WAVES/ABBEY ROAD
EMI TG12345
USER GUIDE
2
BLE OF CONTENTS
TA
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................3
1.1 Welcome .............................................................................................................................................................................................3
1.2 The Original EMI TG12345 Console ...............................................................................................................................................3
1.3 The EMI TG12345 Plugin ..................................................................................................................................................................4
1.4 Concepts and Terminology ..............................................................................................................................................................5
1.5 Components........................................................................................................................................................................................7
1.6 WaveSystem Toolbar.........................................................................................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2 – INTERFACE AND CONTROLS .............................................................................8
2.1 Inte rface ..............................................................................................................................................................................................8
2.2 Controls ...............................................................................................................................................................................................9
Abbey Road Studios and their associated logos are trademark s of EMI (IP) Limited.
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Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1 Welcome
Thank you for choosing Waves! In order to get the most out of your new Waves plugin, please
take a moment to read this user guide.
To install software and manage your licenses, you need to have a free Waves account. Sign up
at www.waves.com. With a Waves account you can keep track of your products, renew your
Waves Update Plan, participate in bonus programs, and keep up to date with important
information.
We suggest that you become familiar with the Waves Support pages: www.waves.com/support.
There are technical articles about installation, troubleshooting, specifications, and more. Plus,
you’ll find company contact information and Waves Support news.
1.2 The Original EMI TG12345 Console
In 1968, the introduction of 8-track recording and increasing sonic experimentation by the Beatles
and other groundbreaking artists meant that the capabilities of Abbey Road Studios’ REDD .37 and
REDD .51 consoles were being stretched to the max. This called for a new desk.
The year before, EMI had already laid out ideas for a solid-state mixer to replace the valve REDD
desks. Throughout 1967, meetings had taken place between the Abbey Road staff and the engineers
at EMI Central Research Laboratories in order to design a comprehensive mixing console that would
be able to handle the needs of the latest music recordings.
The resulting console, TG12345, was designed to meet the most demanding recording requirements
of its time. It was substantially bigger than the old REDD desks, with 24 mic inputs and 8 outputs, 4
echo sends, 2 CUE/foldbacks, and, for the first time ever, a compressor/limiter on every channel, in
addition to EQ. The compressor was based on the valve Fairchild and Altec devices used at Abbey
Road during the '60s, but ended up with a completely unique sound all its own. The desk was also
modular in design, with twelve microphone ‘cassettes’, or channel strips, that could easily be replaced
when faulty. Each cassette contained two input channels that could be used either separately or as a
stereo pair.
All in all, the desk had no less than 479 knobs and controls as well as 37 meters. Since it was larger
than other consoles (a staggering 79.5’’ in width), engineers sitting at the center of the desk were
unable to reach all the controls.
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For several months in the summer and fall of 1968, the new desk was placed in the studios’
‘experiment al room ’ for testing. Abbey Road’s engineers r an ‘clone’ sessions to compare TG12345
and REDD, with two sets of mics placed in the room: one going to the REDD .51, the other to the
TG. The results were superb: TG12345 proved to have a cleaner, brighter and punchier sound than
its predecessor, with unprecedented top end sheen and sparkle.
On the weekend of November 23, 1968, TG12345 MK I was installed in the c ontr ol room of Abbey
Road’s Studio Two and connected to the 3M 8-track tape machine. It was first used in a recording
session with the Shadows. In mi d -1969, the very last Beatles album, Abbey Road, was made on the
TG12345.
G12345 went through several revisions during the 1970s. TG12345 MK II replaced the treble
The T
filter with the same presence filter that existed on the main and group cassettes of MK I. The
ergonomics of the dynamics section also underwent changes. MK III a n d MK IV added new utility
options, but the sound processors (dynamics and filters) remained unchanged.
1.3 The EMI TG12345 Plugin
The TG12345 plugin is a channel strip with a three-band EQ. I ts treble filter s deliver a fixed bell filter
at 5K for boos t, and a fixed s helf filter at 10K for cut. The bass filters are fixed shelf filters at 50 Hz.
We have also added a bell filter for presence boost/cut, ranging from 500 Hz to 10 kHz. In the
original TG12345 MK I des k, the presence filter was part of the group cassette. We have added it to
the TG12345 channel strip for a better user experience.
The TG12345 has a Dynamics section with a limiter/compressor (7:1 and 2:1, respectively) that has
a fixed attac k time and six options for release time.
lugin offers three routing opt ions , allowing user s t o determ ine where to place the EQ (Ba ss +
The p
Treble), Pr es enc e, and Dynamics sections within the signal flow:
• EQ>>Dyn>>Pres – EQ first, then Dynamics, then Presence.
• Dyn>>EQ>>Pres – Dynamics first, then EQ, then Presence.
• EQ>>Pres>>Dyn – EQ first, then Presence, then Dynamics.
The default setting is EQ > >P res>>Dyn. Together, these three options run the gamut of the routing
options offered by the diff erent vers ions (MK I-IV) of the original TG12345 des k.
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The TG12345 has a unique spread control, which is an MS matrix-type process. This control can
decrease and increase the level of the sides without touc hing the level of the mid.
W
aves has also added several features not in the original console: (1) a high-pass filter on the
sidechain that helps preserve low frequencies during compression, (2) a mix control that gives you
control over the balance of the compressed and non-compressed signals, just as in parallel
compression, (3) drive, (4) noise.
1.4 Concepts and Termi nology
VC
A
A VCA, or voltage-contr olled am plifier , is an amplif ier that var ies its gain depending on a c ont rol
voltage, such that the input voltage determines the output volt age. The TG12345 includes a V CAbased compressor. However, whereas most VCA-based compressors only attenuate the signal
(voltage in > voltage out), the TG12345’s compressor also amplifies it (upwards compression) at
very lo w levels (below 1.5 V).
I
n the graph above, the Y axis represents the amount of amplification or attenuation in dB, while the
X axis represents the input to the VCA in volts ( 0 dBfs = 13.875 V) . As the graph shows, signals
below 1.5 V are boosted while signals above 1.5 V are attenuated. The VCA input is triggered by
the feedback signal through the sidechain.
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Feedback Com pression
The signal entering the compressor is sent to the VCA. The output of the VCA is then split: one copy
goes to the output, while the other is fed bac k to t he VCA via a sidechain circuit. See t he image
below:
S
idechain High Pass (SC-HP)
As explained in the Feedback C ompression section above, the input signal is fed to back to the
VCA. Generally, the more energy you have in the sidechain, the more compression you get; but if
you apply a high-pass filter to remove low energy fr om t he s ignal, the r es ult is less energy when
low-frequency energy is present, hence less compression. In the case of a bass guitar, for example,
the abundance of low energy entails lots of compression; but if a high-pass filter is applied on the
sidechain, the VCA will identify less energy on the low bass notes than ther e is in the actual input
signal and will therefore attenuate the signal less, allowing more low frequency.
Sidechain V oltage
The sidechain section of the TG12345 converts the signal from AC to DC, with the VCA controlled
via the DC current. The higher the DC current, the more compression you get. The sidechain
voltage can range fr om a couple of mV to 15 V. The amount of compression for each volt is
represented in the VCA graph above.
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TG12345 Cassettes
The original TG12345 desk included three main sections, or three types of “cassettes” (technically
there w ere six types of cassettes, but only three were significant sound-wise; the other three were
utility c assettes):
1. Microphone Cassette: This section had the mic preamp, an EQ (treble + bass) section, a
dynamics section, sends + returns, a spread, a pan pot, and faders. Each cassette was
actually a stereo channel, with the option of sum m ing the signal to mono. In TG12345 MK I I,
the treble EQ was replaced with a presence EQ and the spreader was removed.
2. Group Cassette: There were two group cassettes, each containing two subgroups. Any of
the microphone cassettes could be routed to a group cassette, and multiple channels routed
from the mic cassette to the group cassette could be controlled through the group channel.
The group c as s ette had another dynamic s section as well as a presence control (in the
TG12345 MK II, this presence control replaced the treble EQ).
3. Main Cassette: The TG12345 had five m ain cass et tes : four feeding the t ape machine (each
was a stereo cassette, for a total of eight tracks), and one for the aux stereo outputs. Each
main cassette had another presence EQ section to adjust the final output to the tape.
If you review the r outing on the TG12345 plugin, you will s ee that you c an achieve any signal flow
within the console using two instances of the plugin. A signal flow s im ulat ing a mic-cassette-togroup-cassette flow on the TG12345 MK I can be achieved using just one instance (EQ>Dyn>Pres).
1.5 Components
WaveShell technology enables us to split Waves processors into smaller plugins, which we call
components. Having a choice of components for a particular processor gives you the flexibility to
choose the configuration best suited to your material. TG12345 inc ludes the follow ing c om ponents :
o TG12345 Mono
o TG12345 Stereo
1.6 WaveSystem Toolbar
Use the bar at the top of the plugin to save and load presets, compare settings, undo and redo
steps, and resize the plugin. To learn more, click the icon at the upper-right corner of the window
and open the WaveSystem Guide.
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Chapter 2 – Interface and Controls
2.1 I nterf ace
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2.2 Cont rols
Input
Increases or decreases the gain of the signal.
Range: -24 dB to 24 dB
Default: 0 dB
Routing
Allows you to order the signal flow — EQ (Treble + Bass), Presence, Dynamics — in one of
three w ays :
• EQ>Dyn>Pres – EQ first, then Dynamics, then Presence
• Dyn>EQ>Pres – Dynamics first, then EQ, then Presence
• EQ>Pres>Dyn – EQ first, then Presence, then Dynamics
Default: EQ > Pres >Dyn
Dynamics
Mode
Allows you to choos e between three dynamic modes:
• Out – In this mode, the Dynamics section is bypassed.
• Compressor – Compressor mode (2:1), with attack fixed to 1 ms.
• Limiter – Limiter mode (7:1) wit h attack fixed to 1 ms.
Default: Out
Hold
Sets a constant DC v oltage for the sidechain that feeds the V CA (for more information on
VCA, see the Concepts and Terminology section on p. 5 above). This constant voltage
causes a fixed amount of attenuation throughout the signal. When the input voltage that
reaches the sidechain is greater than the voltage set by the Hold control, the plugin’s
simulated diode is breached and VCA is trigger ed by a c hanging D C voltage, c aus ing the
gain change to vary according to the VCA characteristics. When the input voltage is lower
than the voltage set by the Hold control, the amount of attenuation is once again constant.
This control is the only way for you to narrow the V CA ’s gain change range.
The way to use the Hold control is this: set the meter to GR, change the Hold level until you
get the overall amount of compression you want, then make up for the gain loss using t he
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output faders . M any compressors operate by linking the hold control to the output faders (the
threshold), but the TG12345 is unique in keeping them separate.
Range: 0–100
Default: 0
Recovery
Sets the release time, with six states for each dynamic mode.
Range: 100 ms, 250 ms, 500 ms, 1 sec, 2 sec, 5 sec.
Default: 100m s
SC-HP
Applies a high-pass filter on the sidechain signal at around 90 Hz, resulting in les s
compression on the low end.
Range: On, Off
Default: Off
Mix
Controls the balance between the compressed and uncompressed signal.
Range: 0% to 100% (0.1% increments)
Default: 100%
EQ
Treble
Boost: Bell filter fixed at 5 kHz
Cut: Shelf fixed at 10 kHz
Range: -10 dB to 10 dB
Default: 0 dB
Presence (kHz)
Bell filter controls the center frequency of the presence filter.
Range: 500 Hz to 10 kHz (continuous)
Default: 1.8 kHz
Pr es enc e ( dB)
Boosts/cuts the presence filter.
Range: -10 dB to 10 dB
Default: 0 dB
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Bass
Low shelf filter fixed at 50 Hz.
Range: -10 dB to 10 dB
Default: 0 dB
EQ Bypass
Bypass’s the whole EQ section
Range: On Off
Default: Off
Master Section
Phase
Inverts the phase of the signal (one per channel).
Range: On/Off
Default: Off
Channel Selector
Two channels of the original TG12345 desk have been modeled: Channels 1 and 2.
• Mono: Select Channel 1 or 2
• Stereo: Select Channel 1 or 2 for L, R, or both
• L default: Channel 1
• R default: Channel 2
Note: To keep your stereo image as close as possible to your input, select the same
channel for both L and R.
Drive
Controls the amount of drive added to the processed signal.
Range: Off to 100
Default: Off
Noise
Controls the amount of noise and hum added to the processed signal.
Range: Off to 100
Default: Off
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Spread (Stereo Component Only)
Controls the balance between the mid and sides by changing the level of the s ides only,
while the level of the mid remains constant. This feature is available in all cassette modes,
not just i n MS. The spread is very similar to an MS matrix; it is faithful to the plugin’s analog
origins, however, in that the enc oding and decoding of the matrix do not cancel each other
perfectly, giving the spread its distinctive vintage c har ac ter.
Range: -12 dB to 6 dB (0.1 dB increments)
Default: 0
Monitor (Stereo Com ponent Only)
Selects the source of the monitor output.
• Left – Left output is sent to both sides (in MS Mode this monitors the mid)
• Mono – Left and Right outputs are summed to mono and trimmed down by 6 dB
• Stereo – Stereo mode
• Right - Right output is sent to both sides (in MS Mode, this monitors the sides)
Default: Ster eo
Output
Two faders (one per channel) that control output gain after pr oc es s ing.
Range: -48 dB to 24 dB
Default: 0 dB
Metering
VU Meter
Displays input, output and gain reduct ion levels, depending on your selection.
Range IN/OUT: -20 VU to 3 VU
Range GR: -20 VU to 9 VU
Pea k Met er
Displays signal peak output level.
Range IN/OUT: -20 dBfs to 0 dBfs
Range GR: -20 dBfs to 9 dBfs
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VU Meter – Headroom Calibration Control
The meter’s headroom calibration default is set to 18 dB headroom. The meter can be
adjusted using the little screw underneath to provide a headroom of 8 to 24 dB (or -8 to -24
dB), where X dBfs = 0 VU.
Range: 8 dB to 24 dB / -8 dB to -24 dB
Default: 18 dB
Meter I /O
The meter I/O lets you select from three monitoring modes:
GR: Show s the total amount of gain reduc tion/inc r eas e.
IN: Shows the input signal level post-input control, s o t hat any change in the input is
reflected in the meter.
OUT: Shows the output level of the plugin post-output control, so that any change in the
output is reflected in the meter.
Please note: Some constant amplification factors are not reflected in the GR meter because
they are fixed and not s ignal-dependent. This is why what you see on the GR meter will not
necessarily reflect what you are hearing.
Range: GR / IN / OUT
Default: IN
Clip Indicator
Indicates peak cl ipping.
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User Guide
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