Slate Digital Virtual Buss Compressors - Manual (Page 17)

Conclusion
By Fabrice Gabriel
With
the
Virtual
Buss
Compressors,
we
wanted
to
create
something
unique,
powerful
and
easy
to
use.
But
more
importantly,
we
wanted
to
be
creaKve
and
to
bring
something
new
to
mix
buss
compression.
The
algorithm
design
had
several
challenges;
we
wanted
to
be
faithful
to
the
original
hardware
that
inspired
us,
however,
we
also
wanted
to
add
something
unique
to
these
already
great-­‐
sounding
units.
A]er
studying
many
hardware
compressors,
we
realized
that
we
could
not
cover
all
the
flavors
and
styles
of
compression
with
only
one
unit.
FG-Grey
At
first,
we
thought
of
this
unit
as
a
very
faithful
recreaKon
of
the
well
known,
BriKsh
mix
buss
compressor.
We
realized
that
despite
the
simple
electronics,
its
behavior
is
quite
complex,
especially
in
the
auto
release
mode.
One
of
the
main
concerns
about
this
unit
is
its
tendency
to
reduce
punch
in
bass
frequencies,
especially
when
the
gain
reducKon
is
pumping.
So
I
thought
of
a
circuit
design
to
compensate
for
this
behavior
that
would
allow
mixing
engineers
to
have
the
same
pumping
behavior
without
having
to
balance
the
bass
differently
for
each
se_ng.
This
resulted
in
an
elegant
algorithm
design
in
which
we
we
spent
a
lot
of
Kme
tweaking
with
Steven.
Then,
we
wanted
not
only
to
keep
the
analog
behavior
of
the
original,
but
also
to
design
the
transient
response
so
it
would
remain
more
arKculate
and
alive
in
any
situaKon,
even
with
really
heavy
compression.
Finally,
we
thought
that
including
our
precise
model
of
the
classic
BriKsh
transformer
design
would
be
a
great
addiKon!
FG-Red
The
FG-­‐Red
has
been
a
very
exciKng
compressor
to
work
on,
maybe
the
most
exciKng
for
me
because
of
its
characterisKc
personality.
The
algorithm
design
could
be
seen
as
the
simplest
and
the
most
complex
at
the
same
Kme,
because
at
the
end
it
has
the
least
complex
structure
of
the
three
compressors
but
it
was
the
hardest
to
tweak.
The
release
behavior
and
the
saturaKon
behavior
are
very
specific
to
this
unit.
Many
mixing
and
mastering
engineers
have
been
using
the
original
to
obtain
a
very
specific
coloraKon
of
the
sound,
which
has
been
referred
to
as
“bigger,
wider,
Kghter,
and
punchier.”
The
saturaKon
algorithm
has
been
designed
to
reproduce
this
characterisKc,
as
the
Kming
has
been
carefully
designed
and
tweaked
to
obtain
that
beauKful
“alive”
transient
behavior.
With
this
compressor,
it’s
preSy
amazing
to
hear
what
it
does
on
auto
release
even
with
a
liSle
amount
of
gain
reducKon,
once
again,
due
to
its
unique
Kming
behavior. The
fast,
punchy,
and
breathing
transient
response
is
preSy
surprising
if
you’ve
never
heard
the
actual
hardware
compressor
and
I
can
understand
why
it
is
used
by
one
of
rock’s
biggest
mixers.
Once
you
tried
it,
you
can
never
go
back
!
Slate
Digital
-­‐
Virtual
Buss
Compressors
17