Waves Abbey Road Reel ADT

Reel ADT is the only plugin that delivers the authentic tape delay-based Artifical Double Tracking effect, created by Abbey Road Studios’ legendary technician Ken Townsend to meet the recording needs of John Lennon and the Beatles.

Many modern doublers simply delay the audio compared to the original track, in order to thicken the source. But with ADT, sometimes the doubled sound was ahead of the reference track, and sometimes it lagged behind, with constant fluctuation keeping the doubling effect richer and more interesting rhythmically.

Reel ADT delivers the depth of this original effect. With two modeled tape machines (source and double)—each delivering separate saturation, wow & flutter, pitch fluctuations, and more—Reel ADT creates the impression of two truly distinct vocal tracks, out of one vocal take.

Doubling That Dances Around the Source

With Abbey Road’s technique, the doubled part could go ahead of the original source—or behind. The doubled part’s position could also fluctuate over time, for effects ranging from natural to surprising. Reel ADT accurately reproduces this time-shifting mechanism, to thicken vocals in an authentic-sounding way, or add lush movement to stereo synth patches.

The Original Varispeed Effect

The ADT sound also came from the unpredictable speed changes due to manual “Varispeed” control. Members of the Beatles would often control or “play” the Varispeed control to get the ultimate sound effect performance. Reel ADT can use manual or MIDI control, LFO with 5 waveforms (including random), or tempo sync.

True Tape Technology

Reel ADT models the sound of the tape, as well as tape recorder mechanics. Drive the decks hard for tape saturation, and introduce wow and flutter to create even more variations within the tape’s audio path. ADT adds warmth and movement to your tracks in a totally unique way, breathing life into your mixes.