Worship Musician Magazine January 2021 | Page 137

found that approach left me with a take that maybe never reached maximum level and spent most of the time buried in the noise floor ! However , I found it easy enough to ride the energy of the performance in a way that was pretty natural and smooth and I discovered quickly that riding the input level kept both the preamp level and the recorder level right in the sweet spot . The fruit of that technique is a track that never gets way too quiet and never gets way too hot — almost like it was being precompressed . It was .
I ’ ve since been able to ask Bruce Swedien and Al Schmitt if that ’ s something they ’ ve done , and they both answered in the affirmative ! I ’ m guessing I might have picked it up from one of them in an article somewhere but , once you really think about it , it ’ s a super-smart way to work . I still use that same technique whenever possible . But , it was in a book I worked on with Dave Pensado about recording and mixing vocals , Recording Vocals with Dave Pensado , where I really saw this concept dragged into the third millennium .
Dave uses the “ Clip Gain Line ” in Pro Tools to premix the vocal tracks at the clip-gain level . This is different than volume automation because volume automation simply adjusts the fader level into the mix , not the waveform clip level . Why is that important ? ( Please get this because it ’ s the money line .) The importance is found in the fact that volume automation simply turns the mix fader up and down as it enters the mix , which includes any plug-ins that have been inserted into the beginning of the channel signal path . But — and this is a really big point — clip gain controls the actual size / level of the waveform , which happens BEFORE any plugins that have been inserted into the channel . This is the perfect solution ! If a word or phrase needs to be turned up so it can be heard in the mix , just use the clip gain line to turn the word up ! If there is a super-loud word or phrase that needs to be turned down , just turn it down a little using clip gain !
The use of the clip gain line , let ’ s you control

A B C

Notice the severe compression required on the loud lyrics in screen A . Even with this amount
of gain reduction on the loud lyrics , at the same settings there is virtually no compression
on the quiet lyrics , shown in screen B . However , after adjusting the clip gain in screen C to
trim the level of the loud lyrics and boost the level on the quiet lyrics , much more moderate
compression is needed , resulting in a sound that ’ s much more natural and smooth .
the track level so that there isn ’ t that much compression required to control the track level .
little too presumptuous and “ paradise ” plays no denominational favorites .
The compressor might only register 1 , 2 , or 3
dB of gain reduction on a track that otherwise might have easily needed 10 dB or more of gain reduction to fit in with the mix ! You end up with a track that sounds very natural and smooth instead of like you had to squeeze the living daylight out of it ! The track might not even need compression , but now you can use a compressor just because you like the sound of the vocal running through it .
2 . If your DAW only has volume automation and no means by which you can adjust clip gain , you can still take advantage of this technique , but it requires another step . Just volume automate the track so that the volume smooths out between the quiet and loud passages — like you would have done using the clip gain line . Then route the DAW track trough an AUDIO AUX channel so that the AUX channel is receiving all
of your volume automation moves . Now , insert
These techniques both work very well on any track with a wide dynamic range but especially on vocal and instrumental solos .
THREE WAYS TO PARADISE It ’ s probably pretty obvious that the clip gain technique is primarily a DAW-based recording
the compressor plug-in into the AUX channel . This produces virtually identical results to the clip gain approach .
3 . This method applies to live sound mixing but is very similar to the previous setup . Route the mixer channel fader through a subgroup
technique . And , what if your DAW doesn ’ t have
that
actually
passes
audio
through
the
a way to adjust clip gain ? Or , what if you ’ d like to try using a technique like this on a live mix ? There are ways to adapt this technique to fit pretty much any working environment .
subgroup fader — VCA groups won ’ t work for this technique . Now , insert a compressor into the subgroup channel . Now you can ride the channel fader and the subgroup channel will
be compressed , rather than the compressor
1 . Refer to the previous 1,000 words , or so . Alright , so I guess “ paradise ” might be a term that ’ s a little over the top but please indulge me . I ’ ve seen and heard the difference this technique makes and it ’ s pretty special . Nirvana seemed a
being at the channel input . This requires the live sound operator to really understand what ’ s going on and for him or her to have the mental bandwidth to keep close track of the amount of gain reduction on the subgroup compressor .
January 2021 Subscribe for Free ... 137