Tips & Techniques:Elec Gtr - Jules' Sex Pistols compression trick

Run your distorted rhythm guitar tracks through a stereo bus (or aux in a DAW) and put a stereo compressor on that.

Via that compressors side chain feed (you must use one that has one) - Key the compressor to act on a feed from the kick drum. This will 'kick the guitars in the throat' every time the kick drum hits. Set it for a 1:20 ratio to have a fast attack and a quick release.

Adjust the amount of compression action to taste..you can use a lot or a little.. its up to you..

[tINY]

I'd think that you'd get a bit of that if you were tracking to tape and driving hard. Neat way to put some space back in an otherwise oppressive mix.....



-tINY

[Jules]

It simulates the sound you get on gtrs when there is a huge kick drum pounding down the middle of a mix with a compressor on it.

A sort of pulsing / surging sound.

It definitely helps feature the kick drum.

But to set it up you really need to first go totally overboard with it (to adjust the compression release time to snap back in time with the music) that sounds ridiculous of course and will completely panic any guitarist in the room - but then back that WAY down so that its real subtle....and see if you like it...

It can assist with a Sex Pistols, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins gutar sound.

If you automate the kick send to the compressor you can have this effect happen only in certain spots of the song.. Like on only the rhy gtrs in say a solo section, leaving the solo guitar out of the key compression bus, so again use to taste...

But via long experience with using this 50% of people think its sounds totally shitty.. And thats cool.. whatever..

[Empty Planet]

Very cool. Always held Chris Thomas' work with the Pistols in very high esteem. That's a hell of a sound.

Thanks for that.

(...And I'd be delighted to hear of any other production insights from those sessions.)



Cheers.

[andychamp]

When doing this ITB, try the following: feed the compressor's sidechain pre-fade from a copy of the kick track.
Have that track's fader down.
Gate, compress and EQ it to give you just a short impulse (it doesn't have to sound good since it's muted).
Now give that track some negative delay (-10 to -30 ms sounded good here), so the "trench/pocket" for the kick is fully dug out once it hits.

[Jules]

Originally Posted by Empty Planet

Very cool. Always held Chris Thomas' work with the Pistols in very high esteem. That's a hell of a sound.

Thanks for that.

(...And I'd be delighted to hear of any other production insights from those sessions.)



Cheers.

Don't get me wrong, I made this up myself - I am not passing it off as a Chris Thomas production trick. I nicknamed it as my "Sex Pistols trick" as it can make a distorted gtr track sound a bit like the gtrs on "Anarchy in the UK'. I have no insights to those session (but like you, would LOVE to hear some!)

[Jules]

Originally Posted by Empty Planet

Very cool. Always held Chris Thomas' work with the Pistols in very high esteem. That's a hell of a sound.

Thanks for that.

(...And I'd be delighted to hear of any other production insights from those sessions.)



Cheers.

Don't get me wrong, I made this up myself - I am not passing it off as a Chris Thomas production trick. I nicknamed it as my "Sex Pistols trick" as it can make a distorted gtr track sound a bit like the gtrs on "Anarchy in the UK'.

[Empty Planet]

Originally Posted by Jules

Don't get me wrong, I made this up myself - I am not passing it off as a Chris Thomas production trick...

Ha! Even cooler then.





Cheers.