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Ken Kessie
Mixer Ken Kessie (En Vogue, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Celine Dion) is known for being
experimental. "Seems like everybody knows the basic tricks for he 1176," he says, "But
here are two that might be lesser known. If you turn the attack knob fully counterclockwise
until it clicks, the 1176 eases to be a compressor and acts only as an amplifier. Sometimes
this is the perfect sound for a vocal. And of course the unit can be overdriven, adding
another flavor of distortion in case your plug-ins are maxed out!
"Then, for that hard-to-tame lead vocalist (the one that backs up from the mic to whisper
and leans in for the big ending chorus), try an 1176 followed by a DBX 165. Use the
1176 as a compressor, and the DBX as a peak limiter...it's guaranteed to be smooth as
silk."
Jim Scott
Jim Scott shared a Grammy for Best Engineered Album for Tom Petty's Wildflowers. He's
also known for his work with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Natalie Merchant and Wilco. "I use
1176s real conservatively and they till do amazing things," he comments. "I'm always on
the four to one button, and the Dr. Pepper--you know, 10 o'clock, 2 o'clock, and it does
everything I need.
"I always use them on vocals. I use them on room mics, on acoustic guitars--sometimes in
mixing I'll sneak a little on a snare drum or a separated channel of a snare drum. I'm not
one of those guys who leaves it on everything, but I'd have to say I've used an1176 on
everything at one time or another.
"They have an equalizer kind of effect, adding a coloration that's bright and clear. Not
only do they give you a little more impact from the compression, they also sort of clear
things up; maybe a little bottom end gets squeezed out or maybe they are just sort of
excitingly solid state or whatever they are. The big thing for me is the clarity, and the
improvement in the top end.
"The 1176 has that same kind of phenomenon, where, when you patch something through
a Neve equalizer and you don't even engage the EQ, it sounds better. It's just a
combination of the amps.
"I also use LA-2As all the time. I use them on bass, and it's one of the compressors I use for
reverb. Often I'll send a bunch of things to one LA2A and bring it back into the console
like a return--it's great for drums, great for kick drum especially.
"LA-2As warm things up. They're the opposite of the 1176--they EQ all the warmth and
low mids and bass. When you put bass and drums in them they get fatter and bigger. And
unless you hit them way hard and make the tubes sizzle they don't really distort. Of
course, you can get them to sound like an AC30 if you want to, just turn them all the way
up. They are very loud, powerful amplifiers.
"I've also used both the 1176 and the LA-2A for stereo buss compressors--you just have to
be a little bit careful that your mixes don't go one sided. Tom's [Petty’s] records have often
been mixed through 1176s. I've also done that with LA-2As --they are of course, more