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Sound Board Question
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Administrator  Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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Not a computer sound card, but a professional mixer board. I just saw a demo of a mixer running a program, and the sliders move by themselves. How does this work? What kind of mechanism moves the sliders? To me, any kind of motor could introduce lots or electrical noise, so I just can’t figure this out.
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Glenn —–OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Administrator Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
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I have no knowledge of professional audio. That said, I assume you’re thinking of the old analog mixing boards. It seems more likely the actual mixing is done by software today. The board would be a fancy USB controller. A feedback motor moving the sliders would not introduce noise, if the slider just returns a digital position reading.
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Administrator Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
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That makes sense.
The amount of digital control available for audio systems is astonishing. Time-coded cues, switching and mixing, digital prerecordings, wow.
On our last cruise we got to take a tour of the main theater, from back stage to the lighting and sound panels. Lighting was in what I could swear was built as a projection booth, and the sound board was at the back of the “floor” seating. There were two Mac Minis, a couple of other computer-looking boxes, and like 5 different monitors. Plus the whole mixer board. When the sound director demonstrated how almost everything for a regular performance was run by a program, one monitor showed a bunch of tracks (different mics in this case) and the faders just danced around.
It seems that the performers had to be just as spot-on as the programmed mixer. Singing, dancing, dodging scenery, all while the entire theater is moving at 22 knots through who knows what kind of seas. Kinda makes performing on a land-based stage seem “easy” in comparison.
Anyway, this tour managed to play to several of my geek-isms: computers, sound systems, stage work/theater, lighting, etc. And seeing an ad for something or other with video of a mixing board doing its thing reminded me of that tour.
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Glenn —–OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
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Motorised faders have been a thing since the late 70s. (Neve Necam System). Only on highest-end consoles back then.
I know that Motown experimented with fader automation back in the 60s.
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Administrator Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Offline
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This reminds me of the keyboard in the final sequence in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which (by computer) starts playing itself. I now assume that sort of thing also works with actuators controlled by a computer.
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Glenn —–OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status:
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Nah. That was just a gimmick. Player pianos had moving keys, because you need to mechanically motivate the hammer to hit the strings.
A synth or other electronic instrument has no need for that, since its keyboard is just an optional input device used for triggering circuits.
They just rigged up something to animate the keys.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
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This made me think of Conlon Nancarrow, who used player pianos like a proto-MIDI because humans couldn’t play his batshit compositions.
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