Name Dropping Gear Review: Joey Sturgis Gain Reduction Plugin

Name Dropping Gear Review

Joey Sturgis Gain Reduction Plugin - $35

Getting that vocal track to sit just right is never been an easy task, but once you get it right, there's nothing better. Right now my vocal chain is rather plugin heavy, so when I caught wind of the Gain Reduction plugin, I thought "Anything to simplify, let's try it out." So lets drop some names and get this review on!

Looks:

First off I love the way this plugin looks. I made a rule to myself a long time ago, that I wasn't going to use a plugin unless the design of it was awesome and this one hits it out of the park. From the distressed look of the faceplate, the rooster style knobs, to the tape labels, this plugin has a great design, I love bringing it up in a session.

Ease of Use:

Four controls... That's it. Slay is the amount of compression. Gain controls volume, and Body seems to be a nice high pass filter. I haven't used the LoFi option, but it does sound good. I just haven't had the right project to try it on. When most compressors can get a bit confusing with attack, release, ratio, knee size and make up gain, Gain Reduction simplifies this and says, "How awesome do you want it to sound?"

Sound:

So how does this thing actually sound? Great. It's meant for aggressive vocals and it definitely colors the sound. But in a good, pushed preamp kind of way. This isn't going to be your goto for a clean compressor, but it will bring your vocals into focus, and help them fit in the mix.

I first tested this on my own voice. I use a large diaphragm dynamic mic (the MXL BCD-1). I was quickly able to recreate my normal three or four plugin vocal sound with the Gain Reduction. But dialing in the perfect sound took no time at all.

I then used it in a session I was doing for a local country band. The vocals were male, and not at all aggressive. Would this work for my particular application? I applied the effect and turned the Slay button on just slightly. I shot for only 4-6 db of gain reduction. Again the vocals just sat well. I applied a little reverb and the vocals were ready to go.

Final Thoughts:

I just like this plugin. It's the reason I watch out for the boutique guys. It sounds good, it's easy to use, and it speeds up my workflow. For $35 it's a great tool to have in your back pocket.

--Art