The Dynamics Quirk that made the SSL 4000E Indispensable for Andy Wallace, Randy Staub, & many more

A quick look at the unique 4000E Gate and how it's used by Top Mixers for drums, using the Waves E-channel V2 plugin in Avid ProTools for an example.
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[@twitcheyspleen]

that rare thing - a 'mixing trick' that everyone else is not making videos about. Thank you

[@JPHenryAudio]

Thanks for watching! More to come

[@talktokale]

@@JPHenryAudio Yes more plz! Great tip, already put it to work on a mix lol

[@philippgrunert8776]

I knew about the click, it's described a lot. But it never worked for me. BUT ...I never saw that one had to mix it in parallel!!!!! 🎉 Thank you

[@JPHenryAudio]

Glad it helped!

[@rome8180]

Yeah, if you don't do it in parallel, you have only attack, which isn't helpful.

[@johnboyc5]

Best thing the KZbin recommended has hit me with in a long time. Take this sub

[@JPHenryAudio]

thanks!!

[@stephenfleming8030]

Just when you thought you'd invented all the possible tricks by yourself...along comes one that has you kicking yourself saying, 'why didn't I think of that!'. Thank you for this. Your channel continues to be both entertaining and an invaluable resource for inspiration.

[@JPHenryAudio]

thanks for watching!! appreciate that

[@RPMusicStudios]

Very cool tip. I could see using this during tracking as well with an analog gate. I’m going to definitely try this out!

[@JPHenryAudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@inmemoryofin]

I’ve been using SSL type stuff for a while. I definitely noticed the click but I never thought about actually using it lol. Great technique, thank you 👍

[@JPHenryAudio]

Happy to help!

[@semilumi]

Great trick with background, thanks for sharing!

[@JPHenryAudio]

@@semilumi thanks for watching!

[@DanUpdegraff]

Just tried this with Reaper's ReaGate and it worked great! The entire drum mix comes to life with this single parallel track. Very nice. FYI, ReaGate settings: (Preopen, Attack, Hold = 0ms. Release = 225ms. Hyseresis = +3dB. RMS size = 0ms.) You can put ReaGate on a parallel track, or on the main kick track and use the wet/dry sliders in the gate to get the parallel effect.

[@DanUpdegraff]

Works decent on snare tracks too.

[@JPHenryAudio]

@@DanUpdegraff I'm doing a snare video next, similar but with a twist!

[@sean16hall3]

It gives the kick drum a nice bite when mixed in ❤️

[@JPHenryAudio]

Thanks for watching!

[@officialspaceefrain]

I once coded a whole template for the slmk3 for this plugin. I notice slipknot uses this technique a lot. It’s a matter of taste. Good video!

[@JPHenryAudio]

Thanks for watching!

[@HearShotKidDrummer]

Just used this and wow! Incredible tip!

[@JPHenryAudio]

@@HearShotKidDrummer awesome!! Glad to hear it!

[@danniielle]

Very handy tip to know. Thank you for sharing. I'm definitely going to give this a try on some of my mixes using the bx SSL E plugin. REAPER has a dry/wet mix knob as part of its plugin window too so I should be able to achieve the parallel processing on one channel.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@danniielle]

Definitely! I've just subscribed to your channel too. 🙂

[@kennyparker8644]

Great trick! Thanks! You’re amazing

[@simondanielssonmusic]

I own the Slate version of the SSL dynamics module. I just tried it out myself using the "fast" button and it gave the same result! :) I don't work with metal music myself, but I could see this tip working great as well for EDM and hiphop! Greetings from Sweden.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Very cool! Yes, its all over Hiphop, especially Dre's stuff.

[@lisan_al-ghaib]

More of this content man 🔥

[@JPHenryAudio]

More on the way tomorrow!

[@Rhuggins]

Instant subscribe! Thanks! Also, your voice is very euphonic and soothing. Might just be that your expertise is audible, and thats nice to listen to. Thanks man!

[@JPHenryAudio]

Wow, thanks!! Appreciate that!

[@GuitarJesse7]

Very cool trick, thanks for sharing.

[@dinmentor]

Love your videos 🤘🏼🔥

[@JPHenryAudio]

Glad you like them!

[@Dan-np5zb]

Thank you so much for this tip! I'll try this and also gonna try not to boost much of the HF, fosucing in the 1-3khz area, blending with the quirk sound...

[@wyrlismike]

I discovered that sound and thought it was a bug not a feature! Very cool to know I was missing out

[@JPHenryAudio]

It's kind of a bug of the original analog circuit, but a useful one!

[@G_handle]

Like many things in mixing, it was a bug USED as a feature. Or as this video calls it, a Quirk.

[@rugososphotos3646]

I thought this too! thanks to this video now I know better 😊

[@kevinafflack]

awesome, thx!

[@kevinafflack]

Curious, have you tried the Waves CLA mix SSL and the Brainworx SSL E compared to the Waves EV2?

[@MeeAndrew]

The kids these days, with their sample stacking, will never know the endless struggle that was getting a killer kick sound.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Trying to do this in a studio without an SSL was also an exercise in futility, no matter how much DBX or Drawmer we threw at it!!

[@hanguoguo8717]

I have read the 4000E user menu of the PA plug-in ，that it is recommended to use a gate on each track to isolate noise, which is their v gain. But no one has ever said that the ssl gate is used to do this. Thank you buddy.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Manuals never tell you the best stuff, haha!

[@danymalsound]

Cool vid, man! Lesser known topics are always more fun! Cheers

[@JPHenryAudio]

More to come!

[@DanielPestanaTranslations]

Thank you for this. That’s the real deal right there. I’ve been fooling myself into thinking I was doing it with other SSL plugins. I just did a quick test and couldn’t get the others to get that sound, however after thinking about it, I suspect the Input gain might play a role in the other SSL plugins. I’ll try again tomorrow. There’s one I’m already sure it won’t do that, surprisingly the SSL Native Channel 2. The BX SSL 4000E and the T-Racks White Channel seem promising. I’ll be back here to confirm which ones will do this after further testing. Thanks again. Subscribed.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Thanks for watching! I think the UA SSL E does it as well

[@DanielPestanaTranslations]

@@JPHenryAudioThank you. I own a bunch of SSL plugins, but unfortunately not the EV2 nor the UAD.

[@DanielPestanaTranslations]

So, just tested it again, and here are my findings: - SSL Native Channel Strip 2 - NO - Waves SSL E-Channel - NO (like you said in the video) - T-RackS White Channel - NO - bx_console SSL 9000J - NO - bx_console SSL 4000E - YES, and I think it probably does it even better than the Waves EV2. You might want to check it out. You just need to be sure enough input level reached the channel strip. I increased the Input Gain knob to the maximum and the THD to its maximum as well. Sounds like an EDM kick :-) Give it a try. Thanks again for the video, it helped a lot getting it right!

[@danniielle]

Very handy to know. Plugin Alliance are my go-to plugins for many things including console emulation. I'm definitely going to give this trick a run on some of my mixes. 😎

[@DanielPestanaTranslations]

@@danniielleI love their plugins as well. Still need to get the bx_console SSL 4000G. There’s no such thing as too many SSL plugins 😜 Wish those guys at SSL would lower the price on their SSL 4K E and 4KB. They sound really nice.

[@Dan-np5zb]

Listen to Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Audioslave albums.. they all seems to have that quirk sound on the kick drum. Amazing!

[@JPHenryAudio]

@@Dan-np5zb thanks for watching! I’m planning some upcoming videos with stuff relating to all of those guys too

[@Dan-np5zb]

@@JPHenryAudio keep posting bro, thank you

[@victorolsson7202]

Awesome trick! Always wondered where Kevin Shirley got his kick drum snap from. I just got the answer!

[@JPHenryAudio]

Caveman!!!

[@mikew1567]

Thanks for covering this. Nicely done. Great choice in songs too…Hollow Ground…I spent hours on that particular song of theirs and recognized it from the kick alone! LOL how sad is that?

[@JPHenryAudio]

@@mikew1567 nice catch!! It’s a great practice track, used to A/B it with Staub’s Hatebreed mixes

[@lisan_al-ghaib]

Dude, this is amazing. I always thought a the fast clicking sound from a gate means there's a problem.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Funny, right?! Thanks for watching!

[@ringsystemmusic]

SAME. Now I’ve got a whole new way to add transients

[@rome8180]

Sweet. I wonder if the Plugin Alliance version does this. I've always gravitated toward the SSL G, but now I guess I've got to check out the E.

[@JPHenryAudio]

I think someone in the comments said they got it to work in the BX E console by cranking up the input gain

[@mixinginthebox]

So cool ty..

[@JPHenryAudio]

thanks for watching!

[@rickblackers88]

Man, this is awesome. I love SSL plugins and this is a great tip. Thanx!

[@JPHenryAudio]

Glad you like it!

[@robertenache8463]

Duende channel strip gate has the same click, and if i remember corrctly i think the g channel from waves but i ll have to check again

[@murraywebster1228]

Dreamer did that too with fastest opening

[@diegopereze98]

Apparently only with this plugin you can get that click with the gate, I tried with other plugins and this is the one that comes closest 🤓

[@SeekAudionet]

Great

[@JPHenryAudio]

Thanks for watching!

[@mitekillem]

a lot of gates do this when you go below 1 ms on the attack. It's clipping the 1st transient. You don't specifically need an SSL plugin or console to make it happen.

[@JoeyFTL]

I still wonder one thing: where did that beautiful rubbery midrange and seemingly endless low end of Wallace's kicks come from. The sample? Do you have an educated guess as to what kind if samples he was using in the 90's/2000's? I always wanted to know what drum machine those came from

[@jordn1]

Hey there, great tip! Question: is this traditionally used as a parallel bus return or as the way you show it, as a second audio track with just the SSL on it. I've tried it both ways and have to say I like the audio track, but am just curious how the master engineers you cite use it. Thanks!

[@JPHenryAudio]

It works best as a 2nd track, bc the original transient is preserved better that way, whereas bussing it out from the main channel can already diminish that slightly depending on those settings. It was generally done as a patchbay mult from the tape machine in the old days.

[@jordn1]

Thanks. The proof is in the putting based on the results of my testing!👍

[@PeterJensen7]

Many years ago I did this and the artist revised noting they had spent a couple days finding a soft beater for the kick and really wanted it that flabby. So there’s that possibility. But this isn’t the SSL channel dynamics trick I thought you’d be sharing.

[@JPHenryAudio]

It's not for everyone, but when it works, it def works! What other dynamics trick did you have in mind?

[@avationmusic]

Is the pop coming from the fast release on the gate? Like how an 1176 distorts when the release shuts closed too quickly?

[@JPHenryAudio]

It’s actually the fast attack of the gate popping open

[@G_handle]

Great video! 2 questions: A) Is that click the gate opening? What happens on say vocals, can you find an 'Edge' on say a rap vocal & blend that in for 'urgency'? B) How did they (Wallace et.al.) route that on the desk? Direct Out on 1 to Line in on 2, or just split at a half-normalled patchbay? Just Curious.

[@JPHenryAudio]

I'm not sure a vocal would have the transient to pop open the gate like a drum, but never actually tried! AW & others usually just multed on the patchbay to separate channels (in the tape days), unless there was something he wanted to preserve from one, then he'd bus it out from there and patch into another.

[@yoyoyayu]

Great video... Is there a way to do this with the 4000 E from BX? I'm having trouble getting it sounding like this with it...

[@JPHenryAudio]

@@yoyoyayu thanks! @danielpestanatranslations mentioned below they got it to work in the BX by increasing input gain & thd to max, give that a try!

[@Fred.A.Dubeau]

nice! ao basically andy wallace would do this, then add ambient samples?

[@JPHenryAudio]

If he couldn't get what he wanted from a reverb, yes. Sometimes he'd use these tightly-gated tracks just to feed reverb sends, for clean tails.

[@henrikborg8610]

I guess you got this information from mix with the masters, so it might be a good idea to mention that Andy said he rarely use this technique and refer to it as a last resort kind of thing..

[@ThisGuyDude]

2:55 you're flipping the polarity here, that is a polarity button not a phase button. It's a critical distinction because... 2:44 & 2:49 there seem to be pretty dramatic phase issues (not polarity per se) here. There is a decidedly noticeable lag between the clicky processed one and the dry one. That might be just a perception because you attacked the clicky one with the compressor. But it does genuinely sound like there's some phase/latency differences between your processed and dry samples when you blend them in. And a polarity switch won't fix that.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Hmmm, SSL calls it a Phase button... someone should tell them they're wrong

[@RPMusicStudios]

@@JPHenryAudiogot eem

[@WillyJunior]

Everyone knows what flipping the phase means, even if you're technically flipping the polarity

[@jle5779]

I don't hear any comb filtering or flaming or splaying at all. The sounds are aligned with delay compensation after all. Keep in mind as well that in the context that you are using it; phase degree is a location on the waveform's cycle. 90 degree phase in a sine wave is a quarter of the cycle. If you flip the "phase" or polarity, 90 degrees is still a quarter but on the negative side now. Hence, it's phase is now flipped.

[@ThisGuyDude]

@@WillyJunior 'Everyone' is quite a blanket statement. If a KZbin video creator is seeking to provide educational content across different skill levels then they should distinguish alternate definitions of ambiguous terms they specifically feature. Especially when that term was used oppositely as to how it was intended to be used. This video content is clearly targeting multiple skill levels. You're presuming that the video creator knew the difference. That may be indeed the case, but we will never know now after the fact, just like we'll never know the number of licks that it takes to get to the middle of a Tootsie Pop. Anyways, now... for posterity folks will have some seemingly incomprehensible comments to look at here and then go google and learn about the difference between phase and polarity. We've all here contributed to the growth of future audio inclined humanity by planting the seeds of their upcoming investigation.

[@MitchMichelleOfficial]

I mean that’s cool and all, but aren’t we beyond this in terms of technology? Why not just layer the original kick with a sample and be done with it?

[@JPHenryAudio]

If the kick was recorded well and sounds good, I find this method much faster to help it cut thru a mix, personally. If the kick is trash, then bring in the sample! Same approach as the big guys, basically.

[@asor8037]

Or a Transient designer..

[@ericmachel4240]

Also, you’d be surprised at how many drummers still come into the studio saying they don’t want to do any sample augmentation for their drums. This is sort of a happy medium, where it’s not a sample. It’s still there real Kieck but gives that front end. click that everybody wants to hear. I used to do this all the time with the digital design gate that came with ProTools. It sounds a little different but does the same thing.

[@calleenmusicchannel]

Integrity? This is way more fun.

[@doctorfuzzzdirtbox]

Any gate with attack control will do this

[@JPHenryAudio]

I haven't found that to be the case, esp when not all SSL emulations do it the same way either.

[@doctorfuzzzdirtbox]

@@JPHenryAudio Perhaps I should say any *decent* gate

[@Stonedizzy]

"Almost sounds like a sample"... showcasing midi drums that are completely sampled. Come on.

[@JPHenryAudio]

Did you not hear the microphone leakage on the bypassed track? They're well-recorded and consistent, but very real drums.

[@TinoSchulz1990]

@@JPHenryAudio Did you record the drums yourself?

[@luisguimaraes2176]

​@@JPHenryAudioindeed they were recorded very good