On the Digital Edge

We have recently completed James Taylor’s 2012 European tour, and I am writing this column while kicked back in a comfortable London hotel room, enjoying a couple of days of R&R. My flight home from Reykjavik to LAX was routed through Heathrow (yes, really), so I decided I would do two things. First, I spent two extra days in Iceland sightseeing with my friend (and JT monitor engineer) Rachel Adkins. It was the first time either of us had been to Iceland, and we each figured that we might never get back there. It is a starkly beautiful country, and we enjoyed every minute we spent there exploring the island. Second, I jumped ship in London and took a little time to myself. Everyone in our business deserves a little pampering once in a while.

Today is Friday the 13th, so I guess it’s only fitting I’m writing Part 13 of these Waves plug-in reviews. I’m also guilty of distracted writing, because the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs have begun and I am hopelessly addicted to both playing and watching hockey. My Los Angeles Kings are definitely a long shot, but they won their first game on the road against the mighty Vancouver Canucks and are playing up there again tonight.

Greetings from Ancona, Italy, located on the beautiful coast of the Adriatic Sea! This latest installment of this column is the twelfth of these reviews describing my experiences with Waves plugins. This year seems to have gone by very rapidly.

This afternoon, at rehearsal for an upcoming concert showcasing the release of his new CD, Joe Walsh watched me struggling to remember the correct keystroke sequence for taking a screen shot on my Avid VENUE console. Joe asked why I needed the screen shot, and I told him that for the past 10 months I had been writing this column about Waves plugins for FRONT of HOUSE magazine. He then asked which particular plugin would be the subject for this month’s entry. My answer was that I would be discussing the Renaissance Reverb that we are currently using on background vocals.

Last month, I wrote about my positive experience with the Waves CLA-2A plugin (FRONT of HOUSE, Jan. 2012, page 39). The excellent results obtained from using that emulation encouraged me to try another studio classic compressor that Waves modeled from the personal collection of Chris Lord-Alge. The CLA-3A plugin is derived from the much-revered LA-3A compressor. This solid-state unit employs the same T4 optical attenuator found in the LA-2A. However, the sound of the original LA-3A is more transparent and punchy when compared to its warmer, thicker tube-driven cousin.

In previous columns, various Waves plugins that I use on vocals, horns, violins, electric guitars, bass guitars and drums have been discussed. By now it should be apparent that I like to use a lot of compressors. This current entry will focus on my compressor of choice for the acoustic grand piano: the Waves CLA-2A Classic Compressor.

Okay — I will freely admit it.  There are some processors from my real-world rack of outboard gear that I have been missing since adopting the Avid VENUE mixing platform and then choosing to fully embrace the digital domain by relying exclusively on plugins rather than hardware.  One absent, and very much missed unit, was an easy-to-use, musical-sounding tap delay.  For years, I had been accustomed to having to having one and, quite often, two tc electronic 2290 delay units that I dedicated to lead vocal effects. One would be set for a fairly tight delay time in the 160ms range and returned at a low level to add just a bit of resonant depth to a vocal.  The other 2290 was customarily designated for longer delays, utilizing programmed special effects presets that I would change with a remote MIDI keypad.

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.