.. UAD-1 plugins - tips & tricks ..

[lesha]

Vocals:

Use Fairchild for bringing vocals up front in the mix when looking for clarity and not color... especially female vocals for that "Breathy Brittany" sound.





PULTEC EQ:

Use to add/cut air to the money tracks...

And for adding/cutting tight, focused, low frequency content.

Guitars, vocals, drums, bass...you name it.

Using the boost and atten knobs at the same time is the trick.

Nothing can brighten up distorted guitars at 4k or 8k like the pultec.

It just doesn't sound harsh. Vocals like a healthy boost at 12-16k with a broad bandwidth.

More Pulec EQ:

"I love the boost and attenuation on the Pultec, using those together can create some unique sounds. Attenuating at 5k and boosting at 10k, is a trick I used to use on Analog consoles and now the UAD Pultec. It is a great thing for guitar sounds. It just gives a type of distortion that is really pleasing to the ear. I'm still learning the best way to use them. The Cambridge alone has so many different curves available."



Excerpt from UA Nov 2004 Webzine - Engineer Brian Foraker



NIGEL:

Use preflex not only on guitars, but on bass, synths, loops, vocals.

It really has a million uses. Think outside the box.

The comp/gate in Nigel sounds great on loops too.

That little compressor is very aggressive.

The gate is amazing too.



REALVERB PRO:

Is amazing for putting a source in its own space.

You have to tweak the EQ and stereo placement in the plug though to make it blend in right. Try running a dry kick and snare combo to a subgroup.

Insert a realverb pro, (try the "drums in a vat" preset) followed by the 1176. You will have the beginnings of a massive sound.









VARIOUS UAD-1 TECHINQUES:

MULTI-UAD-1 effects on Vocals:

The great thing about the UAD Plug-Ins is the amount of control and creativity you get. As a vocalist, it is hard to get the perfect sound for your voice that you imagine in your head. I love vocal sounds that have warmth with a little bit of WOW to them. By using the Phasor in the UAD, if tweaked right, you can get a very warm sound with a little variation of filtering. The RealVerb reverb gives variations of rooms, materials and delay times that weren't even in my mind to use, but added so much to something so little. The final step to my vocals is using the 1176 to compress and boost to the perfect level, usually within a mix of electronic riffs and heavy guitars. I use the same set up in each one of my projects for vocals, but there are subtle changes (of course) per song depending on the music and vocal approach



or try:

You can get a really nice vocal sound, if you run it through the 1176LN first as a line amplifier, and then EQ as normal, followed by the LA2A as the track compressor, and for a really tight vocal use the LA2A's limit mode, which if memory serves is about 10:1 ratio.



or how about:

It is just amazing to be able to have the Pultec Pro and 1176LN in chain. I use the Pultec EQ for giving the vocals a crisp edge around the 16k range, and depending on the voice will trim the low end as the well, then apply a rather serious amount of the classic 1176LN compression sound with the 2nd ratio switch and loads of drive. I can't rave about this card enough!

Excerpt from August 2004 UA Webzine-Glen Nichols engineer





Killer Vocals UAD-1 style:

For vocals, I generally use an EQ such as the Cambridge to shape, for openers, then an 1176LN in lineamp mode, using the attack/release controls for the envelope, and an LA2A for compression. Then bang it all through the Pultec Pro for shaping, and instant killer vocals.

Neil Wilkes



Here's a nice Dual Reverb tip:

If you use the RS-1 on individual tracks, and also send these tracks to a Realverb-Pro or Dreamverb with their early reflections turned down or off, you can get much more control over the soundstage and instrument placement.

Double Bus Vocal Compression:

LA2A on track insert with a little 2db-3db compression

1176 on send bus with fair amount of compression

Blend the two together season to taste

or try an LA2A to LA2A in series

or even a 1176 to 1176 in series

or an LA2A to WAVES RennComp (try LA-2A doing 5-6db followed by a Renn Comp doing 12db on vocal tracks)



Master Limiting UAD-1 style:

When using a brickwall limiter, (an L2 or Elephant for instance),on your master, try using the LA2A (Rock) or even the Fairchild 670 (soul/hip-hop/acoustic), before it, and use the gain, to in essence, drive the limiter. It will sound more open than just cranking the L2?s treshold, IMO.

I often use Sound Forge 7, to finalize my stereo mixes, for media distribution.

I like using the Plugin Chainer and one of my favorite preset chains is:

Pultec EQ | LA2A | Precision Limiter (or any brickwall of choice)

A lot of times I keep the Pultec & LA2A at their defaults (even at their static defaults the added sonic character is very complimentary to the overall sound), but I normally always tweak the Gain & Reduction knobs, on the LA2A before the limiter. Sometimes I'll add a Cambridge EQ or even a Sonic Maximizer if needed, depending on the material.



UAD-1 Drums tip:

Here's one tip that seems to be consistant. Compression is key for getting that elusive commercial rock sound on acoustic drums. The UAD-1 compressors are unbeatable software compressors, especially for drums... each with it's own flavor. Here's the secret handshake. Don't expect to do it all by cutting deep with one compressor. Use a couple... several even... set to a ratio of no more than 2:1.

I usually have an 1176LN inserted on the snare track and another 1176LN followed by an LA2A on the drum bus.

Overheads get their own bus for bringing out the cymbals with a single eq and sometimes lite treatment from an LA2A compressor with an eq scoop out of the middle to suppress the snare so the close mic on the snare sounds as intimate or in-your-face as is needed. This also allow control of the reverb on the snare track through an aux bus without disrupting the cymbals in the overhead mics. I only use a touch of verb on the overhead bus if any at all.... depends on the project and how the mics and acoustics are behaving.