UA: What other UAD-2 plugs do you use?
AS: A lot of times I’m trying to mimic what I do with hardware, because I don’t own enough of the hardware. For instance, I use the dbx 160 Compressor / Limiter Plug-In a lot, because it emulates a very specific compressor that nothing else sounds like. I only own four of the hardware units, and sometimes that’s not enough.
UA: Since you use both the plug-in and hardware versions of the 160, how do they compare?
AS: It’s interesting. They are very close, but they’re also different. They’re different because they’re getting hit from a different spot in the audio flow. If I’m using a plug-in, the processing takes place before it gets to the console.
But when I’m using the hardware on an insert, it’s post EQ and after the line amp and stuff like that. So it’s not totally fair to compare them that way, because they’re not actually getting the same signal. There are certain times when I’m laying out a mix, where I will pre-allocate in my mind, “Okay, here’s where the hardware is going, and if I need it, I’ll make up these spots with the software.”
UA: So at the very least they’ll give you the flavor of the original.
AS: Yes, because they definitely do take on the attitude and the color of the hardware that they’re emulating. It’s not that they react differently, there’s just something different about them. So much of this stuff is psychological, too, and that might be all it is.
UA: Are there any other UAD-2 plugs you like to use?
AS: I like the SSL Channels: The SSL E Series Channel Strip Plug-In and the SSL G Series Bus Compressor Plug-In. I used to mix more on SSLs before I bought the Neve console, so it’s nice to have that available. The Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb Plug-In is very cool, also.
UA: How do you think that stacks up against the original?
AS: It’s been a while since I’ve used the original, but it seems familiar. It definitely feels like the right thing. I also like the Cooper Time Cube Mk II Delay quite a bit, and the MXR Flanger Doubler. A lot of this is because I’ve used the hardware, and it’s just not always available. So something that you can reach for that’s familiar is really good. Because you know there are other plug-in companies that make all the crazy stuff. And when I don’t know what I want to do, I can just go to their stuff and flip through presets and see what happens. Whereas UAD stuff is very much based on hardware that I’m familiar with. I’ve got a huge palette of stuff that’s always available. Also, the Moog Multimode Filter / Multimode Filter is cool. The Roland Dimension D Plug-In is always a good one—especially with all the buttons in.
Scheps and his analog recording gear, including five 1176 compressors.
UA: You also own a UAD-2 Satellite QUAD FireWire DSP Accelerator. Talk about how you use it.
AS: There have been a couple of times when I hooked it up to the main rig to supplement the cards. But the reason I got the Satellite, is that for the last two records with the Chili Peppers, I’ve gone out with them to do their initial promo tours, where they’re playing lots of TV shows and concerts that have to be broadcast the next day. They’ll play an hour-and-a-half concert, and I’ll need to get a mix of that out the next morning. So what I’ve done is built a template for mixing, that’s trying to recreate, as closely as possible, how I would mix that show if I were at home at the console with all the outboard gear.
And the Satellite was awesome for that, because it gave me access to plug-ins like the UAD-2 dbx 160 emulation. The original hardware sounds like nothing else. It has this weird attack followed by a bunch of mush when you compress drums with it, and the plug-in captures the essence of that sound. So rather than trying to find something that kind of sounds like it, I know that I can throw that plug-in on the kick and snare, and I’ve got the drums the way that I like them. I don’t have time to experiment; I want to reach for something that I already know, so that I can get an exiting mix going really fast. I end up mixing these promo appearances almost like I’m the front of house guy. It’s really all about riding the vocal and the guitar, and trying to make it as exciting as possible. We’re not going for a pristine mix with the perfect thing here and there. The quicker I can have the sound of the mix up, the better. And so, that’s what the Satellite was a big part of.
UA: Back to the general subject of mixing: Is it a lot different to mix a project in which you also engineered the recording, as opposed to one where you just come in for the mix?
AS: Well, yeah, and it works both ways. Like, in some cases, just doing the mix is great because you have the fresh perspective on the project. The band has been inside of it and living every detail, whereas you just get a very broad look at it. And you pull it up and go, “Oh this is awesome, this is about this,” and the band will sometimes say, “Oh yeah, we haven’t really thought about it like that.” And it’s great, it is really a fresh perspective. The problem is when the songs aren’t necessarily recorded as well as I would like.
UA: When you start a mix, do you have a vision for how it’s going to end up, or do just go with the flow and see how it develops?
AS: It’s hard to say. Also now, people usually have very intricate rough mixes that they’ve done. People work in the box. They have roughs that often sound quite a bit like records. And it’s not like, “Oh yeah, we had to do a bunch of roughs on the last day of tracking, so we don’t even know what they sound like.” They’re usually very specific. So unless they tell me otherwise, I always try and figure out what’s great about the rough. But, of course, the drag about that is usually, what’s really great about the rough is unsustainable when you correct the stuff that they hate about the rough. They say, “Oh man, the drums are just great on this!” And I tell them, “Well, yeah, that’s because they’re way too loud and you can’t hear the guitars.” And when you turn up the guitars, the drums can’t be that big. So there’s always that. But if there’s no real direction given that way, I let the songs kind of mix themselves.
Read and comment on the original article from Universal Audio’s 2012 interview here.