Universal Audio lights up Friendly Fires
London, UK (October 21st, 2009) October 21, 2009, 12:59 PM Views: 449
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 Mercury Prize nominees Friendly Fires' eponymous debut album is an intriguing blend of skittish nu-rave dance beats, shoegaze textures and pop melodies. The album was largely self-produced, with the exception of the opening track Jump In The Pool, which was produced by in-demand UK producer Paul Epworth.
Lead singer Ed MacFarlane gave us the rundown on recording the album and the equipment he used to do it, which includes Universal Audio's 6176 vintage channel strip and the UAD-2 Solo Laptop DSP plug-in system. Stripped down Ed's an advocate of minimalist setups, claiming too much equipment can detract from the creative process. The latest album was recorded in his garage using a Røde NT-1A microphone, which is a huge step up from the Shure SM58 with which the band recorded their previous long player. The mic signal was then routed through the Universal Audio 6176 channel strip to an Apogee Ensemble, and on into his laptop running Apple's Logic 8. Processing was carried out in the box using the UAD-2 Solo Laptop and a suite of Universal Audio plug-ins. Initially sceptical of plug-ins, Ed was converted to the quality of the UAD plugs after going into the studio with Epworth, and has since started using them as his go-to treatments on every track. In the toolbox He's particularly keen on the FATSO plug, which re-creates the qualities of analogue tape compression, class A transformer saturation and valve circuitry. Electronic drums are treated with Universal Audio's VCA VU plug – an emulation of the dbx 160 VCA compressor, the very first commercially available VCA compressor. For the fast funky guitar lines, Ed uses the Dimension D plug, which creates a thick stereo chorus, which he likens to the Talking Heads sound. He's also keen on the UAD Plate 140 plug. It emulates an EMT 140 plate reverb, based on plates from Plant Studios. Aside from drum processing, one of the other key areas where Friendly Fires have used the UAD-2 Solo Laptop is for creating the synth pads that are a staple of the bands' signature sound. To create the lush shoegaze pads, Ed has been using the UAD's flagship DreamVerb reverb plug.
Talk the talk
"All I really used was the 6176 as my preamp and compressor, and I've been using the UAD plug-ins in Logic 8 once the track's in the computer," explains Ed.
"I've never thought compression plug-ins would actually do anything, but I've been proven absolutely wrong by Paul Epworth, and I've ended up using the FATSO plug-in on all of my drums as a buss-compressor," says Ed. "I really like what it does – it can change the whole timbre of the drum kit."
"I really like the VCA VU plug-in, and it's really simple to use. There aren't many knobs to play around with, but it beefs up the sound and makes the dry signal from an 808 or 909 more interesting," says Ed. "We usually record toms separately, and to get that big washy Serge Gainsbourg sound we've used the UAD Plate reverb on them," explains Ed. "I've never had the money to try this stuff out in hardware, but now I'm really intrigued to find out if there is a difference from the plug-in version." "If you record a simple synth stab and put it through DreamVerb with the decay up to max, you can change the EQ of the reverb, creating huge washes that are very Brian Eno-esque," says Ed. "I've been using that for creating odd drones, washes and spatial sounds." Hear it While the new album is in the works, you can hear the fruits of Friendly Fires' recent experimentation with the UAD-2 Solo Laptop on a new split single coming out in association with the New York band Holy Ghost. For the single, Friendly Fires are covering Holy Ghost's Hold On, while Holy Ghost will be covering Friendly Fires' On Board.
Look out for Friendly Fire on their up-coming tour, which will be taking place around the UK, the US and Canada throughout November and December. Visit www.wearefriendlyfires.com for dates.
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