VCA to control all compressors/busses simultaneously

[Tatu PärssinenParticipant]

Hi, my first post on the forum! I recently stumbled upon something interesting and new to me. And I thought this might be applied to mixing in general too. It's Dave Rat's (RHCP etc) take on live mixing. He introduces an efficient way to control the overall compression, not just the main/2bus comp but all compressors in the mix simultaneously with VCAs. What I have been doing in the little mixing of mine so far is pretty much micromanaging compared to this. Building it ground up instrument by instrument and tweaking the instruments' and groups' dedicated compressors one at a time.

So I'm wondering would this bring something fresh to the table or is it old news? And does this technique have a name in studio world? Rat's VCA with compression from 7:10 to 9:48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5S34Hf95gI&t=430s

• This topic was modified 1 year ago by Tatu Pärssinen.
• This topic was modified 1 year ago by Tatu Pärssinen.

[Donald MacTavishParticipant]

Hi

I understand what he is suggesting and trying to accomplish but I wonder to what end.  For me the impact of compression of vocal mics vs instruments (Mic or DI) is very different especially when managing and preventing feedback.  For me a compressor on each sub-mix bus does the trick and I tweak as needed.  I have never had the need to drive (compressor inputs) for all channels up or down at the same time not to mention the impact on gates or expanders.  I would be curious to hear if others feel the need for this.  In the end good live sound is all about constant listening and making the adjustments to help the artists deliver a great performance of every song.

Prost

 

[Tatu PärssinenParticipant]

Yeah I get your point. I guess I was thinking if this approach would have any benefits when mixing in studio situation not live. And I actually kinda got answer from geaspace-forum. It seems it is quite common practice especially when you apply the "Brauerizing" method which relies heavily on mixing into compression with multiple compressors in several buses

https://gearspace.com/board/showpost.php?p=16094423&postcount=76

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by Tatu Pärssinen.

[Shane BarringtonParticipant]

I agree with you Donald, assigning every input to a vca and pushing your whole mix up in live sound environment could potentially bite you in the ass,I understand what Dave is trying to accomplish mixing live on a analog console,however if he would switch to digital he could just do snapshots for each songs and recall different dynamic,eq,fx and level settings with ease.Dave rat is a awesome engineer and certainly knows his craft but I personally wouldn’t do it.

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