The 1176 at 50: The Past and Future of the World's Most Influential Compressor
In the 1970s, a pair of Urei 1176s mounted in an island rack behind the recording console was as ubiquitous in professional studios as ashtrays, shag carpets, and brazen upholstery.
Though a lot has changed in 50 years—the cigarette-burned carpets have been ripped out, the bold-patterned furniture replaced with something neutral and sleek—the one thing that hasn't changed is the predominance of 1176s.
In a 2002 interview with Universal Audio, Andy Johns—famed producer and engineer for The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Television, and other era-defining artists—said, "Since you guys came out with the device, I have used them on every record." Decades after Johns' heyday, pop mixing engineer Jon Castelli would use the 1176 on Kesha's 2017 comeback single "Praying."
In studios throughout the world, you can still find entire racks of 1176s. And for those without the physical specimens, there are more than a dozen software emulations to fill the gap.
But why? What’s so special about the 1176?
This is an excerpt from The 1176 at 50: The Past and Future of the World's Most Influential Compressor, originally published by Reverb. Read the full version here.
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