Recording Handbook - Hol.gr

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physically replaying your moves, their movement is represented on the computer monitor as a vertical
bar moving up and down. Many people don't like VCA's in the audio path, because they can color the
sound. This was more of a problem 25 years ago when VCA technology was young. The fact that SSL is
such a major player in big budget mixing says a lot about how little a problem that is. You can decide for
yourself.
c. MIDI Automation
The wide acceptance of MIDI and low cost, high quality VCA's has fueled the development of
inexpensive MIDI based automation systems. The mixing board gets a MIDI plug!
The TASCAM M-3700 is a good example of this approach. It's on-board system has a disc drive and small
LCD screen and allows you to automate channel volume, channel mute, monitor mute, EQ on/off and
effects send on/off. With additional software and an external computer you can have the moving bars on
the screen and some useful utility options.
Add-on outboard systems like the Mackie system utilize, a VCA package that ties in via the insert points
on your mixer and a smaller fader pack of 16 faders with mute buttons to record your moves on. This is all
translated into MIDI data which can be displayed on a Mac computer. Other systems come with software
or are already configured to work with several popular sequencer programs like Vision, Cubase and Logic.
These add-on VCA systems are a powerful and relatively inexpensive way to add sophisticated
automation capabilities to your mixer. BACK TO INDEX
6. Effects Devices
This is the cool stuff; reverbs, phase shifters, delays, chorus', harmonizers... and combinations never heard
before. These devices have come a long way in 20 years. Analog electronics and spring reverbs have
given way to very powerful digital multi-effects units with MIDI capabilities, memory for your favorite
patches and wide dynamic range. Five hundred dollars today, will buy some awesome sound power that
didn't even exist 20 years ago, at any price!
a. Reverb
Reverb units attempt to recreate the sound of a particular space. The way a "space" sounds is a product of
it's size, whether or not it's interior surfaces are hard and reflective or soft and absorbant, and how these
interior surfaces are arranged. All these factors interact to produce the reverberant sound. Two spaces can
have the same interior volume, but be shaped very differently and that makes all the difference.
The primary types of spaces are rooms, halls and plates but also can include chambers, churches, clubs
and any number of wild spaces. Some units give you a few parameters to tweak, others give you pages of
possibilities. All start with at least the "size" of the space. Other tweakable options include the volume and
intensity of "early reflections", the amount of pre-delay to the reverb, which delays the input send into the
reverb and "diffusion" and "depth" settings which have to do with how intensely the reverb spreads out in
the stereo field.
Special types of "reverse reverbs", where the sound envelope is turned around and ramps up in volume
rather than trailing off, are actually inspired by the analog trick of "backwards reverb". The important
distinction is that "reverse reverbs" occur after the sound just like regular reverbs. "Backwards reverb"
occurs before the sound and seems to ramp up to the sound.
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