close comparison?
Muzzamay
2020 Jun 16
Thanks for the great video and info. It's become very apparent to me from this that I cannot hear all the subtle differences Fab is demonstrating here. I hope it's just due to my monitoring sucking and not that my ears are no good (career change required). I'll try adjusting my monitoring environment until I find a result that does allow me to hear the differences provided in this video. If I can succeed, then I'll know I actually have a fighting chance of making better sound design decisions and choices for myself in the future with my gear - I must've just been guessing up to now - crykie!
gabrielmolina66
2020 May 17
Incredible video, thank you so much!
bob.se
2020 Mar 26
Your lessons are changing my life. blessings to you and the whole pureMix Crew
Tazmanian Ninja
2020 Mar 05
17:52 In a matter of fact tone: "This is the smell of the 80s."
Best laugh I've had today :D
MoeMuzik
2020 Feb 28
Awesome video thank you.
kaystrings
2020 Jan 22
Fab i have been following you for a long time everywhere i see your video lecture, its a must watch for me. very technical stuff, you make them very easy to understand you are FABULOUS!!!
beau.s
2020 Jan 09
Fab this was fab! I have the Tegeler Creme (VCA SSL-like buss compressor), a Stam SA4000 clone, and a Schwerkraft Maschine which has a VCA/SSL mode on it. Going to load up the UA plugin and do some comparing between the units as you've suggested. Excited to hear the actual differences! Internalizing tonal differences is going to be so useful. I appreciate you taking the time to do this! Sometimes when I am mixing, the analog stuff just can't be beat. Other times, I have an all digital mixbuss going that can't be beat. It really just comes down to the characteristics needed for that mix.
garycowling
2020 Jan 04
well done very informative.
SE-Noises
2020 Jan 03
Great video!
Unfortunately, the presets cannot be used with Logic Pro X :(
charles.ram
2020 Jan 03
Spanish PLEASEEE :=)
alexfont
2019 Dec 27
This has been my very first video and couldnl't start better : )
really professional and interesting video, also very honest.
10/10 for me this one. Congrats!
purnash.d
2019 Dec 22
WOW! great tutorial!
Forrher
2019 Dec 18
Very interesting and well done!!! Tnx Fab!!!
demixstudio
2019 Dec 14
Super, super informative! Thx! (when compared, I did prefer your hardware unit)
prula
2019 Dec 07
Thanks, really helpful! I learned a lot! In the end you said that the UAD vs you hardware might sound different, because they modeled a different Compressor, as every compressor is slightly different. I think the hardware sounded MUCH better then the UAD Software. I am wondering if I would feel that way, if you would compare 3 other SSL hardware units to the Plugin. If all of the hardware units would sound better than the plugin, I will get me hardware! Thanks for the Video!
ProMix
2019 Dec 07
I have SSL Buss Comp in my AWS console and it's very help me this video . thanks Fab
chris.massa
2019 Dec 04
lol. the smell of the 80's.
alexmreis
2019 Dec 04
Brilliant lesson Fab, have learned more about compression and what to listen for here than in 20 years of lessons, mixing and sharing with others. Keep them coming! Maybe do one on the 1176? :)
Mister Branch
2019 Dec 02
Clear! en very important fundamentals, thanks Fab.
estudio@4emusic.es
2019 Dec 01
Información imoortsnte, debería estas con subtitulos en Español!
slammy80
2019 Nov 30
Excellent and clearly done, as always Fab!
rickdrumss
2019 Nov 30
thank you Fab! very informative!
cfw0047
2019 Nov 29
Another in a long line of clear, concise, professional videos - and thanks for consistently making me happy with my choice of UA plugins/interface.
frederick.a
2019 Nov 29
Very good tutorial, really was able to get what he was talking about. Did not know the software has that vibe the analog has.
krinzo
2019 Nov 29
More UAD plugins tuts pls!
maskdance
2019 Nov 29
Great ! I like this series. it would be better if there are subtitles.
pabloquijano
2019 Nov 28
en español por favor
Wade
2019 Nov 28
The basic fundamentals are what you need in any learning environment. You have always left the choice to us children, but always apprise us of the reasoning behind a particular concept. In this case the SSL. As always very informative... thanks Fab!
jessrho
2019 Nov 27
Thanks Fab! Got ta know the fundamentals.
andymae
2019 Nov 27
Great video. Thanks.
L Pass
2019 Nov 27
Very cool.
jerboythegreat
2019 Nov 27
Teaching fundamentals at it's best. Truly useful and instructive.
