In today’s music production landscape, dominated by audio interfaces and plugins that meticulously emulate analog equipment, it’s commonplace to see musicians plugging directly into a digital setup like a Universal Audio Apollo. These interfaces are undeniably impressive, offering remarkably close approximations of classic analog sounds and making high-quality recording accessible to a wider audience. However, relying solely on digital solutions can lead you to miss the unique advantages that analog gear, especially when recording instruments like my cherished Purple Guitar, continues to offer.
While digital plugins have reached incredible levels of sophistication, some analog devices remain indispensable in my creative workflow. Take delays, for instance. Despite the plethora of delay plugins available, and while I acknowledge the excellence of plugins like Valhalla Delay and Echorec for mixing, they often fall short when I’m recording or seeking real-time parameter adjustments, particularly when experimenting with the sonic textures of my purple guitar. For those scenarios, outboard delays offer a tactile and sonic quality that plugins haven’t quite replicated.
The same sentiment applies to reverb. While plugins like Valhalla Room, Valhalla Vintage Verb, and the UAD emulations of classic Lexicon and EMT reverbs are valuable tools, for live manipulation and specific sonic flavors that complement the resonance of my purple guitar, I turn to analog units like the Demeter Reverbulator, Chase Bliss CXM 1978, and vintage Lexicon LXP-1s. My setup is, by necessity and preference, a hybrid one. The integration of analog gear often stems from a problem-solving approach. I constantly ask myself: how can I achieve the specific sonic character I envision for my purple guitar? What nuances am I missing by relying solely on plugins?
The Compression Revelation for Guitars
Compression is another area where I’ve explored both analog and digital domains extensively. While plugins like the UA 1176 collection have become staples in my studio workflow, particularly during periods when studio access was limited, I’ve encountered situations where digital compression alone didn’t quite capture the essence of the instrument, especially when recording acoustic guitar tracks intended to blend with the vibrant tones of my purple guitar.
For example, I noticed that acoustic guitars, processed solely with in-the-box compression, sometimes lacked the desired thickness and dimension. Even when recording through my API 312 preamps—while acknowledging the quality of UA preamp emulations—there was still a perceptible difference compared to using analog APIs, which seemed to impart a richer dimension to the sound. Initially, even using a UA 1176 plugin in the unison slot while recording acoustic guitar through the API preamp, aiming to capture and “print” the sound, didn’t fully resolve the issue. The result still felt somewhat thin.
My troubleshooting led me back to the analog compressors I had relied on in professional studios. Experimenting with inserting a compressor before the converters for various instruments—guitars, vocals, synths, bass, and crucially, my purple guitar—led me to the Purple Audio MC77. This compressor proved to be a revelation, particularly in how it enhanced the sonic presence and fullness of my guitars, bringing a richness and depth that I had been missing with purely digital compression chains. It underscored the enduring value of analog gear in capturing and shaping the true voice of instruments, and solidified its place in my signal path, right alongside my beloved purple guitar.
