Waves Audio Reel ADT User Guide
WAVES/ABBEY ROAD
Reel ADT
USER GUIDE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 – Introduction .............................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Welcome............................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Product Overview................................................................................................................ 3
1.3 About AD T ............................................................................................................................ 4
1.4 Concepts and Terminology ............................................................................................... 7
1.5 Components ........................................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2 – Quick Start (featuring the Mono-to-Ste reo Component) ..................................... 9
Chapter 3 – Interface and Controls........................................................................................... 10
3.1 Interface (featuring th e Stereo Component) .................................................................. 10
3.2 Controls.............................................................................................................................. 11
General Controls ................................................................................................................ 11
Varispeed Section .............................................................................................................. 11
LFO Section........................................................................................................................ 11
SRC (Source) Control Section ........................................................................................... 12
ADT Control Section........................................................................................................... 12
ADT 2 Control Section (Only in Reel ADT 2V) .................................................................. 13
Chapter 4 – Th e WaveSystem ................................................................................................... 14
4.1 The WaveSystem Toolbar ................................................................................................ 14
4.2 Preset Handling ................................................................................................................. 14
4.3 Interface Controls ............................................................................................................. 17
4.4 Waves Preferences (Pro Tools only) .............................................................................. 18
Abbey Road Studios and their associated logos are trademark s of EMI (IP) Limited.
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User Guide
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Chapter 1 – Introduction
1.1 W el come
Thank you for choosing Waves. To get the most out of your Waves processor, please take the
time to read this manual.
We also suggest you become familiar with the resources available to you at waves.com. There
you will find an extensive Answe r Base, the latest Tech Specs, detailed Installation Guides,
new Software Updates, and up-to-date information on Activation and Registration.
1.2 Product Overview
Waves: Abbey Road Reel ADT is the first plugin to successfully emulate Abbey Road Studios’
pioneering process of Artificial Double Tracking. The effect that became an integral part of
Abbey Road’s signature sound was initially created at the famed studios in the 1960s to meet
the needs of some v ery special clients: The Beatles.
Reel AD T puts the m agic of that era in your hands w ithin sec onds . Using its intuitive c ontr ols ,
you can advanc e or push back the doubled signal to achieve genuine, lush-sounding delay and
pitc h var iations . You can also drive each of the s ignals s eparately to add beautiful tape
saturations.
With its authentic modeled valve tape machine sound and faithful emulation of wow and flutter,
this extraordinary plugin can enhance any track with the impression of two separate takes,
giving you results as close as possible to real double tracking. Other classic Abbey Road tape
effects such as flanging and phasing can also be achieved with ease.
All the character, depth and panoramic sound of this inimitable classic effect can now be
created digitally, simply and for real: Reel ADT.
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1.3 A bout A DT
ADT was invented at Abbey Road Studios in the mid-1960s to produce a double tr ac king effect
without the need to record two separate tracks.
The Original Setup
The original setup consisted of two tape m ac hines :
Source Tape Machine: This was a valve tape mac hine with a unique f eature. Most pr ofes s ional
tape m ac hines had three heads (ERASE, RECORD/SYNC and PLAY) and one output amplifier
to switch between the RECORD/SYNC head and the PLAY head, depending on whether the
machine was being used for recording/ over dubbing (the RECORD/SYNC head) or for mixing
(the PLAY head). Abbey Road tape mac hines, by contras t , had tw o output amps : one for the
RECORD/SYNC head, another for the PLAY head. Using an Abbey Road model, it was
therefore possible to output two instances of the s am e original signal simultaneously. Due to the
physical gap between the two heads, there would be a slight delay between the two instances.
This delay, along w ith the ability to play both outputs simultaneously, were the vital features that
made ADT possible. Thes e unique features of Abbey Road’s tape mac hines may also explain
why other studios were not able to recreate the Abbey Road ADT effect very convincingly.
ADT Tape Machine: This was a second valve tape machine with Varispeed c ontr ol (a VCO, or
voltage-controlled oscillator, coupled with a powerful amp). The signal from the RECORD/SYNC
head of the SOURCE tape machine would feed into this second tape machine. The ADT tape
machine would be in INPUT/RECORD mode, so the signal fed into it would come straight back
off the tape. This would create yet another delay, due to the gap between the RECORD/SYNC
head and the PLAY head of the second tape machine.
The delays caused by the head gaps in the two machines realigned the two signals, so that they
were nearly simultaneous. The Varispeed could be used to fine-tune the length of delay and
even to advance the effected sound before the source sound.
The two resulting signals would then be fed into a m ixing c ons ole. Different results could be
achieved, depending on how the two signals were panned in the stereo field. When both s ignals
were panned to or near the center, the res ult would be a distinc tive, if not entirely naturalsounding ef fec t (this unnatural sound was, however, part of what made the technique so
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appealing). However, when the signals were panned left and right in the s t ereo field, the double
tracking effect could sound very convincing indeed. This version of ADT was often used to
create lush-sounding stereo imaging when using a four-track tape as the source for a stereo
mixdown.
It was common practice to constantly move around the Varis peed of the sec ond tape m ac hine.
This was done by hand, using the VCO remote contr ol. Depending on the direction in which the
knob was turned and the speed at which this was done, subtle (or, if so desired, very unsubtle)
movements could be created between the two sources. This is what made the effect sound so
organic, as even certain words or phrases within a single vocal take could be treated differently.
The fact that each of the two t ape m ac hines had its own variations of wow and flutter, not to
mention a differ ent m otor r unning at a s lightly differ ent s peed, only enhanced this lush organic
effect.
The resulting sound is the most legendary of all Abbey Road tape effect s.
How ADT Was Invented
When working on ‘Tomorrow never Knows’, John Lennon complained about the tedious task of
recording a doubled vocal take—a technique that w as widely us ed in those days to boost and
enrich vocal parts. He needed to match the second take as closely as possible to the lead take,
which took considerable time and effort on his part. In response, Abbey Road technical engineer
Ken Townsend came up with ADT. Townsend understood that to achieve a natural-sounding
effect, simply applying a different EQ or compression would not do; worse, it would create
phasing problems . What he needed was a process that would alter the timbre, time and pitch of
the vocal take. He realized that changing the tape speed back and forth would create all those
effects simultaneously.
The technique he finally came up with worked as follows. When mixing a song, the track to be
artific ially doubled—usually a vocal track, though any other track could be treated similarly—
would be routed from the recording head of the multitrack tape, which was ahead of the
playback head, and fed to the r ec ording head of the second tape machine. An oscillator would
then be used to vary the speed of the second machine, providing more or less delay depending
on how quickly or how slowly the s ec ond machine was being run in relati on to the first. This
signal would then be routed from the playback head of the second machine to a separate fader
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on the mixer. The tape operator had to ‘ride’ the Varispeed ( VCO) control in order to create the
desired effect; any mistake along the way would require another take.
The introduction of ADT was a milestone in the history of sound recording, and the technique
was used heavily on many historic recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios. Over the years,
many recording engineers have tried to replicate the effect, but with only partial success, largely
because a definitive description of the exact process used at A bbey Road has until now been a
closely guarded s ec ret .
Other Related Effects
ADT led Abbey Road’s engineers to experiment with a number of secondary effects. Two of
these—flanging and phasing—are possible with the cur rent plugin.
Flanging:
As noted in the Quick Start section of the present manual, the classic ADT sound is achieved
with about 15 milliseconds of advance or delay between the two signals. When the two signals
are placed closer together, however—betw een 0 and 5 ms (w ith the Varis peed c ontroller used
to continuously vary the speed within that range)—the frequencies of the two signals combine to
create a series of peaks and dips in the audio spectrum. This effect, known as flanging, was
another firm Beatles favorite at Abbey Road.
It i s worth noting that flanging almost certainly originated somewhere else, albeit using different
methods and wit h slightly different res ults . Most Abbey Road engineers were not aware of
previous experim entation w ith flanging, however, and were under the impression that the effect
and its name were invented at Abbey Road.
Phasing:
Phasing used the same set-up as flanging, but with the s ignal from the s ec ond tape m ac hine
phase-reversed by 180 degrees, giving a deeper effect. When the two signals reached the point
of zero delay, their waveforms were at equal strength but at opposite polarity, resulting in alm os t
total c anc elation. In contrast to flanging, then, which was an addition of signal frequencies,
phasing was a subtraction of signal frequencies, creating more of a ‘ducking’ effect.
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User Guide
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