 |
What is a VCA?
HERE'S A MISSIVE FROM SOMEONE, (A) WHOSE NICKNAME COMES FROM THE LORD
OF THE RINGS TRILOGY, (B) HAS A CHANCE TO GO ON TOUR, AND (C) COINCIDENTALLY
FEARS THAT HE IS NOT UP TO DATE, SINCE HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT A VCA IS!!!
OK, so the first audio I mixed was run through a tube mixing board.
MAYBE KEN BERGER WOULD BE IMPRESSED, I ASSURE YOU I'M NOT!
I have spent the last 25 years twisting knobs for local sound
companies, did FOH or monitors for a couple of greats, and then
left the road, took ten years off to help develop a local rock band.
To my great surprise, this band was just signed by Columbia and
I find myself back out on the road in a digital world.
LIFE IS A TRIP, ISN'T IT, FRODO? HEY, HOW'S GANDALF DOING, GIVE
HIM MY REGARDS THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE HIM. YOU GUYS BE NICE TO THAT
LITTLE BILBO BAGGINS, NOW!
I sure could use some advice and tips.
SO MANY OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS NEED ADVICE AND TIPS, WHY SHOULD
YOU BE ANY DIFFERENT THAN THEM? YOU DO DECLARE YOUR TIPS ON YOUR
TAX RETURN, RIGHT? IF WAITRESSES HAVE TO, YOU SHOULD TOO, FRODO!
As a band gets bigger and bigger, I asume that there is a sound
company that is hired to tour with the act.
WHEN YOU ASSUME YOU MAKE AN ASS OUTTA ME AND AN ASS OUTTA YOU! HA
HA HA! HEY, ARE YOU INTO SPACE GHOST? MAN, HE'S THE GREATEST!
Now whose responsibility does it become to build the system?
THEIRS, IT'S THEIR SYSTEM, ISN' IT? ARE THEY PAYING YOU TO PUT IT
TOGETHER? FRODO, ARE YOU A BOOTLEGGER? QUIT DRINKIN' THAT SHINE,
BRO! IT IS AFFECTING YOUR ABIILITY TO MAKE SIMPLE LEAPS OF LOGICAL
JUDGEMENT. NOW, EVERY SOUND COMPANY LOVES A GUY WHO IS NOT ABOVE
PUTTING HIS OWN INSERTS IN, WHILE THE SYSTEM CREW IS BUSY OFF HAVING
ONE OF THEIR "PRODUCTION MEETINGS."
I can put together most any size venue PA but when you start
talking about outdoors, with delay stacks and all I would be lost.
(Not in theory, but pluggin' the s*** in.)
THE THINGIES WITH THE PINS GO IN THE THINGIES WITH THE HOLES, DO
YOU THINK YOU CAN REMEMBER THAT?
Or, being the bands FOH, would I walk up to a perfectly tuned
and running system each night?
SURE. (STIFLED LAUGHTER) ALL THE TIME! (CHOKING SOUNDS)
ABSOLUTELY! (SCREAMING LAUGHTER AND SHAKING OF HEAD)
OR, AS THE CYBERGEEKS ON THE LAB SAY, ROTFLOL!
I am partial to EQ'ing the PA by ear, and have used a pink noise
generator and analyzer only a couple of times. But I am unfamiliar
with the toys of today.
DOES THE NAME DOC JOHNSON MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?
How is EQ'ing of the house and monitors done today, and can you
suggest the names of some analyzers I could research.
THE PRIMARY ANALYZING TOOL IS A PROGRAM KNOWN AS SMAART. IT RUNS
ON PC'S. IT IS MARKETED BY A DIVISION OF EAW CALLED SIA. YOU WILL
NEED TO ALSO BUY AN EXCELLENT MIC OR TWO, MOST COMMONLY THOSE MANUFACTURED
BY EARTHWORKS. FOR MAC USERS THERE IS ALSO SOMETHING CALLED SPECTRAFOO,
IT IS MADE BY A COMPANY CALLED METRIC HALO. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO
SPEND FIVE FIGURES, MEYER MAKES A SUPERB ANALYZER CALLED SIM, WHICH
MANY MAJOR TOURS USE, EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT USING MEYER PRODUCTS.
THIS COMPARES THE OUTPUT OF THE CONSOLE TO THE OUTPUT OF THE EQ
TO THE INFORMATION IN THE AIR, AND SHOWS YOU DELIGHTFUL AND COLORFUL
WAVEFORMS THEREOF.
What the heck is a VCA ( I'm guessing a Voltage Controlled Limiter).
I am seeing these on larger/newer desks.
FRODO, I GIVE UP. LET'S TAKE THIS NICE AND SLOW.
THE FIRST TWO INITIALS ARE V AND C. THE THIRD INITIAL WAS A.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW A WOULD STAND FOR THE WORD LIMITER?
THE WORD LIMITER STARTS WITH THE LETTER L! DO YOU WANT TO BUY A
LETTER A? LET ME FETCH VANNA OVER HERE, STAND BY.
VANNA, WHAT DOES VCA STAND FOR?
"IT STANDS FOR VOLTAGE CONTROLLED AMPLIFIER, OLD MAN!"
INDEED IT DOES, MY LOVE! HOW DOES IT WORK?
"THE VCA DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY ANALOG AUDIO, UNLIKE THE TRADITIONAL
SUBMASTER, FOR EXAMPLE, OLD MAN. IT IS A CONTROL DEVICE ONLY. WHEN
A VCA IS LOWERED, A MAGICAL THING HAPPENS! IT IS LIKE A GENTLE INVISIBLE
FINGER IS ACTUALLY LOWERING EACH CHANNEL FADER THAT IS ASSIGNED
TO THAT VCA!"
VANNA, TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE GENTLE INVISIBLE FINGER LATER, BY
ALL MEANS, BUT RIGHT NOW I SENSE POOR FRODO"S BRAIN GOING INTO
SHUNT. HE SEEMS TO THINK THAT THE TRADITIONAL SUBMASTER DOES WHAT
YOU'RE DESCRIBING, AS WELL.
"POOR FRODO! HERE'S THE DIFFERENCE – WHEN THE VCA
IS LOWERED, THE VIRTUAL FUNCTION ALSO AFFECTS THE AMOUNT OF EACH
CHANNEL GOING INTO ANY EFFECTS AUX SENDS, JUST AS IF YOU WERE PHYSICALLY
LOWERING EACH FADER. ISN'T THAT GREAT?
WITH THE TRADITIONAL SUBMASTER, YOU LOWER IT, BUT EACH PHYSICAL
CHANNEL FADER IS STILL SENDING THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT INTO THE EFX
SENDS, SO YOU WIND UP WITH LESS DRY SIGNAL FROM THAT CHANNEL IN
YOUR STEREO MIX, COURTESY OF THE OLD SUBMASTER, BUT THE SAME (AND
NOW DISPROPORTIONATE) AMOUNT OF REVERB OR WHATEVER.
TO DO WHAT THE VCA DOES, YOU WOULD HAVE TO BOTH LOWER A TRADITIONAL
SUBMASTER, WHILE ALSO MANUALLY DIALING BACK EACH OF THE EFFECTS
AUX SENDS YOU WERE USING ON THE ASSOCIATED CHANNELS."
VANNA, YOU ARE NOT ONLY A BABE, BUT YOU EXPLAINED THAT SO SIMPLY
THAT I BET FRODO AND OUR TEENAGE FRIEND IN LITTLE ROCK ARE ABLE
TO FOLLOW!
I am about to leave on tour with this band the first of Sept.
YOU COULDN'T HANDLE THE SHIP CROSSING FROM THE OLD COUNTRIES WITH
THE VIKINGS AND THE PURITANS, FRODO! THEY WENT OUT FOR YEARS, PAL!
NOT WEEKS, NOT ON A BUS, NOT WITH DENNY'S EVERY TWO MILES! THEY
HAD SCURVY, FRODO! SCURVY!
Sure could use a friend on the road, at least another one with
grey hair.
I'M SURE YOU CAN FIND AN ELDERLY YET PASSIONATE 'LOT LIZARD.' (NOW
THERE'S A GOOD TERM FOR OUR BRASILIAN FRIEND'S GLOSSARY! IT REFERS
TO A LADY OF THE EVENING WHOSE PRIMARY PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT IS THE
PARKING LOTS OF TRUCK STOPS ACROSS OUR FINE COUNTRY. THIS IS SOMETHING
THAT I ONLY KNOW AS AN URBAN MYTH, AND CERTAINLY NOT BY ANY TYPE
OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE! I HOPE I AM NOT OFFENDING ANY SOUNDWOMEN
OUT THERE, I THINK OF MY FUNCTION AS SORT OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
OF LIVE SOUND, I DO NOT CREATE THE CULTURAL ODDITIES, I JUST DOCUMENT
THEM.) I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THEM ACTUALLY LEAVING AND TRAVELLING
WITH THE BUS, BUT BY ALL MEANS, BE A PIONEER!
Thanks
Ray (Frodo) Brown
YOU'RE WELCOME! HEY, WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO STOP PLAYING UPRIGHT
BASS, AND PICKED UP THE NEW NICKNAME?
LUV
- THE OLD SOUNDMAN
