EQ Article Prt. 2

Here is the 2nd part of the previous article. http://howtosound.com/docs/Soundbytes_Nov09/TuneUp_EQ2.htm

Basic EQ

Here is a short article on the basics of equalization. It talks about basic terms and general application. A 2nd article has come out and will give more detail. This is from http://howtosound.com/. Article link is http://howtosound.com/docs/SoundBytes_GearHead_Apr09.htm

Input Sheets

Interesting couple of posts on Input Sheets. I have posted the 2nd but you can link to the 1st from this post.
http://www.churchtecharts.org/archives/1420?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChurchTechArts+(Church+Tech+Arts)&utm_content=Google+Reader

New Portable System?

Well I got a new (to me) Roland VMC7200 console on a trade. Going to give it a run on Saturday at the Women's Ministry Brunch. If it performs well it will become my new portable mixer etc.... Not an LS9 by any means but it should work for the light loads we usually use on our portable systems. It will also mean some more training it is not exactly the most intuitive console. I will keep you up to date how it goes. Pray for Trish and Melody because they are going to be the techs running the system.

Drums at DSC

Well after a great training session which focused mostly on set up of the drums. I am pleased to announce that the drum rack is finished. The big change from the training is that the drum subsnake is attached to the rack. This means the subsnake just rolls out with the rack. This also means that the inputs from the firebox for zach's tracks are always plugged in. I also attached the cat 5 cables for the aviom setup. Now just plug the snake into floor box and plug in control unit to cat 5 cable on drum side of rack and you are ready to go. So to put it simply, the only things you have to plug into the rack are, the power, the subnake to the floor box, input for buttkicker, and buttkicker cables to the shakers. It has made it a quick set for me the last two weeks. I will post pictures tomorrow and hopefully a video sometime before Christmas, though I doubt it with the wave of crazy coming around here. check back or more.

Training Session

I have planned to start some training sessions in the near future. Some will be here on the blog only others will be hands on and videoed for the blog. Our 1st one will be Saturday October 31st from 9am until noon. We will focus on the setup of drums. Topics covered will be:
1. Set up the drums
2. micing up the drums
3. Drum shield

I hope to see you there let me know if you can come.
Chris

Fun Set This Week

Well we are having a little fun this week with the music at DSC. We have Z on acoustic and vocal, 1 female vocal, cello, bass, drums using brushes. I went with a minimal stage so I am micing the drums without using any mic stands. I put a Beta 56 on the snare, beta98 on floor tom, SM91 on the kick, and miked each cymbal with Audio Technica Pro35's. I am using my usual ATM35 on the Cello, Radial ProDI on the acoustic, Sans Amp for the bass. Vocals are a KSM9 on Zach and my wife Koren using her usual SM87a. It is always fun to try new things. I will let you know how it went. Let me know what you think after service.

Video Training for Audio

Well I am ready to start moving on some videos to help with training. I have a short list. If there is something you would love to see in a short video let me know.

What Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, Rush of Fools, and Freedomfest Taught Me

Well the last 10 days have been full for me. I did three different events 1. Delays for Def Leppard/Cheap Trick, Rush of Fools at DSC, and Freedom Fest w/10 bands over the Labor Day Weekend.
1. The first thing I learned is I might be getting to old for this many shows in a short time, at least with a full time day job. I also realized I still love doing the shows so I hope Audio Excellence keeps calling.

2. System Setup: I watched and listened as the system was set up and dialed in for Def Leppard Cheap Trick show, even got a little input on how the lawn speakers sounded. These guys knew what they were doing. They know there system, they know there band. System set up is huge and making me rethink how I have set up my own system at DSC. There could be some changes coming.

3. Practice, Practice, Practice: The Front of House guys for all three bands knew what their bands sounded like how they wanted them mixed. Both Def Leppard and Cheap Trick do different sets every night. Now for Cheap Trick this is pretty simple just mix it up, but for Def Leppard where effects/tone etc... change from song to song this really shows you have to rehearse with your band.

4. The Rush of Fools show was great. It reminds me that we put together a pretty good system at DSC. We just added a couple of subs to add that extra bottom needed but other than that it was all DSC's system. We got use our moving lights in a concert situation and they worked great really made it look like a real show. I think one thing to remember if you are a band is make sure you play enough music. ROF only played 7 songs in 2+hours, to much talking not enough singing.

5. Freedom Fest is always fun. I think I have done 13 or 14 of these things so I think Jay (audio at Calvary of ABQ) and have it down. I think Jay and I have done 10 of these together. I really realize the importance of a technical rider on these shows. I also think bands need to know the kind of show they are playing. This is a festival, 10 bands, 3 days, not everyone is going to get everything they want. I stress want. Bands can get a little picky sometimes. I will say one thing for M88 they do spend the money to do it right. We get great equipment from Audio Excellence and great help from the volunteers.

Well that is all I got. I did not do a lot of proofreading so this might sound like just a bunch of ramblings but it has been awhile since I last posted.

out

Compression 101

Well here is a article from our friends at DBX. It is on the basics of compression. You can read it here.

Just What Do We Do, Anyway!?!

Here is another article from Church Sound Check. Curt discusses the responsibilities of a Audio Director at a church. Except for the cassette tape references it is pretty right on and shows why we need volunteers to help get through the week.
Just What Do We Do, Anyway!?!

Equipment List

Well I put an article up earlier about knowing your equipment. Well here is a list of all the Audio equipment we use in the various rooms around the DSC. I will be adding the portable system eventually.
Click here or on the title to get to the PDF file.

Long Day

Well today was a long one. Should have been easy only piano and 2 vocals and had a light week with Zach out of town and the Well at the park so no major setups. So I get a lot of work done in areas that need it, like the resource table and storage rooms that badly need organization, but I should never let the little things go that get Sunday ready. I didn't fill out the paper, program the console, tape down the cables( thanks Jeff) or make sure what was happening in the children area. Thus I turned an easy Sunday into a rough one. Lesson learned at least for until next time I mess it up. Sorry to Jeff who had to deal with my lack luster prep.

Ives and Glorious Unseen

Yesterday was a fun day. New Covenant Church brought in The Glorious Unseen and Ives the Band to play a concert. It was an interesting show from a setup point of view. Usually you have the headline act, this case the Glorious Unseen, sound check first, then you set up the opening act in front of them and let them sound check. The Glorious Unseen was not supposed to arrive until 4:30pm for a 7:30 show. So we setup Ives with space for the other band to set up behind and around. Another interesting thing is that Ives uses an aviom system. I think this is what most bands should do instead of purchasing a small PA. This made sound check a breeze because they pretty much already had there mixes dialed in. The us the Aviom split, so we plugged there microphones into the split and then sent to the main snake. The only issue is what do for the change out. I had a couple of the sound guys from NCC helping out and we were able to switch the stage out with minimal issue. There were only 4 channels that had to be rerouted to the main snake so turned out okay. Fortunatly NCC has a pretty nice setup on stage. Plenty of channels and an M7CL at FOH. The next fun thing was Glorious Unseen did not get to the church until 6:05 it really got fun. we got them unloaded setup and dialed in by about 7:05pm. The used JBL VP series monitors we got from Popejoy hall. These things rock. They are loud and clear. I mixed 4 mixes from FOH to the wedges and one in ear for the lead singer. My buddy Jay actually mixed Ives and they played well and Jay mixed like Jay always does. I handled Glorius Unseen who was a very good and well. Well sorry for the ramling but thought give some insights into a day of concert. Remember we have Rush of Fools here at DSC in September 2nd. Let me know if you can help. I am still waiting to hear back so I can get times for everyone.
Here are the websites of the bands from last night.
http://www.ivestheband.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thegloriousunseen
in Him
chris

Tech Tips from Chris Tomlin’s Audio Engineers

This article comes from Chris Tomlin's current tour and how his crew prepares for the shows. It is another good article on preparation. http://www.churchproduction.com/go.php/article/8657

Preperation is One Important Key to Mixing Like a Pro

Here is another article. This one is from Robert Scovill who mixes for Def Lepard, Match Box 20, Tom Petty, and others. He also plays and mixes at his church when he is in town. You will see more from him in the future. Enjoy.
http://www.churchproduction.com/go.php/article/3336

It is not about the Gear

Here is an article on why we do what we do. Short and sweet from Church Sound Check. We do this for the Kingdom not the cool gear. http://www.churchsoundcheck.com/inatg.html

The Sound of Your Worship Room Part 2

Here is part 2.

The Sound of Your Worship Room

Here is an article on mixing in for Worship. I got it from FOH Magazine. The 2nd part will come tomorrow.

Choices for In Ear Monitoring

I think it is good not only to know what we use here at DSC for audio but what are the other options out there. I found this article from Church Production Magazine on in ear monitors and the many options out there. http://www.churchproduction.com/go.php/article/5751

Vacation Bible School

Well VBS has come and gone here at DSC and it was a crazy time of kids learning, singing, and playing. There were over 250 kids and over 100 volunteers this year. The worship center was transformed to a mountain camp for the kids to enjoy music, skits, and gospel presentation. Here are some of the things technically we did. For the cast we had 6 channels of wireless all on head worn Country man E6, DPA4066's Audio Techica 892 Microset. The wireless units were 2- Shure ULX4P's, Shure 1-ULX4s, Shure 1-SLX, and Shure 2-PGX, 1- Audio Technica 1800 series. The singers were on 4 handheld wireless, I don't usually like this but they had to get there mics off the stage for the skits and this seemed the easiest. They were two AKG mics we got on a rent swap with Audio Excellence. I am not sure of the model but they sounded good. 1-PGX wireless with a PG48 and 1-ULX with SM58 head. We had one PGX system go down mid week it was about 6 years old so not bad for a cheap wireless that gets moved around all the time. The band consisted of Percussion (cahone,Beta 56,/jimbe,2 pro 35)), bass (SansAMp DI, keyboard (Radial Pro DI). Sara led on acoustic into a Radial Pro DI and singing into a Beta 87c. We made 300 CD's of the music so each kid got a copy which has become quite the tradition here at DSC. These are live recorded and duplicated the week of VBS. I hope to do a pre-recorded disc for next year so the kids can get a copy before VBS and start learning the songs ahead of time. Well thats all I got for now.

Frequency Chart

This shows where different instruments fall within the audio frequency range and compared to the notes on a piano.

Feedback from 7/12/2009

Well we had are first Sunday with our new crews. Jeff and Melody took the mission this week. I thought it went pretty smooth considering we have VBS this week. VBS is always a challenge getting Sunday Worship stage cleared and getting the VBS crew on stage for Monday's 1st night. Jeff and I went over the checklists. I have changed a few things and we will try them again this Sunday and see how it works. I will be talking to Jeff and Melody and see what can be improved, though this is such a wierd week I might wait until the next time they serve. VBS is all week so no rehearsal on Thursday it is now Saturday at 11:00am. Set up is going to be a full band so we will see how it goes.
Thanks for all the work guys.

Relationship Between the Band and the Techies

I had Zach Nielsen, our music director, write a short piece on how he sees the band/Worship Leader and the Techies working together to make our worship services worshipful and not a distraction. I think you will like it.

Zach writes:
The relationship between the musicians on stage and the tech people is a very important one. I have always said that at times you can get away with a “so-so” bass player, but you’ll never get away with a “so-so” sound guy (or other facets of the tech ministry as well). Most people don’t really know when a bass player is bad, but they all can know for sure if the mix is poor, the lights don’t work, or the projection is distracting.

All this to say, the tech booth could be one of the most important places in our church. I value you guys to a great degree and know that if we don’t work together well, things will go south in a hurry.

Communication should be a high value for all of us. If we don’t communicate well, we can’t work together well. Good relationships are founded upon good communication.

Trust is also very key. Do the people on in the booth believe that the music guys know what they are doing and vice versa? Our jobs are big enough on their own without worrying about someone else's job.

An environment of grace has to be the norm as well. We all make mistakes and nothing ever runs 100% smooth. Undistracting excellence is always the goal, but when we fall short we all have to embrace an ethic of grace.

The are just some initial thoughts. Would love to talk to you guys more about this in person if you would like.

Know Thy Stuff

Here is an article from Curt Taipele about knowing your equipment that you use.
Curt is the founder Church Sound Check which has articles and other resources for church sound volunteers. http://www.churchsoundcheck.com/kts.html

Drums Micing from Shure

Here is a detailed look at micing drums.
http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Resources/ssLINK/us_pro_mic_techniques_drums_ea

Aviom

Here is a link that goes over the basics of the Aviom personal mixers we use on stage. I hope to have something showing how we set them up from the console soon. Keep Posted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRBDJcqU1CI

Shure Microphone Tecnique Guide

Here is a guide from Shure Microphones on microphone types and techniques. http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Resources/ssLINK/us_pro_mics_for_music_sound_ea

Mic it Up Electric Guitar

Here is a training video on how to mic up a electric guitar amp with different audio clips showing different microphone positions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcD9-yQjDfM

Easy Worship Tutorials

Here are a few links for EasyWorship the program we show lyrics on the big screens.
FAQ:
http://www.easyworship.com/support/kb/index.php?ToDo=browse&catId=14

Tutorial 1:
http://www.imagevine.com/tutorials2/tutorials-easyworship.aspx

Tutorial 2:
http://www.animationsforvideo.com/html/easy_worship_tutorials.htm

Yamaha M7CL Training Video

Here is the link to M7CL training for the console in the worship center http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/training/self_training/index.html#m7cl

LS9 Training Video

Here is the training videos for the Yamaha LS9 consoles we use in the Youth and Children's areas. Have fun with this.
http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/training/self_training/index.html#ls9