VCA Faders and VCA Groups arrived in Logic Pro 10.1 We use them in our mixing workflow here at Next Level Sound. You might be asking, "What is a VCA Fader? Why should I use one?," or, "How do I create and use a VCA Fader?"
The VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) Fader comes from the "old-school" analog mixers (those big boards in studios like the SSL consoles) and is used as a channel gain. With a VCA the engineer can control multiple faders in a group with a single fader while preserving the level of each individual channel in the group.
[ VCAs Grouped Together ]
First, let's look at how a Standard Fader works. The amount of audio passing through a Standard Fader is determined by the position of the Fader itself. Moving it up or down determines how much or little of the signal passes through.
The VCA component of the Fader determines how much of the audio signal (level) will...