Drawmer 1961 Vacuum Tube Equaliser - Manual (Page 10)

1961 OPERATORS’ MANUAL 8
Note that a small amount of deliberately added tube distortion can produce the
flattering effect associated with vintage tube equipment.
The major feature when using the 1961 is that you can control the amount of
enhancement using the Input level control, rather than having to accept what the
equipment gives you! Driving the input until the yellow Soft LED comes on generally
produces the most pleasing result, but this will vary depending on the material being
processed and on the taste of the user. If the red O/L LED flashes, the unit is at, or
very near, clipping. It is possible to add subtle amounts of tube distortion by leaving
the master bypass switch set to In and the individual filter bypass switches set to out.
This leaves only the output tube in circuit. More dramatic colouration may be added
when switching in the individual equalisers; the more EQ Boost applied, the greater
the degree of tube colouration added by the equaliser stage.
Though the 1961 has a very quiet signal path, applying large amounts of high
frequency Boost will emphasise tape hiss and other background noises, especially
during pauses and quiet passages where there is no other sound to mask it. For this
reason, it is unwise to use unnecessary amounts of high end Boost, especially in
areas of the spectrum where there is little or no signal to work on. In the case of
instruments with a limited bandwidth, the noise performance can be improved by
using the Low - Pass filter to 'trim' away the unused top end of the audio spectrum.
The filter frequency should be lowered slowly while monitoring its effect on the
material being processed, so as not to apply filtering and too low a frequency.
Examples of where this may be beneficial are when working on miked electric guitar
sounds or some of the older electric pianos, both of which produce negligible
amounts of energy above 5kHz. Similarly, the High - Pass filter may be used to
remove unwanted bottom end from a sound, for example, the hum from an electric
guitar track or the boxiness from a close-miked acoustic guitar.
Hints on Useful Equalisation Frequencies
! Mains hum in the UK and Europe has a fundamental frequency at 50Hz
and harmonics at 50Hz intervals stretching up throughout the audio
spectrum. By filtering at 50Hz and 100Hz using the narrowest Octave
setting, it is often possible to significantly reduce the perceived level of
hum without unduly affecting the wanted signal. On signals containing
no very low frequencies, the High-Pass filter may also be used. Its
frequency should be set by experimentation so that it is tuned as high
as possible without affecting the bass end of the wanted signal.
! Kick Drums: Rock kick drums often benefit from a slight boost at 80Hz
which produces a tight, punchy sound. However, a deeper sound, more
suited to dance music production, can be achieved by boosting the
bass at 32Hz or 50Hz using a medium Octave setting and
simultaneously applying cut at 160Hz to prevent the mid-range from
becoming too boxy (or honky).