With this campaign, students exercised both their creative and business skills.  Roberts’s class organized a breakfast buffet for the school, offering donuts, juice, cereal, and coffee for donations, and Adams’s class provided pizza in exchange for donations.  Students also came up with the creative idea of the “human jukebox,” where they took donations to play specific songs and genres.

Students from Roberts’s class wrote of their experience, “we have not only learned how to appreciate the ones in our lives but to also appreciate our lives in general and realize how truly fortunate we are… Leukemia is one of the most severe cases of cancer, and it’s amazing how treatment is advancing and improving the lives of patients and their families.”

This blog was written by Laura Benda, who instructors Creative Writing and Composition classes at IPR. Laura holds a Master of Arts in Fine Arts from Hamline University and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Colombia.

1. Requires the iLok 2 (old turquoise color iLoks will not work).
2. Will require 10.8 Mountain Lion.
3. Old silver/blue face hardware, though ‘not officially supported’, will supposedly work.
4. Won’t work with Core 2 Duo Apple computers.
5. Offline Bounce is phase accurate (tested by doing a real-time bounce to disk, then an offline bounce, then reversing the phase on one of them. They cancel. With other DAW’s offline render this is not the case).
6. Offline Bounce is up to 150x faster than real-time – 1 hour in under 1 minute.
7. Ability to right click on a stem or track and offline bounce it. If you select import after bounce it’ll bring the bounced file into the clips list to be dropped on the track it came from, fulfilling the ‘freeze track’ request from users.
8. Ability to bounce a WAV and MP3 at the same time.
9. Bounce multiple stems at the same time… as in bounce multiple bounce sources at the same time.
10. Session folder now contains a “bounced files” folder where all bounces will go.
11. Automation playback position is 100% accurate when offline bouncing… another issue with offline bouncing in certain other DAW’s.
12. Dynamic Plug-in Processing – When a track doesn’t have audio to play back, the new Avid Audio Engine will take CPU away from plug-ins that are on that track. Pro Tools did not do this in v10 and earlier, includes the ability to enable/disable this feature from the Playback Engine window.
13. Workspace Browser rebuilt. Dynamic search in Workspace Browser, same way that the search function acts in the clips list. Unified Project and Workspace Browsers.
14. New 64-bit Avid Audio Engine (AAE).
15. Dedicated input and output buffering system in Avid Audio Engine makes for near zero latency record on native systems with sessions that have large tracks counts and a lot of plug-ins.
16. Ability to record automation on the same track that you are recording audio on, at the same time.
17. Automation is now time-stamped just like audio files.
18. Track meters are 30% taller in mix window.
19. Track meters have been completely redesigned and are much higher resolution.
20. Track meters are capable of show one of 17 different metering standards.
21. Track meters can show track amplitude and plug-in dynamics at the same time.
22. Mini dynamics meter in plug-in insert point.
23. Ability to view all sends on a track in fader/meter view at the same time.
24. New hot keys to bypass inserts by selected track:
    • Shift –A (all)
    • Shift – 1 (sends A-E)
    • Shift – 2 (sends F-J)
    • Shift – E (EQ)
    • Shift – C (Dynamics)
    • Shift – V (Reverb)
    • Shift – D (Delay)
    • Shift – W (Modulation)
25. The Media Composer Avid Video Engine (AVE) is now integrated into Pro Tools (in Pro Tools 10 and earlier used a separate video engine).
26. Ability to play XD Cam, Avid HNX HD, Avid DNX HD, MXF HD, Apple Pro Res, and all other video formats supported by Avid Media Composer.
27. Support for the same range of video interfaces that Media Composer supports: Avid Mojo DX, Avid Nitris DX, AJA, Black Magic Design, etc.
28. Ability to import a high res video and choose to view it in full res or ‘offline’ lower quality with a mouse click.
29. Can now edit video in Pro Tools properly.
30. Ability to enable/disable the Avid Video Engine from the Playback Engine window.
31. Video Satellite is now included with Pro Tools 11. No longer a separate authorization.
32. Can run Pro Tools 10 and Pro Tools 11 on the same machine, co-install.
33. RTAS plug-ins will not work in Pro Tools 11.
34. Support for Apple Retina Displays.

In this short video, Jeff DesLauriers discusses how to export a Pro Tools session from Avid’s Pro Tools 10 to an AAF file, including step-by-step explanation of the export window’s options.

He also explores the resulting output files(s), and demonstrates the process of importing an AAF into a Pro Tools session, including a step-by-step explanation of the import options.

While Avid has, of course, just introduced a bunch of new features including an extended video engine allowing playback of a larger variety of video sources in Pro Tools 11, we’re betting 99% of this will all still apply after you upgrade.

This 18 piece electro-acoustic concerto is a culmination of both years of chamber and new music compositions, as well as several years of collaboration between the composer (Childs) and the sound designer/producer (Patrick).   IPR asked James a few questions about the piece, in hope to bring some light into the world of such an artistic process.

IPR:  “How did this project begin?”

JP: “Through my own love of electronic music and my involvement in the local music community, circa 1994+, I have always participated in the projects that I believed in, regardless of the esteem or financial variable associated with it.   Through that ernest appreciation of all things musical and electronic, I played many low paying gigs and worked my proverbial butt off in the pursuit of carving out a lifestyle involving what I loved.    Eventually, I was contacted by some students at the University of Minnesota’s Electronic Music Club.  This was around the year 2000.   They were throwing an academic electronic music festival, eventually to be tagged the “Spark Festival,.”  At the time, the club had no money and no real plan.  We all sat down and made something happen.   We planned a few nights of music and had a great time.    After doing that a few years in a row, the University granted us a budget.   The project gained momentum, and after about 10 years there was enough momentum to mention Spark Fest anywhere in the United States and get an instant red carpet treatment.   That was huge for me in my early career.   Being a curator at that point of this festival connected me with countless composers, musicians, producers, and artists.  It is through those connections that I met Mary Ellen Childs.   She heard my work and fell in love with my intentional usage of the interplay between dissonance, consonance, realism, escapism, and the other variables that make “hand crafted” electronic music truly unique.

IPR:  How does one actually go about collaborating between electronics and acoustic music?

JP: “In the beginning, it’s just about exchanging a few emails and attaching a few ‘stems. Here are the stems from our session the other day… we’d love for it to feel like this…’ After fleshing out a few solid mixes.. then we all get together. The musicians then learn their new parts, and play along with, or through the processing, effects, etc that I have prepared. The original stems are never even used in this context, only a jump off point for me, the producer and sound designer, to get ideas from. Finally. the piece is finalized and then set to a score or performance art. In this case, a NYC dance and chamber music troupe with whom the premier was realized in NYC last winter.”

IPR: What are your favorite moments?

JP: “My favorite moments are when there is no line between electronic and acoustic, but more so a single semblance of a whole that can take a listener somewhere special.  We realized that thoroughly with a few selections on the album, but I don’t want you to be partial to any single piece. Just play it from start to finish. That’s how we used to listen to ‘Albums.”

IPR:  Where do you feel that this field or medium is going in the future?

JP: “In the already present future, everyone has a laptop. Everyone is running Ableton Live or some equally powerful software (which there currently is none), and everyone is realizing their own artistic vision. That’s my vision for the future. The cool thing is, it’s already happening.”

An excerpt from James’ bio (featured in full, here):

James Patrick is a 15+ year DJ, producer, curator, and educator.  He is a sound artist who thrives on bringing together the creative energy and ideas of his community. Through collaboration and experimentation, he creates immersive environments that explore the evolving definitions of sound art. His record label (Timefog Recordings) and events are both supported by some of the greatest names in electronic music, and his personal recordings continue to make waves in the international electronic music circuit.  Through his professional involvement in both academic and popular electronic realms, James curates and develops internationally recognized festivals and events in the electronic music and arts.  James is the owner of Gamut Gallery, Slam Factory, and Midwest Digital Arts in Minneapolis, platforms that he uses to foster and showcase new ideas and talents in the field of technology arts. James is also the recipient of many awards, including the American Composer’s Forum MECA award.

This is the second part of a multi-part series. If you missed the first part of this series  last Monday, check out the first article for details on the first day’s basic setup, drums, organ, piano and guitar, as well as microphone, preamp, eq, compression selection. Today’s update will be a bit less novel-esque than yesterday’s post because we have a lot less to cover.

To review, on the first night we had guests Matt Jacobs on drums, Mitch Hare on organ and piano, and Lindy Pedersen on guitar working out arrangements and getting basic tones in the control room. We took a couple of practice takes to tape and listened back to make sure we were get the right vibe for each arrangement. On our second night in the room, Bassist Dik Hedlund, Saxophonist Rich Manik and Vocalist Aimee Lee joined us to track three tunes. All three were tracked live in the room with only the vocal isolated. On the two tunes featuring a vocalist, headphones for the musicians consisted only of vocals and talkback, with the exception of Aimee who received a full mix, so everyone continued to listen and play together as an ensemble in the room.

Vocals were tracked through a vintage Neumann U67 in the connected iso booth. It was difficult to setup Aimee so she could see everyone in the room, but we made sure she at least had visual communication with band leader/pianist Mitch Hare. A pop filter was placed close to the microphone to get rid of any nasty plosives (“p-pops”). Aimee monitored the same mix through her headphones as we were listening in the control room, with the ability to add a little extra “more me” through the Lengevin cue mixer.

It can be difficult to visualize mic placement on the saxophone without Rich standing in place with his horn, but think 12″ out, pointed somewhere between the bell and the finger position. The instrument was captured using the Microtech Gefell M1030 Cardioid condensor microphone, which did a great job of picking up the detail of both tenor and alto sax.

Finally, Dik’s bass was captured through a Radial JDI, featuring a passive Jensen-transformer design, as well as an Ampeg BA-115 Bass Amp. A Shure KSM44 was placed a little high and left of center, a few inches off the cone. A pad was used on the mic, but otherwise it was set to a cardioid position with no roll-off. The amp is likely to become the main bass tone for this ensemble because it mixes so well with the other instruments in the room, but it’s nice to have the DI as well for a little extra “oomph” on the bottom-end.

Meanwhile, in the control room – the API 512c modules were used to pre-amplify the mic-level signal coming from the vocal, sax and bass microphones, as well as the bass DI. We discovered a “funny” patch point on input number four, so that was reported to our tech department and bypassed for the session.

The line-level vocal signal, bass DI and amplifier all passed through the API 550B modules for a little equalization on the way to tape. The vocal got a little +2dB bost with a 12.5kHz high-shelf for air and presence. The bass amp and DI both saw a +2dB 75 Hz peak on the bottom and another +4dB peak at 800 Hz to bring out the strings. You can see here that I ultimately ended up dumping the equalization previously placed on the overheads and leaving them flat. With everyone playing the Coles seemed to balance out just-right.

Vocals and Bass DI both passed through Summit TLA-100 compressors. A vocalist as dynamic as Aimee almost always needs a little dynamic control and bass DI tends to be “jumpy” enough to benefit from a little compression as well. Soft-and-smooth is what the Summit TLA-100′s do best, and they certainly did their job. You can see the whole compressor stack, including the 1176s previously placed on the organ, here.

Next we pick up a few overdubs for organ or vocals, bring a Wurlitzer into the mix and do a do one more tune with a much more minimal ensemble. We’ll definitely keep you up-to-date, sound-bites to come. In the mean-time, feel free to check out the high-resolution set of photos on IPR’s Flickr.

Earlier this quarter I approached Mitch Hare, a friend and member of IPR’s faculty and curriculum team, about a session I wanted to setup over the break between quarters. I’d worked closely with studio builder Dave Ahl during the architecture and construction of the new IPR recording studios but hadn’t had much time since to spend in each room getting a feel for the final touches. I’d recently mixed the Junebug project in Master Mix A and performed a couple of minor acoustic tweaks along the way but had not yet tracked anything in the new “raved-about” live room, which had been designed to be much larger and open than the original Master Mix space.

I invited Mitch (an accomplished pianist, bass and organ player) to pull together an ensemble, who would be recorded “live” in the new space. I would use minimal micing techniques and isolation, the ultimate test of a recording environment. The live nature of the performance also gave me the perfect opportunity to go back to one of my favorite techniques and record virtually everything live to tape.

Mitch pulled together an ensemble of great Minneapolis musicians and selected a few songs to work with. We knew we wanted to take our time to get everything “right” up-front, so we blocked out the week to make sure we provided ample time for rehearsal and setup at the beginning of the session. Ultimately, recording and mixing would be the easy part.

This first wide shot gives a general layout of the room on the first night, drums on one side of the room, B3 and Lesie, opposite, Piano and Guitar placed to the drummer’s right. Ultimately, Saxaphone, Bass and Vocals will join us to the drummer’s left.

Lots of photos and session notes after the jump!

I elected to start with a “wide” placement of the mics on the Leslie, with Royer R122 microphones placed on each side of the cabinet. Panned left and right, the rotary effect is used to it’s greatest potential. The placement of these mics, perpendicular to the axis of the drums, also ensures that the drums are largely isolated from the organ sound due to the figure-8 pattern inherent to these mics.

The placement of the KSM44 low and “behind” the cabinet allowed the capture of “left hand bass” from the organ, while keeping things in phase with the drums. When many mics are being used, phase relationships between mics are a very important thing to keep in mind.

The piano was mic’ed with a pair of DPA/B&K 4011 cardioid condensor microphones in an X/Y pattern, one focused on the low strings and the other on the high strings, several feet back from the hammers.. The lid of the piano is full open to minimize reflections and comb filtering. The tight cardioid pattern of these mics provided a surprising level of rejection from other elements in the room. Initially, we thought the piano might have to be an overdub but re-thought that when we were able to hear it with the ensemble.

The guitar amplifier was also mic’ed with a Royer R122. If you’re noticing a pattern with the ribbon microphones, it’s worth noting that they were selected in many cases because of their ability to isolate instruments in the mix while providing a favorable frequency-response “off-axis” when bleed does come into play. Despite the proximity to the drumset, the guitar is actually quite isolated, even when we move the mic a little further away to open up the sound for some arrangements.

Most of the drum sound comes from two Coles 4038 Ribbon microphones placed high above the kit (about 5′ from the snare drum). This placed the microphones about mid-way between the kit and the ceiling above. If you’ve noticed that the mic on the drummer’s left appears to be a little bit higher than the one on his right, you are correct. I used a “studio tape measure” (length of cable held-taught between to hands) to make sure that each mic was equal in distance to the center of the snare drum. The result is the the mic on drummer’s left is placed a few inches higher, keeping the snare concretely centered in the stereo image and present in the mix.

Hiding under the “tent” (two packing blankets hung over two microphone booms parallel to the floor) is a Neumann FET47 placed about 12″ back from the front head and about 3-5″ right and below the center. Front heads almost always stay on and kick drums rarely get inside mics on my sessions these days, unless it’s something very contemporary and I need either something very “clicky” or a trigger track for a sample. This outside placement gives a very satisfying “thump” and can easily be tweaked a bit to be quite punchy in almost any mix. The tent keeps cymbals largely out of the mic – if I end up EQ’ing in a little extra 3 kHz for attack on the Kick it can quickly get pretty trashy on the cymbals if there is too much bleed.

Most of this mess of patch cables is the signal getting from the mic lines, to the mic pres, into the Studer A827 2″ Analog tape machine, and then into Pro Tools. The 2″ machine is connected to an extra set of points at the bottom of the bay – in essence, during rehearsal and recording, signal passes through the tape machine and into Pro Tools.

During recording, signal is passed directly from the input of the tape machine to it’s output, and into Pro Tools while the sync head lays down tracks to a reel of Quantegy 499. Prior to the session the machine was calibrated, Sync, Repro and Record to +6/185 NwB using a MRL master tape and calibrated tone generator.

At this point, the studios Pro Tools|HD and ICON ES act as a “glorified digital mixer”. Recording is happening live on tape and Pro Tools tracks are armed and monitoring input. Once we get a take we’re happy enough with to listen back, we just flip over to the Repro head and capture the take in Pro Tools. Any editing we do will be splicing between takes in Pro Tools rather than dealing with punch-ins, overdubs or other editing techniques. The same piece of tape can be used for quite a few passes. A recorded signal will begin to degrade when played back many times from tape, but in this case the signal will be captured into Pro Tools on the first playback pass.

All the studio microphones passed through a variety of microphone pre-amps before reaching the tape machine. The Coles 4038s (Overheads) went through the D.W. Fern VT-2 Tube Mic Preamps, the Royers on the Leslie passed through a pair of vintage Neve 1064 modules, the Royer on the Guitar and DPA/B&K 4011s on Piano passed through API 512C modules.

The Kick drum mic (Neumann FET47) B3 bottom (Shure KSM44) were both passed through a pair of vintage Telefunken V672 modules racked by Marquette Audio Labs. The V672 is a solid-state module that was popular in many early german broadcast and recording consoles, with variants made by Neumann, TAB and Siemens. Their character is fantastic for low-frequency instruments.

Before making their way to tape, a few elements saw a little EQ from API 550B modules. The Guitar received a -6dB low-shelf centered at 30 Hz, really intended just to feather off any rumble in the room or mechanical noise from the drumset placed close by. The B3 Bottom saw a +4dB peak at 50Hz, and a -4dB peak at 500Hz to clean-up it’s use as a bass instrument. The Kick sees only a +4dB low-shelf at centered at 50Hz to feather-up the lowest fundamental and harmonic tones. Finally, the overheads saw a -4dB peak at 500Hz to clean up a little “ring” in the room when the drummer laid into the toms.

For a little added character, the Leslie top microphones saw a pair of Urei 1176s before making their way to tape. 4:1 ratio, 3-10dB of Gain Reduction depending on how hard he lays into it.

Mentioned previously, the only performer who will be using headphones will be Aimee, the vocalist, because she will in another room - separated from the rest of the group by glass. Talkback to the performance area is provided by a pair of self-powered Mackie monitored, wired from the ICON ES talback output via a Mackie VLZ series mixer. A copy of the stereo mix can also be provided to these monitors from the control room, if I choose, to allow the ensemble to listen to playback without all piling into the control room if they wish.

In just a couple hours, we’ll be joined by our bass player, saxophonist and vocalist. Once we get them added to the mix we’ll start recording and more photos and setup notes will be on their way.

Check out the whole set on IPR’s Flickr for high-resolution photos and check back tomorrow for more.

We at IPR are very excited and proud of our Faculty member for this accomplishment, and would like to congratulate him and encourage our readers to click here and vote for Gamut Gallery!

Roots of The Gamut Gallery from Rastermind on Vimeo.

IPR Instructor James Patrick has been an electronic musician for over 15 years.   He started as a warehouse DJ and party promoter in the late 90s, and has now established himself as one of the most influential and in-demand artists in his field.  He has since then built a community of both audio and visual artists around him, pivoting around his rogue sound studio project, called “Slam Factory.”   The Slam Factory has moved about throughout the city for the duration of JP’s career as an artist, but now has found itself realized in an even more effective format; an art gallery that focuses on collaborative and experiential arts.  www.gamutgallerympls.com

Through the extensive collaboration in the fields of multimedia, performance, sound design, and more, this intimate artist community has further established Gamut Gallery as a community hub for events in sound and visual art. Hosting student recitals, music demonstrations and clinics, private lessons, gallery exhibits, performance art installations, and full scale all night warehouse concerts, the Gamut Gallery consistently showcases content that is truly thought provoking and community driven, urging the Minneapolis community to participate in each other’s creative experiences.

Upcoming exhibits include:

• “Beyond Structure”  -  https://www.facebook.com/events/151472205012648/
• “Glam Slam”  -  https://www.facebook.com/events/164738410350784/
• Keith McMillen’s QuNexus Keyboard release party – Sunday, May 5th at 4pm

If you missed his recent visit, you can still see a video here on IPR’s YouTube Channel, IPRMediaArts:

If you have not quite conceptualized that list, his name is a pretty impressive start. Why? The guy shared his room with Paul McCartney (who was dating his sister) for two years at the Asher family residence. He was already singing in coffee shops with Gordon Waller when Paul tossed him a Beatle throw-away “World Without Love” which catapulted Peter & Gordon to #1 hit pop status. Besides Paul McCartney, Mr. Asher has his own amazing list of “Who’s Who” to tout. But he’s humble. His talk was not so much an interview as simply hanging with a guy who has amazing stories and a bit of advice. It was thrilling to hear his stories from his vast career.

Peter’s name has appeared in so many biographies and auto-biographies and he told so many stories about meeting this person and that person, being involved in this project and that project, he is like the incarnation of Six Degrees of Separation meets Zelig. I have a solid respect for the Southern California/Laurel Canyon scene of the early ‘70s, and dang nabbit, if Peter Asher wasn’t there, too! He discovered James Taylor while working as director of A&R at Apple Records, left the company to manage James, and produced Linda Ronstadt’s critically acclaimed album “Heart Like A Wheel.” With shame and embarrassment, I will confess that just when I was beginning to think he toured to make some bucks, he started regaling us with how he sang on a track that he co-wrote with Dave Stewart for the hit movie Madagascar III. Yes! He’s still got it, baby!

Some stars, with all this cred, might need a little reality check. But one of the more endearing moments during the interview was his sharing of how, after decades of hobnobbing with some of the music industry’s elite, he could still be star-struck: “…even hearing a message on the answering machine from Elton makes one say, “holy [expletive deleted]!”

When music nerds get older, they typically cling to the music genre that drew them into biz and view most music that followed with disdain, but Mr. Asher’s reverence to current pop and rock is clear. He admits being a fan of Bruno Mars’ producing style, Taylor Swifts cred as song-writing and Ed Sheeran’s live performance. His open-mindedness is a testament to just how cool this guy is. As a member of IPR I was proud that Kevin Bowe brought him to our school. As a fan of music, it was a thrill to be in the same room, hear his stories and add his name to my list.

Check out a small photo-gallery from his visit (if you are unable to see the gallery, visit our Flickr to see the set):

While compression can be a powerful creative tool, over-compression of signals during recording or mixing can become a “lazy” way of maintaining balance throughout playback of a song. If all of the dynamic volume changes of the sources are removed or highly reduced through compression, mixing becomes largely a set-and-forget process of balancing instruments and applying processing/effects. This however, does not necessarily result in the most interesting mixes, and can often make a performance sound flat or dull.

Through effective mix automation, this phenomena can be avoided and the precious micro and maco-dynamics of a source can be preserved, resulting in an end product with so much more life than its over-compressed counterpart. Taking the time to actually “ride” levels throughout a song turns a mix into a kind of performance, allowing each component to remained balanced despite wide dynamic changes, while preserving the integrity of the original signal.

While many music styles and sources can actually benefit from effective (and often high) compression, the resulting “sound” should be a creative choice, not a by-product of shortcuts to make the mixing process faster, or lack of knowledge or technique.

Automation can easily become as much as 50% of the total time that I spend on a mix, even in simple fader/mute console automation systems.

The power of modern DAW systems gives you many more options to manipulate the performance of a mix in real-time and by opening up more possibilities, can serve to increase the time spent on this crucial step.

When time is money, I obviously have a motivation to get things done quickly, but DAW mixing speeds up so many of our process to a degree that it should allow us to spend more time to get these critical finishing touches “right”.

Analog Console Automation

Analog recording consoles have featured two types of fader automation systems: VCA and moving fader.

VCA stands for voltage-controlled-amplifier. In a VCA fader, the signal does not pass through the analog fader circuit directly, but rather a control voltage. The control voltage (CV) is trimmed by the fader and fed to the CV input of the VCA, which in -turn adjusts the gain accordingly. The CV is also read and stored by the automation computer and, during automation playback, fed to the CV input of the VCA, in lieu of the fader CV output.

With a VCA-based fader automation you will never see the faders move but your automation moves will still playback in real-time. You may be able to monitor “virtual” fader positions via console metering, or computer interface, and even match original fader levels through delta indicators on the mixing console.

A moving (or motorized) fader system is just what its name implies. A position sensor and linear motor are attached to a traditional linear fader. Signal passes through the linear fader, just as with a non-automated fader, but the console computer stores the real-time output of the position sensor. The electronics of the position sensor circuit are very similar to VCA based automation systems but, during playback, the CV signals control the position/movement of the linear motor (which in turn moves the fader) instead of a VCA circuit.

Many engineers consider the motorized system superior to the VCA system not because of the motion of the fader, but due to the distortion inherent to a VCA circuit. Some very successful mixing engineers, however, have crafted this distortion characteristic into a part of their own signature “sound”.

In either case, the console would be synchronized to the multi-track using SMPTE/EBU time-code to allow synchronized record and playback of automation moves.

SSL 4000 G/G+ Automation

Early automation, especially moving fader systems could be quite expensive, so many console manufacturers included it only as an option or third-party systems could be integrated if a studio wished. The SSL 4000 G/G+ series consoles were arguably the first production consoles to feature an integrated console computer and automation system, the G bearing a VCA-based system and the G+ including “Ultimation”, a hybrid VCA and moving fader system.

The advantage of the Ultimation hybrid system containing a touch-sensitive fader controlling both VCA and moving fader circuits, was the ability to perform both Absolute and Trim mode recording of automation in real-time, while monitoring a previous automation “pass”.

Absolute-mode automation overwrites any existing automation from a prior pass. In this manner, moves can be re-recorded until signals are balanced perfectly throughout playback. An example of this would be “riding the vocal”, wherein the vocal fader is hand manipulated from phrase-to-phrase, word-to-word, and sometimes even syllable-to-syllable to ensure that it stays perfectly leveled in the mix; neither too quiet, nor too loud.

Trim-mode automation adds to or subtracts from pre-recorded automation. With a VCA-based automation system, the console computer could simultaneously play back previously recorded automation moves and trim them based on current dynamic values, re-recording a new combined automation pass. Even trim-based automation always has to start with at least one Absolute-pass in which baseline levels (either static or changing) are recorded from the beginning to end of a mix.

With SSL Ultimation system, containing both moving-fader and VCA-based automation circuitry, a mixing engineer could harness the best features of each system: the real-time trim-based automation featured in VCA based systems, and the sonic characteristics of a moving fader system during playback.

A mix could be built up of many passes using each technique as appropriate and played back through the moving fader system.

The SSL G/G+ also featured a handful of VCA group-masters in the center section of the console that allowed multiple faders on the board to be controlled by a single master. The VCA group-masters passed no signal, their only purpose is to control groups of faders from the center section. Even the VCA group-masters could be assigned to another master, a technique known as cascading groups, to allow individual control of a sub-group, with a master controlling additional faders or sub-groups (i.e, your Lead fader and BG Vocal group may be controlled by a single Vocal group).

DAW Automation

Modern digital audio workstations’ and digital consoles’ mixing systems have been designed, largely, to emulate the workflow of these traditional analog desks. While DAWs and digital consoles, and some very high-end analog desk, allow many more features (pans, sends, inserts, eq and dynamics) to be automated, terminology and practices in absolute/trim-mode and VCA/moving fader systems are still prevalent in these systems today and work, basically, the same. The prevalent example in this article will be Pro Tools, though it’s worth noting that many other DAW’s have similar functioning features.

VCA Masters in Pro Tools

Pro Tools New Track Dialog – Click to Expand

Pro Tools 7.2 introduced an array of automation and operation features that were intended to help engineers familiar with large-format analog desks to make the transition to working in Pro Tools and, especially, the Avid/Digidesign ICON Worksurfaces. One of these features included the addition of VCA Masters as a track option in the New Tracks dialog.

The careful selection configuration of Mix Groups and VCA Masters can make the task of both balancing and automating your mix much easier.

How and Why to Configure VCA Masters

A VCA Master in Pro Tools is capable of controlling any Mix Group. To create a VCA Master, utilize the New Tracks dialog. When organizing my mixing session file, I will usually generate 8-12 right up front, and Disable/Hide any that are unnecessary. Assigning a Mix Group to a VCA Master can be accomplished in one of two ways:

Pro Tools VCA Assignment – Click to Expand

If you have existing Mix Groups that you wish to assign VCA Masters to, you can select where an Audio Track would normally display it’s Track Output (this will read “No Group” for an unassigned VCA Master), and select the appropriate Mix Group from the resulting menu.

When creating new, or modifying (7.3 or later), Mix Groups, you can select a VCA Master from the drop down menu indicated by “VCA.”

Pro Tools Modify Groups Dialog – Click to Expand

You can now alter not only Volume, but Mute, Solo, Record and Input states, for the entire Group utilizing the VCA Master. You can also automate both Volume and Mute from the VCA Master as you would with any other track type, resulting in automation of all tracks associated with the VCA Master (assigned to the corresponding Mix Group).

The advantage of creating a VCA Master over just leaving it as a traditional Mix Group, is that the individual channels can be adjusted and automated separately from the VCA Master without affecting the other tracks in the group.

Not only do you no longer have to hold Ctrl (on Mac, Alt on Windows) while making adjustments to individual group members but, more importantly, you can still adjust individual track states even after automation is written to the group master. With traditional channel automation, once automation has been written to the Volume Automation Playlist, you must either Trim or Edit the written automation in order to change over-all mix volume.

By writing automation to the VCA Masters wherever it is feasible, you speed up your mixing process by allowing yourself to retain the ability to alter individual members of the group simply by grabbing a fader or control.

Once automation has been written to a VCA Master it can be composited (combined) with Volume automation on it’s member tracks by selecting Coalesce VCA Master Automation from the Tracks menu, or by right-clicking the track name and selecting it from the context menu. This will write the resulting automation to the tracks, clear the VCA Master playlist, and set the VCA fader volume to Unity.

When mixing on a worksurface like the Avid ICON, I’ll typically either create a Custom Fader Group or Nudge/Bank the faders so my VCA Masters appear in the most conveniently located group of channels (typically, just left of the center section). Once configured, more than 50% of my Volume Automation will occur on the VCA Master.

This means less time editing points and lines on a track and more time listening.

Cascading VCA Groups in Pro Tools

A screenshot showing multiple VCAs and Audio Tracks (hi-hat) assigned to a single VCA Group – Click to Expand

Cascading VCA groups (creating sub-groups controlled by larger groups) can easily be accomplished. VCA Masters, like any other track type, can be assigned to Mix Groups. By simply assigning a VCA Master to a mix group controlled by another VCA Master, you have defined a sub-group.

An example of where I use this would be when dealing with multi-mic’ed drum kits. I may have multiple Kick, Snare, Tom, Overhead or Room microphones, and I will create a Mix group so that each can controlled by a VCA Master. I will then assign each VCA Master, along with any “orphan” drum tracks such as Hi-hats or other spot mics, to a single Drum Mix group which has it’s own VCA Master.

Using Trim Automation in Pro Tools

Another advancement of Pro Tools 7.2 was the ability to store and edit Volume Trim automation in a separate Playlist from “absolute” Volume automation. If you click your playlist drop-down, you will now see separate Volume and Volume Trim playlists.

When viewing the Volume playlist, the absolute Volume automation will appear in black with editing points/handles as normal. If the fader has been adjusted in Trim Automation mode, or even changed while Trim Automation mode is enabled, there will also be a blue line indicating the resulting automation that will occur on play back, a composite of Trim Volume and absolute Volume.

When viewing the Volume Trim playlist, the Trim Volume automation will appear in yellow with editing points/handles. Likewise, the resulting composite of Trim Volume and absolute Volume will appear in blue.

Keeping Trim Automation and Volume Automation Separate

A trick that I use to speed up my mix is to keep Volume and Volume Trim automation separate, for the most part, and perform most of my dynamic automation in the Volume Trim playlist. This means always selecting “Trim” when automating a fader volume.

Pro Tools Mix Preferences – Click to Expand

To keep these playlists separate, you must disable Pro Tools’ default preference to automatically coalesce (combine) automation playlists. This is done through the Automation section of the Mixing Preferences, by changing the Coalesce Trim Automation Options radio button to Manual. While Pro Tools will play back automation as a composite playlist, you must manually coalesce your Trim and absolute Volume playlists to commit your changes to a single Volume playlist.

While I’m here, I usually adjust the AutoMatch Time to a relatively minimal value (50-100ms) and set the After Write Pass, Switch To option to Touch. Even though I often elect not to disarm a fader’s automation state from “Write” to “Off” after an absolute pass the channel will remain in Read mode until I touch and move a fader, at which point it will begin writing automation to either the Volume Trim (if Trim is enabled) or Volume automation playlist. As soon as I release the fader, it will return quickly (but not instantly) to it’s former recorded position.

I use the Write to End or Write to Punch commands in the Auto Enable window to make broader changes without playing through a long section.

The advantage of writing all of your early automation to your Volume Trim playlist is that, while Pro Tools will always play back your Volume Trim automation when in Read, Touch, or , you can still alter your overall volume for the track by simply grabbing the fader and moving it when in a standard mixing mode. This means you can perform vocal rides throughout a song, but still adjust the overall level of the track simply by moving the fader, with Trim disabled.

Performing Trim “Style” Moves

If you want to perform a Trim style change when using this technique (i.e. increasing the volume of just the choruses, while maintaining the word-to-word automation, of your vocal track) you have three options:

Pro Tools Coalesce Automation in the Tracks Menu – Click to Expand

You may write your Trim style automation to the absolute Volume playlist, or, you may use the Coalesce Trim Automation command to instruct Pro Tools to combine your absolute Volume and Volume Trim automation into a single Volume playlist. Either case bears one disadvantage: you can no longer independently control absolute Volume and Volume Trim without editing or recording additional automation.

The third option, and one I use often, is to use Pro Tools 10’s Clip Gain feature to make fixed changes to level. It should be noted that these changes will precede any channel processing, so it should only be used for subtle, broad changes.

Happy Mixing!

One of our community partners is Make-A-Wish® Minnesota.  Make-A-Wish® Minnesota grants wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.  Make-A-Wish® Minnesota was founded in 1982.  More than 3,800 wishes have been granted across the state since that time.

The Make-A-Wish foundation started with one boy’s wish.  Chris Greicius was 7 years old and his wish was to be a police officer.  Numerous individuals came together to grant this wish and Make A Wish was born.  There are 62 chapters in the US and its territories.  The organization has touched the lives of more than 250,000 children worldwide.

Over the years the Globe Education Network has supported Make-A-Wish® Minnesota with volunteering, service learning projects and financial donations. This year we are proud to have partnered with Make-A-Wish® Minnesota to help participate in granting the actual wish of Sabrina.  Sabrina’s wish was to write and record her own songs.  Sabrina used the facilities of the Institute of Production and Recording as well as the talents of engineer Kevin Bowe and producer Steve Hodge to record her CD “Revolution.”

Sabrina performed her songs live on December 14^th at the Macy’s Believe Day at the Mall of America.  She will have her CD release party on Saturday, January 20.  Sabrina shares the story of her wish in this short video donated by the Globe Education Network.

All of us at The Institute of Production & Recording are proud to have been able to help make Sabrina’s wish come true.