Better Mixing Tips: Waves Abbey Road Collection, Part 1 — TG Mastering Chain and Reel ADT

Historic Hardware Recreated as Plug-ins for Modern Music

Starting with this installment of our mixing tips series, we will explore some of the standout plug-ins in Waves Abbey Road Collection.

Developed jointly by Waves and Abbey Road Studios, the studio behind countless classic albums, Abbey Road Collection is a bundle of plug-ins modeled on rare original hardware found only at the studio.
As these tips demonstrate, their workflow and sound are a surprisingly good fit for modern music, too.

Let's take a closer look at each plug-in.

Better Mixing Tips: Waves Abbey Road Collection, Part 1 — Video

Buy the product: Waves Abbey Road Collection

1. 1Abbey Road Collection: Overview
2. 2Abbey Road Collection: Reverb
3. 3Abbey Road Collection: Saturation

TG Mastering Chain

First, let's look at Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain.

This plug-in meticulously recreates the EMI TG12410, a solid-state modular mastering system installed in Room 5 at Abbey Road.
The EMI TG12410 remains in service and has been used to master major albums such as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, Nirvana's In Utero, and Radiohead's OK Computer.

At first glance, all those knobs and the unmistakably vintage appearance may seem intimidating. In practice, though, the design is very well thought out, making mastering surprisingly quick and intuitive.

TG Mastering Chain consists of five modules: INPUT, TONE, LIMITER, FILTER, and OUTPUT.

You can also change the order of TONE, LIMITER, and FILTER.

Each module can be enlarged using the expand/collapse button at its upper right.

Basic adjustments are possible without expanding a module, but mid/side processing is arguably this plug-in's greatest strength, so you will generally work in the expanded view.
Even in the expanded view, you can quickly switch between modules.

For this example, we will master a track with TG Mastering Chain, starting with nothing on the master bus except a limiter.

INPUT

Here you can adjust the input level, balance, and phase, among other settings. The standout feature, however, is TAPE EQUALIZER.
Originally designed to compensate for differences between tape standards, it can also be used to give the sound a distinctive tonal character.

With IEC to NAB, 15 ips emphasizes the low end, while 7.5 ips tends toward boosted lows and highs with a recessed midrange.
With NAB to IEC, 15 ips mainly opens up the high end, while 7.5 ips gives the impression of a more midrange-focused sound.
If one of these settings suits the song, you could use it as a starting point and then fine-tune the sound with the TONE module.
Here, we want to make detailed adjustments in TONE, so we will leave this set to FLAT.

TONE

As its appearance suggests, this is an equalizer.
It has four bands: from top to bottom, high, high-mid, low-mid, and low.
The controls, from left to right, are Frequency, Gain, and Shape. Shape offers low-shelf and high-shelf curves, plus three bell shapes. Blunt is wider, Sharp is narrower, and Medium falls in between.

Let's use TONE for mid/side EQ.
Select MS from the three buttons at the top. The left side then becomes M and the right side becomes S.

Before applying mid/side EQ, there is one familiar step we want to take: raising the side level.
In TG Mastering Chain, use SPREADER in the OUTPUT module to do this.

This knob has a strong effect, so a setting of around +2 should be enough for a subtle mastering adjustment. It gives a similar result to increasing the side level.

Now let's move on to EQ.
Use the Solo button when choosing a frequency.

While Solo is on, you can audition the frequency range targeted by the Frequency setting.

The best EQ choices will vary from song to song, but here are some general guidelines for this example.

• 1. Cut more of the low frequencies in the side signal. This makes the positioning of the bass and kick more defined.
• 2. SPREADER slightly reduces the prominence of the low end in the mid signal, so boost it a little.
• 3. SPREADER also slightly reduces the prominence of the high-mids in the mid signal, so boost those a little as well.
• 4. If the low end sounds muddy, cut the low-mids in the mid signal slightly.
• 5. Boost the low-mids in the side signal a little to give the guitars more body.
• 6. Slightly boost the highs in the side signal to widen the stereo image further.

Let's compare the result of these adjustments with SPREADER at 0 and the TONE module turned off.

There is now a pleasing sense of separation, along with greater impact.

LIMITER

Although this module is called LIMITER, it behaves more like a bus compressor.
Even selecting Limit does not turn it into a brickwall limiter. In other words, you should use a separate limiter or maximizer after it.

Here are some general guidelines for the settings.

• 1. TYPE: Select the compressor type. Original is the Zener-diode compressor used in the TG12413. Limit is its limiter version, with a harder knee than Original. Modern is a newly designed VCA-based compressor intended to meet modern mastering requirements.
• 2. RATIO: Set the strength of the compression. As a rough guide, aim for the GR meter to show around −2 to −3 dB.
• 3. RECOVERY: Sets the attack and release speeds. Higher values make both slower. Listen closely to the snare transients as you adjust this control.

Next, let's switch to mid/side compression.
Looking at the gain-reduction meters, you should see that the mid signal is already being compressed more heavily.

The side signal's compression is now independent of the mid signal. The sound has become a little wider, too.

From here, let's combine this with sidechain filtering and apply stronger compression to the mid signal.
As you raise Ratio for the mid signal, the makeup gain makes it feel more prominent even as it becomes more compressed. However, the vocals, kick, and snare also start to sound flatter.
To bring back some contrast and definition, we will use the sidechain. This is an internal sidechain: filtering the signal sent to the compressor's detector lets us adjust how the compressor responds.

When finding the right sidechain frequency, it is useful to turn on this speaker icon so you can monitor only the detector signal.

We used the following sidechain settings.
These will also vary with the song, so treat them as a reference.

• 1. Use the high-pass filter to keep the low end from driving the compression as much. We set it around 90 Hz to preserve the kick's impact.
• 2. Use the bell filter to reduce some of the midrange in the detector signal. It is easier to find the right spot by boosting it first, then cutting it. The aim is to help the vocals cut through and preserve the snare's attack.

With the settings complete, let's compare this with the entire LIMITER module turned off.

The sound now has more cohesion and impact while retaining a suitable amount of dynamics.

FILTER

This module is straightforward: use the three bands—Low Pass, Presence, and High Pass—for the finishing touches.
Low Pass and High Pass can remove unwanted frequency content, but use them carefully to avoid harming the sound. If you do not need them, it is fine to leave them off.

Presence is a bell-shaped filter for final small adjustments. The sound is already nearly finished at this point, so any changes should be subtle—around 1–2 dB. Here, we tried a boost of about 1 dB at 4.2 kHz.

Now let's compare the fully processed sound with TG Mastering Chain completely bypassed.

The sound is noticeably more polished. Once you understand the workflow and character of the plug-in, you should be able to get close to the sound you have in mind quite quickly.

Reel ADT

This was the first plug-in to directly recreate the hardware used for the double-tracking effect pioneered at Abbey Road Studios.
Double tracking has been a widely used mixing technique from the Beatles era to the present day. Reel ADT is more than just a double-tracking plug-in: its tube-tape character and distinctive behavior deliver a familiar sound that is uniquely its own.
Its simple, easy-to-understand controls are another major attraction.

First, look at the upper section of the interface. You will see a marker labeled SRC in the center.
This is the source—the original signal that serves as the reference for double tracking.

Moving the ADT marker below it applies a short delay to create artificial double tracking. It can be shifted within a range of ±20 ms; a larger offset produces a stronger doubling effect.

However, simply shifting the timing can sound like an unconvincing double because of phase relationships and other factors. This is where Varispeed comes in: it moves the delay time back and forth relative to the ADT position.

When you move the large central knob, another marker appears from behind ADT.
This movement introduces subtle variations in the ADT signal, producing a distinctive doubling effect that a simple short delay cannot create.
By default, Varispeed's range is ±10 ms, but you can expand it to ±20 ms.

As you move it, you will notice that it responds as though it has inertia rather than moving linearly, and that the pitch changes along with the timing.
This recreates the variations in tape speed that occur when shifting the tape's timing. These pitch fluctuations help create a realistic doubling effect.

Varispeed is designed to keep moving like this, but you cannot keep turning the knob by hand indefinitely. You could write automation, but that takes some work.
That is where the LFO section below it comes in.

Here you can give Varispeed periodic movement. LFO Range sets the amount of timing variation, Rate sets the modulation rate, and Shape selects the waveform that determines the movement. Turn on SYNC to synchronize it to the song's tempo and set the rate in note values.

For doubling vocals, we recommend the Random Shape setting.

You must turn SYNC off before you can select it. Random removes the regular cycle, so Rate is no longer adjustable. Only Range can be set; try a moderate value. In this mode, the Varispeed knob acts as an offset, shifting the center of the movement.

These random variations in timing and pitch bring the effect closest to real double tracking.

Another surprisingly welcome feature is the DRV control, which lets you add distortion independently to the source and ADT signals.

You can apply anything from light saturation to strong distortion. A little saturation can add presence; heavily distorting only the ADT signal makes it easy to double a clean vocal with a distorted one.
When you blend it with the backing track, you should hear how the distorted version sits more naturally in the mix.

If you use the stereo version of Reel ADT on a stereo track, you can also adjust the panning as shown here.

In this installment, we looked at two plug-ins from Abbey Road Collection: TG Mastering Chain and Reel ADT.
There are other appealing plug-ins in Abbey Road Collection, so we will continue exploring them next time.

Product URL: https://bit.ly/3c1pfeK

Jointly developed by Waves and Abbey Road Studios, the studio behind countless classic albums, these plug-ins model rare original hardware and work beautifully with modern music, too. 👍

> Waves Abbey Road Collection Tips, Part 1
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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What hardware does Waves Abbey Road Collection's TG Mastering Chain model?

It models the EMI TG12410, a solid-state modular mastering system installed in Room 5 at Abbey Road Studios. This historically important equipment remains in use and has been used to master landmark albums by Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Radiohead, and others.

Q2. What is the mid/side processing available in TG Mastering Chain's TONE module?

Mid/side processing separates a stereo signal into Mid (the center) and Side (the stereo-width component), allowing you to apply different EQ or compression to each. It is a professional mastering technique for controlling the positioning and sense of space in a mix.

Q3. Can mastering beginners use TG Mastering Chain?

Yes. Although it looks complex, its well-considered design makes it intuitive to use. Following the EQ and compression tips in this article can help even beginners achieve effective mastering results.