Re: CV

["Clifford@BienAppraisers" <res0koq3@verizon.net>]

Wow- cool story- thanks- some serious tech creation- would be interested in
hearing the results- thanks for writing.

Cliff
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Zvonar" <zvonar@zvonar.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 2:10 PM
Subject: Re: CV


> At 2:37 PM -0600 12/13/01, jim palmer wrote:
> >anybody really think this is off topic?
> >i would like to hear about your use of cv.
>
> Back in the early 1980s I was touring with the singer Diamanda Galas,
> performing in quad with backing tapes and live effects processing. I
> had a pair of DDLs, a Harmonizer, and a digital reverb at the mixing
> console, and she sang into a collection of mics that were routed
> variously to the quad system and to the processors.
>
> Since she wasn't too thrilled to surrender all control over the
> effects processing to me, we started developing ways for her to
> control the levels of the effects returns. At first we did this with
> just the reverb, by sending the reverb output signal down the
> microphone snake to the stage, through a pedal, and back to the
> mixer. This was problematic due to degradation of the signal and
> pickup of noise, so we had a VCA box made. This meant that just the
> supply voltage went down the snake, through the pedal, and back. No
> noise problems. Unfortunately this device wasn't too road-worthy, so
> when it came time to replace it we did a deluxe version.
>
> I approached SMS, a synthesizer company in San Francisco known for
> their high-quality analog modules (As Chris Muir liked to say, "SMS -
> When you don't care how much it costs"). Using their 6-channel VCA
> circuit as a basis, we designed a 12-channel VCA array in a solid,
> 2-rack box, along with a small remote that could be mounted on a
> microphone stand and operated by Diamanda as she performed. The
> remote had six knobs and six momentary buttons, each of which
> controlled a separate control voltage signal. As in the prior device,
> the common source voltage was sent up the mic snake, where it was
> split into twelve branches that were scaled or gated and then
> returned through the snake to the VCA box. This meant that 1 + 12 =
> 13 control voltages were routed through the snake, and we used seven
> channels of the snake for this purpose. The VCA box and remote each
> had a short multi-cable with seven XLR connectors on the end, so the
> connections were both robust and standard, AND we didn't have to
> schlep our own proprietary snake around on tour. The VCA box also had
> some nifty features such as manual override, LED displays of the
> current CV levels, and very flexible patching of the control voltages
> (which allowed ganging together of multiple channels and inverse
> control inputs to allow crossfading).
>
> The system worked flawlessly most of the time. The two notable
> exceptions came during what was perhaps our most over-the-top gig, in
> London during the winter of '85. We'd been performing throughout
> Holland and in Rome without a problem, but when we got to the venue
> in Deptford the VCA box simply did not work. Naturally I had no
> schematics, nor did I have much skill as a repair tech, but I popped
> the lid and peered inside. I didn't see anything obviously burnt out
> or flopping around loose, but I did notice a single IC, all alone on
> a daughter board sitting above the main VCA cards. "Hmmm" I thought,
> but closed up the unit in momentary despair. Fortunately the venue
> was within a quarter mile of one of the primary electronics repair
> shops used by major British bands, so we brought the box to them.
> Within an hour or two they had it working. Despite the lack of
> schematics, they had simply popped the lid, had seen the lonely IC,
> said "Hmmm," and and replaced it.
>
> The second problem came during the performance itself, a
> collaboration between Diamanda and the percussion ensemble Test
> Department (sort of left-wing political punk predecessors to Stomp).
> Acting on her usual premise that more is always better, the diva had
> rented an additional four effects processors and wanted eight
> microphones. I did manage to convince her that more open mics meant
> more feedback, especially in the sound field produced by five
> muscular skinheads pounding on oil drums with axe handles and
> whalloping a huge boiler suspended by chains, all of which junkyard
> instruments were also miked. We pared it down to the usual four mics
> and set up the remote to act as a crossfade controller for pairs of
> channels on the VCA box. This worked fine in principal, but the
> microphone stand we mounted the remote on turned out to be a very
> flimsy boom stand and the boom (with remote) went flopping over in
> the middle of the performance. This was especially hilarious because
> Test Department's record company Some Bizzare [sic] had rented a
> remote truck to do a multichannel recording intended for album
> release. The subsequent mix session is an epic tale unto itself, but
> suffice to say the performance was unsuitable for commercial release.
> --
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Richard Zvonar, PhD
> (818) 788-2202
> http://www.zvonar.com
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