#164: Mastering Vocal Compression: Unleashing the Power of 1176 and LA-2A Compressors

Ever wondered how to make a super compressed vocal stand out? Tune in to EP 164 of the Inside The Mix podcast, where I dive into everything from vocal compression settings to mastering the 1176 and LA-2A compressors. In this episode, I break down the secrets behind compressing vocals effectively—whether you're looking for optimal vocal compression settings, tips on how to compress vocals, or insights on using an 1176 with an LA-2A.

Unlock the secrets of mastering vocal dynamics as I take you on a journey through the world of iconic compressors—the 1176 and LA-2A. Ever wondered how to control those unruly volume peaks in your tracks? Using insights from my own 2022 release "You and I," I uncover how these legendary compressors can transform your vocal tracks from harsh to harmonious. With a deep dive into my process in Logic Pro, you'll learn the exact settings and adjustments I made on the UAD Rev-A 1176 and UAD LA2A compressor to achieve that perfect balance and polish.

In this episode, I'll guide you through:

• Overview of 1176 and LA-2A Compressors: Exploration of these iconic compressors and their role in transforming vocal tracks by controlling dynamics and adding unique character.
• Real-World Application: Insights from my process on my 2022 release, You and I, demonstrating how these compressors smoothed out vocal peaks.
• Step-by-Step Walkthrough in Logic Pro: Detailed settings and adjustments on the Rev-A 1176, addressing challenges like taming loud vocal sections for a balanced, pleasant sound.
• Optimizing Attack and Release Times: The importance of setting these parameters for consistent sound quality and effective gain reduction.
• Exploration of 1176 Characteristics: Insight into how this compressor’s unique sound colour enhances audio tracks.
• Dynamic Control Techniques: Practical tips on mastering dynamic control to enrich and harmonize vocal tracks using these legendary tools.

Join me for a session packed with hands-on techniques and insights that’ll elevate your audio production skills.

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Transcript

Exploring 1176 and LA-2A Compressors

Marc Matthews 0:29

You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your host , Mark Matthews .

Marc Matthews 0:34

Hello and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast . I'm Mark Matthews , your host , musician , producer and mix and mastering engineer . You've come to the right place if you want to know more about your favourite synth music artists , music engineering and production , songwriting and the music industry . I've been writing , producing , mixing and mastering music for over 15 years and I want to share what I've learned with you . Hello , folks , and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast . If you are a new listener , make sure you hit follow wherever you get your podcasts and if you're watching this on YouTube , hit subscribe and the notification bell so you get notified of new episodes . And , to the returning listeners , a huge welcome back , as always .

Marc Matthews 1:14

I was scrolling through threads and social media recently , which isn't something I do very often , and I saw a post which was what is your favorite compressors , one of those engagement posts . Right and overwhelmingly it was 1176 , la-2a and then the Distressor . I've got a Distressor emulation and an LA-2A emulation and I don't have an 1176 . And I thought to myself okay , maybe I am missing out on something here and I think I am late to the party on that . So then I was scrolling through Facebook , which contradicts my point earlier of not really scrolling through social media right and I saw a video and it was someone using the 1176 and LA-2A in series on vocals and how it's been used on many popular releases throughout the decades . Basically because the 1176 has been around for a while , as has the LA-2A , and I thought this must be a sign . Right , I'm late to the party . I need to get on board with this chain of plugins and start using this and experimenting myself . So then what happened was that UAD had a 70% off , so the 1176 was available for 49 quid . Then it was if you spend over a hundred pounds , you get 50 pounds off . So I was like amazing . So I bought the 1176 and the Opal Polymorph Synth for £58 from UAD . It was a sign . Right , it was a sign .

Marc Matthews 2:40

So this episode is me experimenting with the 1176 and LA-2A in series on a vocal that needs taming . The dynamics in this vocal are quite wild . It's a raw vocal and it's from a track that I released back in 2022 called you and I , and , in particular , there's a section where the vocalist goes really high in terms of volume , and I want something that can control those dynamics smoothly . So I thought this is a great use case for the 1176 and LA-2A . So let's dive

How to Set an 1176 for Vocals

Marc Matthews 3:09

in . So we're here in Logic Pro and I've got the raw vocal here . There's no on this whatsoever .

Marc Matthews 3:16

And listen out , for towards the end of this particular phrase , where the vocalist really does push it in terms of volume , and it's almost a bit uncomfortable in how not because of the way she sings but because of the way the volume increases . So listen and you'll see what I mean , or rather you'll hear what I mean Right at the end . There it's almost like it makes you kind of like you're sucking a lemon . It kind of makes your face turn in on itself a bit bit . It's a bit too abrasive for my liking , uh , but in the end it turned out incredible . I love it's probably my favorite song I've ever released . So this is what it sounds like with the 1176 into the lo2a , you take me in , I'm not fighting .

Marc Matthews 4:14

We're still lying .

Marc Matthews 4:21

In particular , that bit at the end , that uncomfortable bit I mentioned , is so much smoother now . Now I'm still playing around with the parameters and getting used to the 1176 in particular , so I could tweak it a bit more . But I'm going to show you what I did to tame this vocal . I'm using the Rev-A 1176 and this is the original Putnam design of the 1176 , so you're going to have the unique characteristics of the original design . I do have the Rev-E , which was the 70s version , which was sort of low-noise era version , as you would call it , but I haven't experimented with that one yet , so we're going to be using the Rev-A in this instance .

Marc Matthews 4:59

So I started with the Vox Peak Catcher , because that's what I'm doing with this one here . I'm catching peaks , basically , and there's a lot , or rather there is that huge one right at the end of that phrase , and I tweaked it slightly . So the attack is all the way fast . Well , almost all the way fast , almost all the way fast . So that is clockwise , so almost at seven , and the release was faster in the patch itself , the preset , so I just brought it back a touch .

Marc Matthews 5:26

So it's just under six and the input is where I am controlling the amount of gain reduction . So I've got it set at 4 to 1 . I don't want any more than 4 to 1 , but it can go up to 20 to 1 , or I believe you can do all buttons in . I haven't tried it yet . So I'm using the input to control the gain reduction . So when it gets to that really loud section , that's where I want the needle at , that's where I want the gain reduction to take place , and there's quite a lot of it it's going to go up to about minus 10 dB . But in the initial phrasing of this section I don't really want any gain reduction to take place . So let's play it and see what I did .

Marc Matthews 6:06

Going where you take me now .

Marc Matthews 6:11

I'm not fighting while still lying .

Marc Matthews 6:19

Yeah , so I'll describe this to you . Those initial words says going nowhere , no game reduction taking place . But then when it starts to get louder , that's when we see the needle start to move and game reduction is taking place up to the point whereby , with that really loud section , there's about 10 dB of gain reduction which is needed to control it . The important thing here , as with any compressor really , and any sort of processing you do , is to get the output to match the input volume , because inherently there's going to be a difference between the two . And I've got the output here and it's set at approximately . It's more than 24 , that must be 20, . What's it going up ? An increments of 6, . So 12 , 15 , 18 , 21, . It's just under 21 in terms of output . So if I play this now without the Rev A compressor on , listen to the first . I was listening in particular to the first phrasing because I want that to be at the same level as it was before .

Marc Matthews 7:26

So this is with the compressor . It's probably a touch louder , maybe a dB louder than it was before , so it could probably bring the output down . But what I want is I want that phrasing there to stay at that same volume that it was before and then bring down that louder section with gain reduction . So I'm going to play it now without the compressor .

Marc Matthews 7:53

I'll play it all the way through and then I'll play it with .

Marc Matthews 8:10

Well , I'm wearing headphones and that really does get inside my head . That last bit there .

Marc Matthews 8:18

So now I'll play it with the compressor .

Marc Matthews 8:32

Much better right , much more controlled . There is an element there , I think when that vocal gets really loud it sounds like it's distorting slightly . But that could well be the original recording . I don't know what microphone it was done on because it was a remote session and the tracks were sent to me . But that is the 1176 . As I say , I'm still playing around with it , still getting used to it , familiarizing myself with the sound of it , but so far I love it . I think it's a fantastic compressor , as I saw in this thread , and I did actually put a post out and said should I buy it ? And overwhelmingly it was yes , yes , yes and various other reasons why .

Marc Matthews 9:07

So now let's move on to the LA-2A . So we've got the 1176

How to Set an LA-2A for Vocals

Marc Matthews 9:10

. We're controlling , we're really slamming down on those peaks there , in particular that louder section of that phrasing . So the LA-2A is going to be more subtle and we're going to be using this just to add a bit of color and just to control it a bit more . It's an optical compressor , so it's a lot slower in its attack time , whereas the 1176 is an FET or FET compressor , very , very fast acting compressor Like the 1176 .

Marc Matthews 9:36

I do have different versions of the LA-2A , but I've gone for the simple one here . I don't have discrete control over emphasis and a high pass filter as well , and I'm using the belting vocal preset . Now , presets are a great place to start , but you need to tweak them to suit what it is you are trying to achieve . Don't just have a plugin , use a preset and then move on . I mean , if that does work , then fantastic , great . But I suggest , yes , starting with a preset , specifically if you are new to the plugin , like with the 1176 , and then tweaking it to match your objectives . For example , with this preset here it was set on limit which is approximately infinity to one in terms of ratio , didn't like that . When it got to the louder section it was too aggressive , so I flicked it to compress , which is much smoother . Three to one in terms of ratio and gain reduction , much more complimentary to what it is I'm trying to achieve here with this sound . I just want to level it out and have it nice and smooth .

Marc Matthews 10:30

Then peak reduction , that's , controlling the amount of gain reduction that is being applied , and then we use the gain to compensate for that gain reduction . Because remember when I did that demonstration with the 1176 at the beginning , with those quieter phrases . I wanted that to be the same volume as it was before . So let's play this with the LA-2A and see how much game reduction we've got going on here . It's about 5 dB and I would say that's probably a bit aggressive . To be fair , I might dial it back a touch . So I'm going to go back down to about 45 . I'm just going to play it again . Yeah , that's better , I like that .

Marc Matthews 11:35

So when I say 45 , that's peak reduction , I could increase the peak reduction and really clamp down on the dynamic range of this performance , like you would often hear in modern pop music , where sometimes the vocal is really slammed with compression Not to my taste , to be honest . I like to let some of that natural dynamic , those natural dynamics , come through . So what we're going to do now is we're going to play it at the beginning and make sure that the gain is at the optimum level . So we're thinking about gain staging . The volume of this audio is at the optimum level to go into the next signal or rather the next plugin in the chain . There isn't one at the moment , but there would be hypothetically right . So I'm going to play it without the tube compressor . So this is with the tube compressor . Yeah , I'm happy with the level there . That sounds pretty accurate to me , so let's play it all the way through now with the tube compressor .

Marc Matthews 12:43

Cool , very nice .

Marc Matthews 13:00

So let's do an A , B before and after . So this is without the 1176 and LA-2A .

Marc Matthews 13:16

I'm not fighting , we're still lying Christ still gets me .

Marc Matthews 13:20

So now this is with the two compressors , 1176 going into the LO2A .

Marc Matthews 13:27

Going with you , damien , I'm not fighting .

Marc Matthews 13:34

We're still lying .

Marc Matthews 13:40

Very nice , much more controlled . I'm thinking I might go in and just play around with the release time on the 1176 , but overall it's much improved Now . Admittedly , if I were working on this project , I would probably use some clip gain on this particular phrase here , so I'm not having to hit the compressor so hard . But I wanted a very good use case example in this instance so I could use the marquee tool , select it and then go up to my tool here and go to gain tool and then just bring this down by I don't know like 4db or something like that . That way I'm not having to hit the compressor so hard . But as I said , I wanted a really obvious and good use case . So there we go . 1176 , la-2a . I've been sleeping on that combo for far too long and I'm probably going to use it a lot going forward . Now there are other 1176 and LA-2A emulations out there Waves , uvi , the list goes on . Can't think of any more . Off the top of my head you could also just use an FET going into an optical compressor , like using the ones in Logic and then tailoring the controls in there and doing something similar . So you don't necessarily have to use the plugins I've used today , but obviously they do have a particular characteristic and sound . That comes with it as well , because you can just run the audio through the 1176 and not do any processing and just get the color of the compressor itself .

Marc Matthews 15:10

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