Parallel Processing: The Oldschool Way

Every month, dozens of music tech videos go up on the internet. We will pick out one that we think is especially worthy of your attention, and explain why we like it.

This month we take a look at ‘Parallel Processing: The Oldschool Way’ by Sadowick Production. This is an interesting exploration of parallel processing using the Waves SSL Channel Strip plug-in. In the video, Sadowick recreates the kind of ‘Oldschool’ parallel processing that would have been used on drums going through a classic SSL desk. The plug-in he uses is great, but you could use any number of channel strip plug-ins to get very similar results.

It’s nice that he uses the technique to process a loop. Too often, we don’t process different elements of a drum loop separately – thinking of it as a single audio source. It is often more helpful to think of a drum loop as multiple audio sources on the same track – as really, that’s what it is. The kick doesn’t necessarily need the same processing as the snare, which doesn’t necessarily need the same processing as the hi-hats.

So how do we process these different elements separately? By making full use of the features the channel strip has to offer. We can separate the sounds out using gates and EQ, and then process them individually with more EQ and compression. Sadowick gives a nice demonstration of this, before bringing all of the parallel processed elements back together and showing us how much life has been added to the loop.  

One gripe; the ‘analog’ button that is turned on by default on Waves plug-ins. It adds a high frequency hiss, and if you layer up five of these plug-ins, as Sadowick does, the hiss gets very loud! This is surely one of the most annoying default settings on any set of plug-ins.

If you enjoy this video, and want to explore a few other parallel processing techniques, then why not take a look at our recent blog post on distortion. In that article we examine various ways in which you can use parallel processing in conjunction with distortion to improve your mix.

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