| Yeah, that Fairchild is something to program.
I haven't figured it out really, but I can get it to perform some fx type stuff on guitar, piano, or even synth. The DC Bias knobs along with the threshold are your best friends. You can get interesting release tails with nice long sustain by pushing it. Sometimes you need to reduce the gain, and increase the output. I find that the FC sounds best when the needle is tickling between 0 and -2. I use the Bias control to tighten the compression to land in that area.
I like to take groups of synth or piano and send to the FC with about 50% return. At times it's hard to tell if it's better, but when you bypass that send, the mojo is missing.
Stapping a Helios after the FC seems to bring those lows back out, however I avoid sending bass heavy elements to it, unless I want to actually use it as a quasi high pass compressor for some sort of effect.
I love the fact that you have to really work to get a good sound out of it, and yes 60% of the time, it ruins the sound. That's when you move on to the 1176 or something else!
...also, understanding each time constant setting (att/rel) is key to sculpting your sound. Should not be a random decision there. I use Senn HPs to really hear what it's doing, while referring to the manual to keep track of those att/rel times.
yeah that's my fav plug-in period. |