The Fairchild Compressor Explained | The History, Controls, and Sounds of a Legendary Compressor
Summary
TLDRThe video examines the legendary Fairchild compressor, a rare and expensive analog hardware unit known for its smooth compression and 'sheen' on signals like vocals and drums. It compares three popular software emulations and focuses on the UAD version which models the tubes and transformers. It explains the unique controls like time constants rather than attack/release, and demonstrates settings for drums, bass, and vocals, noting how the Fairchild gently glues things together. The video conveys the magic of this classic gear now available to more people through quality digital versions.
Takeaways
- 🎙️ The Fairchild compressor, developed in the early 1950s, is a legendary piece of audio hardware known for its use in broadcast and recording studios.
- 💻 There are several plugin emulations of the Fairchild compressor available, including versions by UAD, IK Multimedia, and Waves, each based on the Fairchild 670 (stereo) or 660 (mono) models.
- 🔍 The UAD version of the Fairchild plugin is highlighted for its detailed modeling of tubes and internal components, offering a closer sonic signature to the original hardware.
- 📈 The Fairchild compressor gained fame for its use in Abbey Road Studios, processing vocals and drums for The Beatles, contributing to the distinctive sound of their recordings from 1964 onwards.
- 📦 Physically, the Fairchild is a large, 70-pound unit with 20 tubes and 11 transformers, designed for rack mounting, showcasing its complex and robust construction.
- 🔥 The compressor is known for its fast attack times relative to its era, which were not surpassed until the advent of FET-style compressors like the 1176s.
- ⚙️ Unique to the Fairchild, the 'Time Constant' settings control attack and release times, with six different settings catering to various musical styles and material dependencies.
- 🛠 The plugin versions of the Fairchild offer additional features not found on the original hardware, such as a sidechain filter, output control, mix knob, Headroom dial, and more, allowing for greater flexibility in modern mixing.
- 🎶 Demonstrations of the Fairchild plugin on drums, bass, and vocals illustrate its ability to glue mixes together, add coloration, and smooth out dynamics without noticeable compression artifacts.
- 💡 The Fairchild compressor is celebrated for imparting a unique 'sheen' and 'creaminess' to audio, especially noticeable on vocal tracks, enhancing the overall sound quality.
Q & A
What is the Fairchild compressor and why is it so legendary?
-The Fairchild compressor is a highly coveted analog compressor that was originally developed in the 1950s for broadcast and record cutting applications. It became very popular in recording studios in the 60s thanks to its smooth compression characteristics and unique tone-shaping abilities. It's considered legendary due to its sound quality and rarity.
What are some notable uses of the Fairchild compressor in music recording history?
-The Fairchild was famously used to process vocals and drums at Abbey Road Studios on many Beatles records starting in 1964. It contributed to the distinctive compressed drum sounds on Ringo Starr's recordings and the smooth vocal tones on many Beatles tracks.
What accounts for the smooth compression sound of the Fairchild?
-The Fairchild combines relatively fast attack times with longer release times which eliminates artifacts and results in very smooth compression.
What do the different Time Constant settings on the Fairchild compressor correspond to?
-Time Constants 1-2 are considered "pop" settings, 3-4 are "classical" settings, and 5-6 are fully program dependent. Each has different attack and release time combinations, with higher numbers having increasingly longer release times.
How can the input gain and threshold controls be used to shape the compression amount and distortion?
-Lowering the input gain while raising the threshold results in less distortion for a given compression amount. Raising the input gain while lowering the threshold gives more distortion for the same amount of compression.
What is the Headroom control on the Fairchild compressor plug-in?
-The Headroom control pushes the plug-in into gain reduction and distortion more easily in a clockwise direction. It simulates calibrating the hardware unit.
What are some common instruments to use the Fairchild compressor on?
-The Fairchild is commonly used on drums, bass, and vocals. It excels at glueing and smoothing out these instruments with its signature smooth compression.
What does the Fairchild add to vocals specifically?
-On vocals, the Fairchild adds a subtle sheen and creaminess. Rather than aggressive compression, it imparts a smoothness and cohesiveness.
Why are Fairchild compressor plug-ins so widely used compared to the hardware?
-The original Fairchild hardware is extremely rare and expensive. Plug-in emulations make this classic compressor far more accessible to most producers and engineers.
What makes the UAD Fairchild compressor plug-in special?
-The UAD Fairchild models all of the original unit's tubes and transformers, simulating the sound and distortion characteristics accurately. The Legacy version does not model the tubes.
Outlines
🎚️ Exploring the Legendary Fairchild Compressor
Joe from Greenlight Sound introduces the Fairchild compressor, a highly sought-after piece of audio hardware from the early 1950s, known for its unique sonic characteristics in broadcast and recording applications. Due to its rarity and cost, plugin emulations like those from UAD, IK Multimedia, and Waves have become popular. Joe focuses on the UAD version, which meticulously models the original's tubes and transformers for authentic sound reproduction. The Fairchild's notable use at Abbey Road Studios on Beatles recordings highlights its significance. The compressor's design, featuring fast attack times and a variety of time constants, contributes to its smooth compression quality. Joe explains the technical aspects of the Fairchild, including its mid/side mode for mastering vinyl records, and the impact of input gain, threshold, and time constants on compression.
🔊 Advanced Features of the Fairchild Plugin
In this section, Joe delves into additional controls of the Fairchild plugin, such as the mix knob, headroom dial, balance, and DC threshold, which influence gain reduction, distortion, compression ratio, and knee width. He demonstrates the practical application of these controls on a drum bus, highlighting the compressor's ability to subtly color and glue together the drum mix without noticeable compression artifacts. By adjusting the input gain, threshold, and time constants, users can achieve desired compression levels with varying degrees of distortion. Joe's demonstration includes applying the compressor on bass, showcasing how it smooths out the signal while adding saturation, and on a vocal bus, emphasizing its capacity to add a sheen to vocals without aggressive compression.
🎤 Vocal Enhancement with the Fairchild Compressor
Joe concludes by showcasing the Fairchild compressor's subtle yet effective impact on a vocal bus. He emphasizes the compressor's ability to add a smooth, creamy quality to vocals, creating a sheen that enhances the overall mix without the harsh characteristics of heavy compression. The demonstration illustrates how the Fairchild's settings, particularly the time constants, can be fine-tuned for vocal applications, resulting in a polished, glued-together sound. Joe highlights the importance of listening on quality monitoring systems to appreciate the subtle nuances the Fairchild adds to vocals. He wraps up by expressing gratitude for the availability of digital versions of such rare hardware, inviting questions and comments while encouraging viewers to subscribe for more insights.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Fairchild Compressor
💡Plugin Emulations
💡UAD Version
💡Abbey Road Studios
💡Time Constants
💡Mid/Side Mode
💡Input Gain and Threshold
💡Sidechain Filter
💡Drums Bus Compression
💡Vocal Bus Compression
Highlights
The Fairchild compressor is a legendary and highly sought after analog unit known for its smooth compression and tone shaping abilities
The Fairchild was originally developed in the 1950s for broadcast and record cutting applications before becoming popular in recording studios in the 60s
The Beatles used Fairchild compressors extensively on vocals and drums at Abbey Road studios in the 60s, shaping their iconic recorded sound
The Fairchild 670 is a large, complex analog unit with 20 tubes and 11 transformers that contributes to its signature sound
The Fairchild has unusual time constant settings instead of typical attack and release controls to determine compression behavior
Time constants 1 and 2 are common pop settings with fast attacks and slower releases, while 3-6 are more specialized program dependent settings
Pushing up input gain and lowering threshold increases compression amount but also increases distortion
The Fairchild imparts subtle tonal coloration and glue that helps bind tracks together
On drums, the Fairchild can transparency tighten and glue the kit while adding pleasing saturation
On bass, the Fairchild smoothly evens out levels and enhances tone
On vocals, the Fairchild adds a desirable sheen and creamy quality
Even when only applying subtle compression, the Fairchild has an audible effect of coloring and shaping tone
The original Fairchild hardware is rare and expensive, but software emulations capture its sound while being more accessible
The UAD Fairchild modeled here simulates the original's tubes and transformers for an authentic analog sound
Tweaking controls like headroom and bias further shape the Fairchild's distortion and compression character
Transcripts
everyone its Joe from greenlight sound
calm and today we've got a look at a
legendary processor the Fairchild
compressor and not many of us are
fortunate enough to own this extremely
rare and extremely expensive piece of
hardware but lucky enough there are many
plug-in emulations of this that exists
nowadays I've got three up on the screen
right now I've got the UID version on
the left I've got the i--came ulti media
version on the top right and the waves
version on the bottom right but are all
based upon that same exact piece of gear
the Fairchild 670 which is the stereo
version or the 660 the mono version for
today we're going to be taking a look at
the UAD version this is one of my
favourite versions in plug-in form and
this particular version models all the
tubes and everything else going on
behind the scenes if you take a look at
the UAD legacy version which I don't
have up on the screen right now that one
does not model the tubes and the inside
this does so this kind of gives you that
sonic signature in addition to the
regular compression characteristics and
curves that come from the Fairchild
compressor so the actual hardware
Fairchild was developed in the early
1950s for broadcast and record cutting
applications and some of the controls on
there are specifically related to those
applications so as recording developed
through the late fifties and early
sixties it became more prevalent in
recording studios as engineers
discovered its usefulness in colouring
and shaping tone one of its most notable
uses was at Abbey Road Studios where
most of the Beatles vocals from 1964 on
and Ringo's drums were processed with
fair child´s among many other sources
that the beatles used as well there's a
kind of a famous woosh sound that ring
goes cymbals make in some recordings
that is a direct result of the Fairchild
compressor being applied to them so
behind the scenes in this Fairchild it's
a big beast it's a six you rack mounted
unit it weighs nearly 70 pounds it's got
20 tubes and 11 transformers in there
and as I said before some of the plugins
model these this UAD version does indeed
model those it had the fastest attack
times for a compressor at the time and
that had to do with its broadcast usage
those fast attack times wouldn't be
surpassed for a decade until fete style
compressors like 1176 s came along they
had much faster attack times so that
combination of fairly fast attack times
and longer release times
eliminated artifacts but resulted in a
really smooth compression characteristic
which is what the Fairchild is known for
so to get right into the settings right
past our vu meter we've got this control
for the meter laughs - lat and right -
vert left right is its normal stereo
mode lat vert is its mid/side mode and
the that lat vert that's originally from
record mastering and the terms lateral
or side-to-side and vertical up and down
refer to the mechanical modulations in a
vinyl record groove so the middle
signals are routed to the LAT channel
and the side signals are routed to the
vert channels so when we set the
controls to lat vert over here and we
unlink the controls down here we can
have independent control of our made
inside signal which is kind of cool and
then left/right is normal stereo
operation and we'll link the controls
again together to have the left and
right sides compress the same amount
though you could compress them with
different amounts and unlink them if you
wanted to so moving on the next two
controls you've got the input gain and
the threshold and the amount of signal
compression is determined by both the
input gain and the threshold controls so
for less distortion with the same amount
of compression you would lower the input
gain and increase the threshold control
on the other hand you could do the
opposite increase the input gain and
lower the threshold for a similar amount
of compression with more Distortion now
here comes the section that usually
trips people up the time constant
because it doesn't have a setting it
doesn't have attack and release controls
like most modern compressors would it is
different time constant number one and
two were considered pop settings time
constants three and four were considered
classical music settings and five and
six were completely programmed dependent
most Hardware compressors are left on
one or two most of the time if they're
found in a studio so going through these
time constants number one has an attack
of 200 microseconds and a release of 300
milliseconds fast attack slow release
time constant number two was a 200
microsecond attack in an 800 millisecond
release of same attack time different
release time time constant number three
we've got a 400 microsecond attack and a
two-second release time number four
we've got an 800 microsecond attack and
a five second release time so we're
getting really long with our release
times here and five and six where things
get strange five has a 200 microsecond
attack so just like the first two
settings
but its release is dependent upon the
material it's two seconds for transients
and ten seconds for overall many
multiple peaks and number six has a 400
microsecond attack so they're just like
setting number three but it's got a
release time of 300 milliseconds for
transients and ten seconds for multiple
peaks and 25 seconds for a consistently
high level a 25 second release time
which is crazy so those are your basic
controls now this version does have some
extra features like a sidechain filter
so the low end doesn't trigger too much
compression we've got output control
we've got a mix knob here we've got a
Headroom dial here which clockwise
turning this clockwise will push the
plug-in in to gain reduction and
distortion more easily the balance
controls the bias but moving it changes
the amount of additive signal deflection
or thud you get in it a DC threshold
down here which you could change on the
original unit by calibrating it it
controls the ratio of compression as
well as the knee width so turning it
clockwise lowers the ratio and broadens
the knee and also lowers the threshold
so those are just a few of the extra
controls in this unit but basically if
you understand that pushing the input
gain lowering the threshold and choosing
one of these time constants will get you
the amount of compression you want
you're going to be in good shape and for
most uses you're going to stick with
time constant one or time constant to
one of the most common uses of a
Fairchild is on a drums bus so we're
gonna try that now first thing I want to
do is bypass the compressor this is a
processed drum mix but with no buss
compression going on here is just the
mix without any Fairchild
[Music]
so we're now going to engage the
Fairchild
[Music]
so you can hear a little bit of
coloration to the tone for sure here it
is without I match the output I'll boost
it a little bit
[Music]
you can definitely hear it grab those
Peaks and hear that recovery time
breathe a little bit now if I don't want
to push it quite as hard let's see what
we get
[Music]
and that'll result in compression that
you can kind of glue everything together
with but not really here a noticeable
amount of compression pumping or
anything like that so again without we
could also crush the compressor
[Music]
if we do that in parallel we get some
really cool effects bring down this knob
here next in German we're going to try
it on his bass and here it is without
any compression
[Music]
and we'll engage the compressor and set
it up we're going to stick with kind
time constant one again
[Music]
you're do that again
[Music]
just smooth things out nicely I once
moved to cut time constant to here and
try it on that setting I'll have a
little bit longer release time remember
same attack time here but a little bit
longer release
[Music]
a bypass that as we play
[Music]
just nicely smooth things out you can
hear some of that saturation in there as
well we could also mess with the
Headroom here
[Music]
which results a little bit more
Distortion another really common use for
the fair child is on a vocal bus
usually on a vocal bus I'll leave it on
time constant number 1/4 a little bit
faster release time let's dial this one
and here it is without any compression
sweet will dial in with some compression
sweet back when we without sweet
engage you I remember last September
back when we were we
we get more aggressive we could back now
if you're listening on a really nice
monitoring system or good headphones
you'll notice there's a sort of a sheen
applied to the vocals that wasn't there
without the Fairchild listen closely for
that you're not gonna hear so much of a
compression characteristic as
something's getting slammed or like
you're parallel compressing with an 1176
or something you're gonna hear more of
just this nice sheen on top of the vocal
as the vocals being glued together so
again we'll start without it listen for
that little bit of Sheen on top of the
vocal suite
[Music]
we
II
so it's a subtle compression but it just
adds a nice smoothness a nice creaminess
to the vocal bus there so there it is
the Fairchild compressor the legendary
Fairchild all of its controls and how we
can kind of easily set it up we are
lucky to live in an age and we have
access to a digital version of this
because the actual hardware unit if you
have an original is so expensive and so
rare nowadays there are very few people
who own one and if you do consider
yourself very lucky you have any
questions or comments let me know in the
comment section down below don't forget
to subscribe if you haven't done so
already so we can keep you in the loop
as to what's coming up next and I will
see you in the next one
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