On the Digital Edge

I am currently enjoying the singular privilege of being on tour with the incomparable writer, singer and virtuoso guitarist, Joe Walsh. As I write this column, we are on a flight from Cincinnati to Dallas. Joe and the band have just performed two excellent sell-out shows in the home state of the James Gang, propelling us into the final week of this tour leg.

When I first loaded Waves Live onto my Avid VENUE console, my primary goal was to discover a compressor that exerted subtle dynamic control while adding strength, body and drive to the three rawest and most elemental sounds in a rock performance – kick drum, bass guitar and electric guitar. To be sure, I had my favorites in the analog world, but I had not yet found a plugin that knocked my socks off for these particular applications.

In the execution of live mixing art, one of the roles an engineer is required to fulfill is that of problem solver. In that capacity, it is necessary to experiment with very specific tools to implement the best possible solutions for each unique task. One recurring challenge has been dealing with instruments that sound great most of the time but demonstrate undesirable characteristics when played louder or higher in frequency. In other words, they get shrill and lose their more pleasing aspects. In my recent experience, two examples immediately come to mind – the high strings of a violin amplified through a piezo pickup, and the thinness of higher-pitched flute and piccolo sounds.

I had just loaded a new plugin into the virtual plugin rack and, as the graphic representation of this classic unit appeared on the display of my Avid VENUE desk, 1970s memories of Val Garay, Record One and great-sounding vocals were instantly triggered.

To quote Adrian Monk, one of my favorite TV characters, "Here's the thing." Horns are cool. They add excitement, movement, color and personality to arrangements. But horns can be loud. Horns can take over mixes in seconds. Horns need to be respected, but horns need to be respectfully controlled. It's necessary to compress horns, but dynamic control has to be implemented without repressing their timbre, vitality and energy.

In last month's issue (FOH, May 2011), I discussed using the Waves C4 multiband compressor as an insert on the snare drum top mic – in my case, an Earthworks DP25C. This column will tackle the snare bottom mic and the Waves C1 compressor/gate plugin.

Five years ago, I migrated from working on analog mixing consoles to the digital platform. Leaving a familiar environment caused more than a little trepidation, but I decided to jump in with both feet. No hybrid world for me, I decided to go digital all the way. Dealing with latency and multiple conversions were not attractive prospects, so I also left behind the thoughtfully assembled racks of beloved outboard gear on which I had depended for so many years.

Calling the Waves C6 a "compressor" is like calling Ben & Jerry's Phish Food "chocolate ice cream." It really doesn't complete the description. Users of Waves' C4 Multiband Compressor will find the C6 familiar, but the C6 adds two "floating" bands (details below) as well as a sidechain input. Combining this with the C6's ability to perform dynamic EQ results in an incredibly flexible and powerful dynamics tool that does way more than just "compression."