setting up cakewalk by bandlab for backing tracks

Less gain means less signal going into the channel's send control, so with the VCA fader all the way down, there's also no signal going to the reverb. Even with the bus fader pulled all the way down, you'll still hear the reverb.Ī VCA channel solves this because it controls the gain of the individual channels. As a result, it's not doing what a post-fader send is supposed to do, which is reduce the send amount as you pull down the channel fader. With a conventional submix bus, as you pull down the bus fader, the faders for the individual tracks haven't changed - so the post-fader sends from those tracks will still be sending signal to the reverb bus. One of the classic scenarios where VCA faders win out is when several tracks (say, individual drums) go to a submix fader, and the tracks also have post-fader send controls going to an effect such as reverb. For example, you could have fader groups for violins, violas, and cellos - nothing unusual there - but you could also have a violins + violas fader group, and yet another fader group with all the strings. This can be helpful for projects with a high track count. However, there are other VCA fader functions that Cakewalk can't do, like having the same fader belong to different groups.

When you release the fader, the control returns to being part of its original group. Even with a channel in a group, you can still adjust a fader independently of the other tracks in it by holding down the Ctrl key while moving the fader. You can also adjust track faders independently of a group controlled by a VCA fader, without causing the other faders to follow along.Ĭakewalk doesn't have VCA faders, and it's understandable if your response is, 'What's the big deal? Can't you just send the channels to a bus, and use the bus fader to control the level?' The answer is yes, and if that's all you need to do, groups are fine. Assign multiple track faders to the VCA, and you can bring all their levels up and down simultaneously. Rather, they act as 'remote controls' for other faders: assign a track fader to a VCA fader, and now the VCA can control the track's gain, without moving the associated track fader.

VCA (voltage-controlled amplifier) faders don't pass audio. Screen 1: This setup pulls back on the drum track effects send levels when you reduce the drum submix level.

Setting up cakewalk by bandlab for backing tracks