Universal Audio 2-1176 Dual 1176LN - Manual (Page 15)

Insider’s Secrets
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“When I am mixing,” Johns adds, “I mult the bass drum and the snare. The bass drum will not be
even, so the first bass drum track—the one that doesn’t have the 1176 on it—gets to breathe. Then I
put another bass drum next to it with an 1176 at a 4:1 [ratio setting]. That evens it out a bit. I sneak
that in and the bass drum is more constant. Of course, you have to change your EQs appropriately... for
the snare, I use one normal track that I EQ to death. Then I will use another one that has gone through
a gate. I put an 1176 on it to make it pop [and] I sneak that in... and all of a sudden the snare just
comes up.”
Indeed, the perception of distortion is increased with lower frequencies in ALL Ratio. That’s why, given
the frequencies and transients created by the kick drum, the 2-1176 can almost literally make an
overhead or room mic explode. As reviewer Trevor Curwen points out, “[All-buttons mode] can give a
quite awesome compressed sound. This is particularly useful in creating a larger than life drum sound,
where compressing the room mics on a drum kit, combined with careful setting of the release control,
can really squeeze out the room ambience.” Added Michael Cooper, “I routed mults of kick and snare
drum tracks to the 2-1176, sharpened their attacks and tightened their decays using the All ratio
setting, and then combined the processed outputs with the original tracks to get positively slammin'
drum tracks. The All setting also sounded incredible on drum mic overheads (using the 2-1176's
stereo-link function), producing hyperventilating Led Zeppelin-style tracks.”
The 2-1176 compression or limiting is, to some degree, program-dependent. That’s an important
feature which allows it to be used in a musical, percussive way. Let’s say you have a medium tempo,
4/4 rock beat—an excellent scenario for using ALL Ratio. In this application, you’d probably have a lot
of input level, a slowish attack (so that the transients sneak through), and a quick release. The sonic
result is extraordinary. First, the kick drum causes a great concussion, which is enhanced by the
unique ALL Ratio distortion. As it does so, the other frequencies “suck in,” followed by an exaggerated
release and recovery, and then the rest of the drum kit sound returns... all in rather dramatic fashion.
All these tricks, by the way, work just as well on prerecorded drum loops. In the July, 2004 issue of
Recording magazine, reviewer Darwin Grosse opted to test the 2-1176 on some loops that didn’t sound
“produced” enough. “I decided to put the 2-1176 in line during mixdown to see how it might improve
these already excellent drum performances,” he wrote. “I was surprised to find that, with only the
slightest compression, the drum sound slotted right into the mix; the coloration of the unit added a
real “Class A” sound to these mixed drums, and helped them sit nicely in a mix while simultaneously
giving them an indefinable presence. I found mixes coming into focus much quicker with the 2-1176
working those drum loops.”
Electric Guitar and Bass
In his review for The Mix, Trevor Curwin used an
1176 extensively on electric guitar, both in the
recording and mixing stages, and reported excellent
results: “Used on a 4:1 ratio when recording some
electric guitars through a miked amp, it didn’t take
much to get a great sounding result... Just using
around 3 dB of gain reduction added a very useful
character to the sound. There is something about an original 1176 that adds a certain presence and
bite that can be especially pleasing on electric guitar, and this new unit had that very same character
about it.”
“
Used on a 4:1 ratio when recording
some electric guitars through a
miked amp, it didn’t take much to
get a great sounding result
”
—
Trevor Curwin, The Mix