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Bill Sloyer
During our 14th lesson on Wednesday 11/8, Larry and I talked about:
-Vacuum tube bias is like a car idling in neutral
-A preamp in audio can be thought of like a lens on a camera.
-Guitars are normally tuned to the key of E
-Metal (music) guitars are 7 string and usually tuned 5 steps lower. They use drop tuning.
***COMPRESSORS AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE A GAIN DEVICE.***
-All early compressors were VARIABLE MU. Fairchild is famous one. THERE ARE LESS KNOBS ON THIS STYLE COMPRESSOR: The input control knob does 2 things: input gain AND threshold. They have a dynamically variable ratio, so they automatically crank the ratio up as the signal rises. The more you push, the more they will act like a limiter.
-Limiting is heavy compression
-A Compression of 8:1 – 10:1 sounds like a limiter to Larry
-Limiting is also known as a “brick wall”
-Output gain on a compressor is also called makeup gain.
Stereo compression: A phase shift and distortion happens if stereo compressor settings don’t match, so never stereo compress unless linked.
LA-2 compressor HAS tubes
LA-3 compressor has NO tubes
(attack/release still the same on both)
LA-4 is an optical design that uses LEDS – Larry likes it
***COMPRESSORS NOW HAVE NO INPUT GAIN CONTROL B/C THEY’RE ALWAYS SET AT UNITY GAIN***
