Steve Nathan has played keyboards on more CD's than most people have in their entire collection.

If you listen to Country, then you've heard him play. The list of artists of which he's played for would take more room than we have available for this article, so suffice it to say that it reads like a directory of top flight country talent. OK, so we'll name a few… Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Vince Gill, Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, you get the picture?

  Born in Buffalo, New York, his earliest recording experience was with Spyro Gyra, a late 70's instrumental group who almost single-handedly pioneered the “fusion” and “light jazz” market.

By 1977 he'd moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As I'm sure you know, Muscle Shoals is known as a town with a big sound, and it wasn't long before Steve got booked to do a session at Rick Hall's Fame Studios. There he was overheard by Rick, who was so impressed with the young musician he booked him right away for a Dobie Gray record he was producing. For the next 14 years, Steve played on every record Rick Hall made.

Increasingly more in-demand, he began getting calls to record in Nashville, and in 1991 finally relocated. Instantly he was on the “A-List”, and as they say, “the rest is history!”

As a talented keyboard player Steve has few peers, but what's not so well known is that he's been writing songs for quite awhile too. With no less than 3 “writing rigs” as he calls them (most musicians would sell their soul for the gear in just one of them), he's happiest when composing. 

For his analog tracks – guitar, grand piano, and vocals, Steve uses Studio Projects mics. During a conversation with him earlier this week he went on and on about his acoustic piano sound. “People are amazed when they hear the sound of my little 6' Yamaha Grand on my recordings. They always ask me how I miked it. I tell them I use a pair of C1's, and watch their jaws drop. It's just amazing to me how perfect they are for it. The natural sound of the C1 needs almost no EQ on piano!” A regular at Ocean Way/ Nashville, Steve persuaded them to change over to C1's on their piano, too. That led to trying out more Studio Projects mics, and an instant “love affair” with the C4's on acoustic guitar and dobro. Steve intimated to us that Paul Franklin, who's been the number one call for Dobro in that town for a long, long time said that the C4 gave him the best dobro sound he'd heard in twenty years!

Thanks, Steve – for all your kind words! We'll be hearing you!!!

The Compressor is one of the most vital pieces of equipment in any studio or PA rig, yet it is one of the hardest to understand. In this fourth final part of this series Joemeek designer Allan Bradford examines some more specialised types of compressors.

Multiband

Compression of complete mixes is always more problematic than compression of single monophonic instruments or vocals. For example there is the risk that compressing a bass signal will cause concurrent high frequency signals to “disappear” in the mix, for the duration of the bass signal.

One solution to this is to split the audio signal into two or more frequency bands, as in a 2-way or 3-way loudspeaker system, using high quality “crossover” networks. Compression is then applied independently, to each distinct frequency band, prior to recombining those bands into one signal.

High specification compressors for broadcast or mastering use this kind of system.

Large PA and monitoring systems often use limiters to protect the loudspeakers. They have the advantage that the signal will already have been split into 3 or more frequency ranges, so conventional compressors can be placed in series with the amplifiers for each of those ranges.

Two-stage Compressor

One problem with simple compressors, is that when long attack times are used to increase the “punch” of an instrument, large fast transients can get through uncompressed and cause overload. A solution is to have a second set of control electronics with a higher threshold. Usually this will have short time constants and behave as a fast limiter, to deal with such errant transients.

Leveller

This is a specialised tool used in mastering and for broadcast, wherever mixes of differing dynamic range are being played end to end. Slow response times are combined with modest compression ratios, to keep the overall volume constant from one track to the next. It is often combined with a two-stage limiter.

De-Essers

An “Ess” is that annoying sound occasionally produced by vocalists, somewhere between a hiss and a whistle. It's embarrassing and is often head-and-shoulders louder than the rest of the mix.

A De-Esser is in fact a compressor but one designed to affect only a narrow range of (high) frequencies. The actual frequencies affected can often be selected, allowing the engineer to “tune in” to the “Ess” sound and avoid compressing other (harmless) frequencies.

Another control sets the “depth”, or amount of compression. Up to 20dB of gain reduction is usually available at the chosen frequency, to reduce the offending sound to acceptable levels.

Expander

It is probably worth mentioning that an expander is the opposite of a compressor. Here when a signal exceeds the threshold, the gain cell increases the gain and makes the signal even louder.

Obviously this has to be applied very carefully or you will soon run out of headroom and the signal will be clipped. However within a small window of operation, the technique can be very useful to add dynamics to lifeless tracks.

Note that a “Downwards Expander” is a form of Noise Gate and they are another story altogether…

After countless requests, Joemeek is pleased to announce two new Meekrophone Combo Pacs.

The JM27 Pac is a factory matched pair of JM27 small diaphragm condenser mics, two of our new heavy duty shock mounts, foam windscreens, and a stereo “T” bar, all in a foam lined impact resistant ABS case.

The JM472 Combo contains one JM47 large diaphragm condenser mic, one JM27, with stand mounts for both, once again packed neatly in a foam lined ABS case.

Joemeek president Alan Hyatt commented, “We've been literally buried in phone calls for stereo pairs of the JM27's. Instead of just offering a factory matched pair, we decided to include everything else an engineer would need to make a quality stereo recording. Our dealers tell us that many customers buy both JM47's and JM27's, so the 472 Combo was the logical next step.”

Both JM27 Pacs and JM472 Combo's are in stock at PMI Audio Group now. If your preferred dealer doesn't have them on their shelves, have them order and we'll ship ‘em right away!

Ok, were back for part 2 of our discussion of gain staging. In this issue, we'll dive a bit
deeper to help you understand how important it is to get this right. Just remember this: If it
wasn't important, there wouldn't be a volume control, fader, or gain pot on any gear, They must
be there for a reason!

Let's recap just a bit. "Gain Staging" is any point in the audio path that allows you to change
the volume, which can then alter the signal quality. Connecting equipment properly is just the
beginning of the battle. When signals start to flow through all those magic boxes we all buy,
it can get ugly - really quick! So, "gain staging" is just starting at the beginning of the signal
chain and optimizing the level of each stage and come out the same way you started. Too
much gain at any stage causes distortion, and too little gain causes noise and hiss.

To add to all of this mess, there are a variety of reference standards used in old vintage gear,
semi-professional gear, professional gear, and software-based audio gear. Though keeping
the signal levels consistent throughout the processing chain is the ultimate goal here,
doing so can be a whole new issue.

So what do we mean by reference standards? Reference Standards are the levels at which
each unit was designed to operate. In the analog domain, most audio signals look for a zero
mark — either 0 VU on a VU meter or 0 dB on an LED meter, fader, or knob.  Knowing where
zero is, both visually and in terms of audio level is important! If you steer the level toward
zero (allowing for normal fluctuations in dynamic level), your signal will have a safe ride to its
final destination.

It's a straightforward process to set the zero position on a fader to result in a zero dB VU
level reading on a meter by controlling the input gain or by using the console trim-pot level
settings. This is known as setting the zero calibration level. The zero calibration of a device is referenced to its internal operating level. A sine-wave signal that produces a zero-level
reading on a compressor's output might show up as a different level on the meter of a multi-
track tape machine to which it is routed. This is what makes gain-staging   difficult in real-
world applications! It can cause your recordings to suffer. Now Patch that same signal from
tape to a DAW, and you'll get yet another meter reading!

So, what does zero (or, 0dB) mean then? A zero reading on a device's meter indicates a
specific AC voltage within a unit, calibrated to one of two prevailing audio standards. The professional audio standard is +4 dBu. An analog device calibrated to +4dBu references its
0 dB meter reading to an input/output voltage of 1.23 VRMS, and the connection is generally balanced.

Stereo or semi-pro equipment, which includes a good deal of home-recording gear, is
referenced to the consumer-level standard known as -10 dBV. In this situation, a 0 dB meter
reading indicates an input/ output voltage of 0.316 VRMS, and the connection is typically unbalanced. In this comparison dBu and dBv can be considered as equivalent, but there is
14dB of gain level difference between the two operation level standards.

When interfacing both kinds of equipment, it is important to know there is an 11.8 dB voltage discrepancy between -10 dBV and +4 dBu reference levels. Tape-machine inputs are
referenced to -10 dBV or +4 dBu (some include inputs for both), but their meters are
commonly adjusted so that 0 VU actually indicates a level that is 3, 6, or even 8 dB higher
than the reference level. That convention lets engineer's print maximum levels on tape
without continually pegging the meter.

So, if the devices in your studio are the same type (-10 dBV or +4 dBu) and each one is
properly adjusted and performing no gain changes, a 0 dB test tone applied to the first unit's
input should appear at the final stage as a 0 dB level . This is the desired effect!

In the final part of this discussion, we will see what happens when you start to mix up (-10 dBV or +4 dBu) gear. This is where you pull your hair out. But get it right, and you're in for a big surprise.