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Audio Effects: Plug In to the Future
The world of effects has changed dramatically. Trends in both analog and digital effects in houses of worship.
I cherish memories of my first effects box, a Tapco 4400 spring reverb that I bought in Nashville around 1980. For its time, it was a groovy tool that did a decent job of adding depth to the songwriter demos I recorded in my spare bedroom. And you could get "dramatic special effects" when you whacked on it.
The world of effects has changed dramatically since then. Nearly all analog time-based effects-reverb, delay, and chorus-have gone the way of the dinosaur. In this case, the transition into the digital domain was quick and decisive.
It's a different story with dynamics processing: compressors, limiters, expanders and gates. Here, thanks to high quality VCAs (voltage controlled amplifiers) and the peculiar sonic qualities of tubes and optical circuits, analog still holds an edge-at least in the realm of outboard signal processing boxes.
But, as we look to the future, the trend points away from outboard boxes of all kinds, whether analog or digital. As church audio production inexorably moves toward digital consoles, signal processing is gradually moving away from separate hardware boxes and gravitating toward software plug-ins.
Today, a Bevy of Boxes
In the meantime, though, for those churches using analog consoles-still a majority-it's a bountiful buyer's market for effects hardware boxes. A quick glance at one Midwestern dealer's catalog shows 20 companies making equalizers, 24 making dynamics processors, and at least nine still supplying reverb and multi-effects boxes. This is mature technology. It's stable, reliable, and available at all price points. So whether you need a basic compressor/limiter for recording the service off the board, or an exquisite reverb for the lead vocalist, there's a box out there to fit your budget.
But, looking to the future, many hardware-makers are simultaneously migrating into software-only versions. Notable names like Chandler, Eventide, Lexicon, tc electronic and Universal Audio have made the move into plug-ins. Other effects developers offer their products (with minor exceptions) only as plug-ins: Antares, McDSP, Sonnox, Sound Toys and Waves. Most were developed for recording workstations; not all are available for live sound mixing platforms-yet. But it's only a matter of time.
And, of course, the esteemed Yamaha REV-X algorithms are available in Yamaha digital consoles, and Lexicon effects are grafted into many boards from Harman sister Soundcraft. All in the family.
Where's the Algorithm?
Exactly who owns the proprietary effects algorithms, where they reside in the system, and how the sounds they produce get in and out of the signal flow makes for a complicated story-to say the least. It varies considerably with different digital console manufacturers and third-party software partners. And fast-evolving audio networking technology is opening even more possibilities. But, at the risk of oversimplifying, your software-based audio effects:
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Bruce Borgerson networks around the industry via Wavelength Communications while monitoring technologies at the First United Methodist Church of Ashland, Ore.
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