New Life Community Church Audio Technician s Handbook. Doing Sound From Just What Do We Do, Anyway? by Curt Taipale, Church Soundcheck Magazine

Transcription

1 New Life Community Church Audio Technician s Handbook The purpose of the audio system is to transmit the message of the preacher, the layperson, or the musicians presenting to the audience. It should enhance the presentation, not create the presentation. One should strive to ensure the full attention of the audience is on the presenter not the audio system. If the presentation goes well, the audio technician will serve unrecognized. If something goes awry, regardless of whose fault, all eyes will turn to the audio technician. A Sound Technician is a combination of an orchestra conductor and a plumber. As an orchestra conductor, the Sound Tech is responsible for the final sound that is presented to the audience. He controls the blend, balance, tone, and volume of the performers. He does this by controlling the signal flow from the performer through the sound system to the audience. A plumber controls the flow of water from the source to the ultimate consumer. He must constantly monitor each musical parameter be able to identify changes necessary. He must know the sound reproduction equipment to technically make the changes necessary to provide a pleasing listening experience. Doing Sound From Just What Do We Do, Anyway? by Curt Taipale, Church Soundcheck Magazine 1. Create a workable stage layout. In determining where instruments and vocalists should be placed on stage, we must consider good mic technique, sound isolation from other instruments and monitors, as well as comfortable sight lines for the worship team and for the congregation. 2. Set the stage. This can include moving church-owned instruments into place, placing stage monitors, headphone boxes, mic stands, microphones, connecting all stage gear, testing all gear, pre-setting monitor levels, and so on. Ideally, the stage will be setup and ready, with basic monitor levels and mixes preset when the worship team walks on stage. 3. While you're setting the stage, pray over the equipment and the stage area to make it a peaceful place rather than a battleground. You can be sure that the stage will be a place of spiritual warfare during rehearsal and even during a worship service, but we can each help do our part to usher in angels to guard over the area. 4. Attend rehearsals each week to "practice" new songs along with the vocalists and musicians. Practice might not make perfect, but it can point the way to excellence. 5. Create a flawless, album-quality musical mix for every worship service. (So flawless that out-oftune vocals and missed brass notes aren't heard.) 6. Create a stunning monitor mix that provides each player with just what they need to lead the congregation into worship of the God of the Universe. 7. Learn how to handle the inevitable "it's too loud" complaints. 8. Educate your players and singers in the most basic elements of audio excellence, like how to properly hold and use a microphone. 9. If the sound volume on stage typically overwhelms the house sound system, then educate your worship team on the realities of God's Laws of Physics, and the benefits of electronic drums and headphones. 10. "Do sound" for all other church-wide meetings, including concerts, retreats and other offsite functions. If your church offers women's retreats, then you have just learned one important reason why you should invite and include women as part of the audio support team

2 Basic Channels 1 thru 20 Mackie SR24-4-VLZ PRO Channel Strips Stereo Channels 21/22 & 23/24 Trim: First Volume Control for Audio Signal Aux 1: Sends Signal to Stage Monitors STAGE RIGHT Aux 2: Sends Signal to Stage Monitors STAGE LEFT Aux 3: Unassigned at this time Aux 4: Unassigned at this time Aux 5: Sends Signal to Reverb Unit Aux 6: Sends Signal to Reverb Unit HI EQ: Fixed 12kHz shelving EQ MID: plus or minus 15dB to that frequency FREQ knob picks the frequency to be altered (100 Hz to 8kHz) LOW EQ: Fixed 80Hz shelving EQ LO CUT Switch inserts a 18dB octave low-cut filter with a cutoff frequency of 75Hz Pan: Assigns signal LR in stereo Red LED Signal Clipping Green LED Signal Present Mute: Mutes Channel s Signal - Red Light On Solo: Isolates signal in headphones Red Light Flashes 1-2: Routes Channel Signal to Sub Group 3-4: Routes Channel Signal to Sub Group L-R: Routes Channel Signal to Master Section Fader: (White knob) Controls Channel Volume - 2 -

3 Mackie SR24-4-VLZ PRO Master Section Aux 1 & 2 Sends Sends All Channel Aux 1 & 2 Signals to Monitor Amplifier Aux 5 & 6 Send Sends All Channel Aux 5 & 6 Signals to Reverb Unit Aux 1 & 2 Return Return All Channel Aux 5 & 6 Signals to Mix LED Left & Right Meters Sound Levels -10 Green is Good 0 Green is Loud +10 Yellow is peaking +28 Red is Clipping RUDE SOLO LIGHT Flashes red when a solo button is depressed SOLO Level pot controls volume PreFade listen - Up Fade listen - Down Subgroup Section TALKBACK Level pot controls volume of talkback mic Buttons choose to send to MAIN MIX or AUX 1-2 (Monitors) PHONES/CR LEVEL Level pot controls volume To headphones TAPE RETURN buttons Choose to send the cassette recording unit signal to the Headphones and/or the Main Mix. MAIN MIX White Fader Master Main Volume Control - 3 -

4 Setting The Gain Trim: First Volume Control for Audio Signal (U - Unity Gain) #1: Zero The Channel Trim to off position full counterclockwise All Aux to off position full counterclockwise All Unity Gain Channel Fader off position full down #2: Raise the Gain Set Channel Fader to Unity Gain Raise Trim to Acceptable volume level Red LED Flashing: Signal clipping on this channel TURN DOWN TRIM Green LED: Signal -20 db on this channel Faders: The fader scales are logarithmic not linear. At bottom of the scale small movements lead to large leaps in the level. At the top of the scale movements lead to small changes in level. Try to keep the faders at the 0 mark to allow for headroom to increase the level. Fader: (White Nob) Set Trim with Unity To allow for operating headroom - 4 -

5 STAGE MONITORS Channel Strip Master Section Sends to Sends to To Monitor Amp & Stage Right Monitors To Monitor Amp & Stage Left Monitors Solo buttons Aux 1 & 2 are Pre Fade: This means the signal is routed to monitors before it passes through other Aux s, the EQ, or the Channel fader. The signal goes to the monitors unaffected by these controls. To listen to the monitor mix on the headphones, press the Solo button next to #1 and/or #2 AUX SEND MASTER. Stage monitors provide timing and pitch audio cues for the on-stage performers. Monitors are to provide the performer with timing and pitch cues not a front of house performance feeling. The use of monitors and acoustic instruments is a very dangerous mix. It is best to use as little monitors as possible when using acoustic instruments. However, most musicians are more comfortable with moderate levels of monitors and therefore care must be taken in how you approach your use of monitors. The first thing to remember is that monitors are not a true representation of what the audience hears but a reference of sound that enables you to hear yourself and allows you to be cued to the other musicians on stage. Singers using an accompaniment tract need to be able to hear the accompaniment through the monitors. BUT Feeding the soloist s mic through the monitor creates the potential for feedback! - 5 -

6 Channel Strip REVERB UNIT Master Section Return to Channel Signal Sends to Reverb Unit Use with vocals and some instruments (wind instruments, picked acoustic guitar) Do not use with speaking. Set Aux 5 for the channel to Unity gain Set AUX SEND MASTER #5 (& #6) to Unity gain to send signal to Reverb unit Rotate Aux Return #1 (& #2) Control Clockwise to control the amount of return from Reverb unit CAUTION: The signal from the reverb increases the channel s volume. The Different Types The problem with mixing dry (using no effects) within a live or recording environment is that the results can often sound boring and lacking in colour. This is especially the case as most of us are used to listening to highly polished CDs at home. These productions are actually achieved by using effects which electronically produce certain atmospheres. The different types of effects that can be used are explained below; Reverb Reverberation is the most commonly used studio effect, and also the most necessary. Western music is invariably performed indoors where a degree of room reverberation is part of the sound. Conversely, most pop music is recorded in a relatively small, dry-sounding studio, so artificial reverberation has to be added to create a sense of space and reality. Reverberation is created naturally when a sound is reflected and re-reflected from the surfaces within a room, hall or other large structure. See fig. 10. Delay Often used to make a sound thicker by taking the original sound, delaying it, then mixing it back with the original sound. This short delay added to the original sound has the effect of doubling the signal. Echo A popular effect that was used extensively on guitars and vocals in the 60s and 70s. It is not used on vocals so much nowadays, but quite effective on guitars and keyboards. A neat trick is to set the echo delay time so that the repeats coincide with the tempo of the song

7 Equalization Console equalization is similar to the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. We should use the EQ of a console only after we have followed the priorities of good sound that precede EQ. If we have the gift of EQ knob turning, but have not mic'd properly, then our PA will sound like brass or a tinkling cymbal. If we can boost and sweep four frequency bands, but have not placed our stage personnel correctly, then we will find our sources never live up to their full potential. Now abideth bass, horns and subs, but the loudest of these is subs. Reducing the influence of the low frequencies is a primary concern when mixing live sound in church. Correction and control is not found in the board EQ, but in careful mic and personnel location, selection and placement. Equalizers, by their nature and name, are supposed to redress imbalances in a sound system. Unfortunately, equalizers, whether graphic, parametric, or shelving in nature, are only as good as the person using them. Knowing where to turn the knob or push the fader is usually a dark science, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The first step in proper EQ technique is to realize the knobs go to the left better than they go to the right. In other words, reduction of energy is more beneficial than an increase in energy, due to the nature of live sound. Live music is awash in competing frequencies from melody and rhythm instruments in struggle with cascading voices emanating from the stage and the audience. Since human hearing is most sensitive to frequencies in the mid-band and most instruments produce a majority of their fundamental and initial order harmonics in the same region, there is too much energy localized between 250 Hz and 2.5kHz. Again, though, without knowing where to cut the energy levels, the cure will be worse than the disease. The console EQ can be used for reduction of unnecessary frequencies and overall tone shaping to fit the source into the general mix. Determine the lowest usable frequency of an input and roll off (turn down) any energy below that frequency. For instance, a soprano's lowest note is A-220 (220 Hertz), so turn down the bass control on her channel, since its knee point (where it hinges) is typically around 80Hz. The only sound in the bass region in her channel will be something detrimental a nearby baritone, a bass guitar amp, or the noise of the air handlers. For tone shaping, use the midrange sweep termed "semi-parametric" EQ to find the worst aspect of a signal and reduce its effect with roll off. HI EQ Fixed 12kHz shelving EQ All the upper harmonics of a sound are raised evenly. MID EQ Sweepable peaking/dipping EQ with a fixed bandwidth of 1.5 octaves. The MID knob subtracts or adds to that frequency plus or minus 15dB. The FREQ knob picks the frequency to be altered (100 Hz to 8kHz) LOW EQ Fixed 80Hz shelving EQ. LO CUT Switch inserts a 18dB octave low-cut filter with a cut-off frequency of 75Hz. Caution: when adjusting EQ, there is a danger of feedback that can cause damage to your speakers. You may need to reduce your levels to compensate

8 Using a sweep-mid equalizer Like the high and low controls, the sweep mid can provide either cut or boost, but its strength comes from the fact that it can be tuned into the specific part of the audio spectrum that needs treatment. Like the high and low controls, it is more forgiving if used to cut rather than to boost. However, when first tuning in the mid control, it helps to set it to full boost, so that when the frequency control is adjusted, the effect is most apparent. This is true even if the final EQ setting requires cut rather than boost. Procedure Below is a simple way of eliminating unwanted sounds: Increase sweep-eq gain. Sweep the frequency pot until the aspect of the sound you wish to modify becomes as pronounced as possible. This should only take a few seconds. The cut/boost control is now changed from its full boost position to cut. The exact amount of cut required can be decided by listening to the sound while making adjustments. Even a small amount of cut at the right frequency will clean up the sound to a surprising degree. Other sounds may benefit from a little boost, one example being the electric guitar which often needs a little extra bite to help it cut through the mix. Again, turn to full boost and use the frequency control to pick out the area where the sound needs help. Then it s a simple matter of turning the boost down to a more modest level and assessing the results by ear. Low Frequency EQ Roll off low frequencies. Bass energy is omnidirectional and bleeds into everything on stage. Reducing the input and amplification of low frequencies is essential to a good mix. Engage the low cut filter on every channel except kick drum, bass guitar, synth, piano, and any other instrument with bass. Low-cut means it cuts the low frequencies. It can also be called a High Pass because it allows only the high frequencies to pass

9 Sub Groups In conjunction with the PAN pot, the bus assignment switches route the signal out of the channel strip. With the pan pot panned completely to the left, the signal will be assigned to sub group 1 if switch 1-2 is depressed or subgroup 3 if switch 3-4 is depressed. With the pan pot panned completely to the right, the signal will be assigned to sub group 2 if switch 1-2 is depressed or subgroup 4 if switch 3-4 is depressed. With the pan pot set somewhere in between, the signal will be shared across both sides of the mix. Subgroup Assigns If the sub groups are being used for the main mix, do not depress the L-R assign button. That will only increase that channel s signal to the main mix. AIR Main Mix Subgroups Subgroups are good for controlling the volume of multiple inputs. For example, you could assign the worship leader's microphone to the main mix and the background vocalists' mics to a subgroup. This will allow you to bring the total level of all the background mics up or down with one fader. Other subgroupings could be the drums, keyboards, guitars, etc. Recording Subgroups The Subgroups may also be used to send the signal to a recorder or other device through the subgroup out jacks on the rear of the mixer. Signals may then be routed to the recorder that are not being heard through the main mix (audience mics for ambience). The Subgroup signal would not be sent to the main mix via the subgroup s L-R assign button. SUBGROUP JACKS (Back of Mackie) Subgroup 1 sends to subgroup out 1 & 5 depending on the position of the subgroup 1 pan pot. Subgroup 2 sends to 2 & 6, Subgroup 3 to 3 & 7, and Subgroup 4 to 4 & 8. AIR The AIR control is a special form of EQ set into the submix masters, a smooth, broad hill of shiny hyper-treble centered at 16kHz, with gossamer skirts extending as low as 12kHz and wafting as high as 20kHz. When AIR is set at 0, it is effectively out of the signal path and the submix has a flat response. When you need a little more air in your sound, just a hint of high treble to add that atmospheric breathiness to your vocalists or that brandnew-string jangle to your guitar, add AIR to the proper subgroup. AIR is a high frequency peaking EQ centered at 16kHz. Turned fully up, these controls provide 10dB of boost and fully down effectively bypasses the circuit. Use AIR to provide a crystalline effect to subgroups, helping them stand out in the overall mix

10 NLCC Audio Equipment Microphones 11 Dynamic Vocal/Instrument: 8 - Shure 565SD, 1 Shure SM58, 2 SHS OM500 2 Shure SM57 2 Boundary Condenser: 2 Crown PCC Wireless: 2 Audio Technica 601 with lavalier mics 2 Audio Technica lavalier mic, 1 Countryman E6 headset Pulpit Mic Condenser - Audio Technica Pro 49QL 2 Choir Mics Condenser Direct Boxes 3 Pro Co CB-1, 2 Ground lift switch, 2 Without Ground Lift switch Direct boxes are often referred to as "DI" boxes. This stands for "Direct Injection" as their main purpose is to convert unbalanced and/or high impedance instrument signals into a format suitable for direct connection to a mixing console's mic input - without the use of a microphone. Mixer - Mackie SR24-4-VLZ PRO Nursery Amplifier - Stenophone Amplifier 70 volt amplification system receiving a signal from the and sending the signal to the speakers in the church nurseries. Red dots mark the proper setting of the pots. No adjustment should be made. Power Supply - TrippLite Power Supply All power for the sound system is routed through this unit except for the light clamped to the playback rack. Care should be taken to turn this on first and off last maintaining the Amplifiers On Last Off First mantra. Reverb Unit - Yamaha REV Editable Presets Exceptionally Easy Programming, True Stereo Reverb, 16-bit A/C and D/A converters and a 44.1 khz sampling rate. The result is full 20 Hz to 20 khz frequency response with exceptionally low noise and distortion. Advanced MIDI Features. You can select effect programs via MIDI rather than the panel controls. You can also use MIDI control change commands to actually change effect parameters. Digital Signal Processor - DriveRack PA Complete equalization and loudspeaker control system containing Feedback Elimination, 28-band Graphic EQ, Sub-harmonic Synthesizer, Crossover Configurations, and Output Limiters & Compression. This has be set for our auditorium and should not be reconfigured or separately turned off. It should be powered down with the TripLite Power Supply. Main Amplifier Crown Xs W Stereo Power Amp Main Speakers - Yamaha S115V Club V 15" PA Speaker Monitor Amplifier Crown CE1000 Stereo 560W Power Amp Monitor Speakers Galaxy Hot Spot (3 with volume control) VCR - Sharp VC-A582U Mono Sound Playback Cassette Deck - Sharp RT-W800 DVD/CD Player - Samsung DVD-S221 Mute Playback Channel when loading audio CD. CD begins playing immediately when loaded. Pause holds for 5 minutes before going to standby. Open Tray holds for 30 minutes before going to standby. Record Cassette Deck - Technics RS-TR

11 Mixing FOH (Front of House) By Gale Horst Copyright 2000, Sound Expressions As discussed in several other articles in this set, developing operational skills take time and practice. In addition, there is an element of personal taste involved along with listening skills. As the 'mixmaster' for a church service, it's not uncommon to get a request to make it louder and softer from two persons sitting a pew apart. "Some like it Hot" as they say while others want all music to be at the level of the background music at the office. Below are some suggestions in this process of determining how loud is too loud. Note that these are my opinions... your experience may vary once you have developed your own process to set and control the mix and overall level. First, I try to run at a safe level which means less than 100db at all times. But as a target for a church service, I try to keep it around 85db average during the praise team. Note that there are several key factors that can affect this. I've measured the following several times. 75 Db - the level before the service while people are coming into the sanctuary, talking etc (for a normal 'healthy' contemporary church, there is a lot of talking going on in the sanctuary before the service.) 65 Db quiet points during the service 75 Db during the main sermon 80 Db - 95 Db during the worship music sets A Suggested Soundcheck Process: 1. Control the level of the drums! This may a significantly affected by the size or acoustics of your room. But note that a drummer can easily push 100 Db by him/herself in either a small room or a very 'live' room with mostly reflective surfaces. Enclose the drummer in one the clear plastic enclosures with sound absorbing material on the back side if you have to. If the drums are too loud you will never get things in balance. The same would be true of any other instrument you can t control from the sound console. 2. All instruments with their own amplifiers (e.g. elect guitar/bass/synth) should set their amp facing them (away from the congregation) and only set loud enough to hear themselves. Unless informed of your sound control process, many guitarists will place their amp, on the floor facing the congregation. Most of the guitar sound is directed from the guitar amp directly at the audience. The guitar player has to turn it up too loud just to be able to hear themselves. Simply changing the location and even tilting the amp back will make a significant difference. 3. Assuming #1 and #2 are ok, now you can mic the instruments and have total control over the house mix and overall level. Mix the instruments (or set their subgroup) to a comfortable level such as Db. Even if you may want the instruments to be louder, this is a valid checkpoint. If you can t manage the instruments at this level, you don t have adequate control over the mix. In this case more changes need to be made as described in #1 and #2. 4. Pull up the melody vocal to a comfortable level making sure the melody can be heard to lead the congregation. Actually many sound technicians will tell you to do the lead vocal first, then bring in the instruments. That is fine whichever works for you knowing your musicians, the response of your system, and your room. However, I like to first know that I can manage the instruments, then I know I can bring the vocals above them. 5. Balance in the rest of the harmony/back-up vocals

12 6. Now you should have achieved a good mix and still have some headroom to manage the overall level as desired. 7. If the congregation sings along with enthusiasm (as we hope they do... that's the idea) you may find that you have to bring up the levels to keep pace with the congregation in the auditorium. This is the case where you may be peaking up or over the 100 Db I mentioned. At this point, I feel that's ok since the congregation is also contributing to the louder overall level. We did an experiment one Sunday where we intentionally kept the volume at a very low level (about as low as possible). The result was that the congregation also sang softly... an apparent unconscious following of the worship band's lead. I thought this was a very interesting experiment. It became apparent that both ends of the scale have limits (too loud and too soft). As in most things moderation is the key within some general guidelines. As you can see here, the keys are: A. Control: the sound tech must have the control. One loud instrument and the control is either gone or you can't balance the mix the way you would like. B. Mix: Mix is most important. Hear the vocals and keep the overall level within safe acceptable guidelines. C. Dynamics or Headroom: You want to be able to regulate the dynamics both louder and softer. Make it louder if the congregation is singing loud or you want to generate the energy that goes along with the 'kicker' songs. But, you still need to be able to lower the level effectively prayer-type songs etc. Gale Horst - Sound Expressions Mixing Live Sound Mixing is a dynamic process. Anyone who suggests that the engineer find a mix that everyone agrees is good, and then epoxy those faders into that position, simply doesn't understand the realities of the mix process. There are a myriad of reasons that the fader positions need to change. If two songs played back to back are of a similar style, it would probably be best if the instruments were played at similar volumes. Yet often those levels change. Vocalists who find their part outside of their comfortable vocal range may not be able to deliver a consistent volume at the mic. They might also be unsure of their part or unsure of the words at a certain section of the song, and naturally soften their voice to avoid embarrassing themselves and others by allowing the problem to be heard. They might just be insecure of their gift, and deliver erratic vocal levels depending on their emotions at the moment. The good engineer will recognize the difference, and deal with it accordingly. By simply using the SOLO feature (also called PFL or CUE) on the house console, the engineer can easily and efficiently do spot checks to confirm that a problem does or does not exist. Copyright Taipale Media Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved Audio Playback One way to look at it is that you are constantly shaping the overall dynamics of the music. For example, here's one technique I often use when working with someone using an accompaniment track. Probably nine times out of ten the song they choose to sing will have a big finale ending. Once the singer reaches their last line of the song, the ending may carry on a bit longer. For one thing, they're not sure what to do with themselves after that, and the audience is hanging on their last line. So I generally help define the finale by pushing up the level of the track in the house. Another spot to help it along is if there happens to be a instrumental solo section between vocal parts. The singers almost never know what to do with themselves here, and you can take attention away from them and shift it back toward the worshipful message originally intended by the songwriter, the players and the producer, by lifting the level in the house slightly. There's no rule that says the track must stay at one preset level for the entire song. Sometimes that does work. But it's very difficult in the studio to mix a soundtrack from an album project that predicts and provides for every setting that the song will be presented in. You should feel free to carefully, cautiously, musically help it along wherever appropriate. If you're unaccustomed to this type of fussing with the track, be sure to rehearse with the performer before service. Mixing Techniques by Curt Taipale Published in the March/April 1988 issue of Clarity Magazine (Soundcheck Magazine)

13 Soundcraft Guide To Mixing Setting the Mix Turn down the amplifier gain before the system is first switched on. This will avoid unwelcome howls of feedback and can prevent loudspeaker damage due to switch-on transients. Set all the channel EQs to their flat or neutral position and optimize the input gain control setting for each channel in turn using PFLs. If low frequency background noise is a problem, switch in the High Pass Filter on each of the microphone channels being used, except on low frequency sound sources such as basses and kick drums. Establish the maximum working level for the lead vocal mic so as not to incur feedback and then work a little below this level to allow a margin of safety. Again, see the notes on ringing out the system. Set up the backing vocal mics and check that there is no feedback problem when both the backing vocal and lead vocal mics are on. If there is, reduce the master gain setting until the feedback disappears. Now the instrument and direct line inputs can be balanced relative to the vocals. Start with drums and work through to the bass and rythm instruments. Test out any effects units connected to the system and establish the correct balance of dry and effected sound. Avoiding Feedback Turn down or mute any mics not in use. This reduces the risk of feedback and avoids the back line being picked up. If feedback is a real problem, consider moving the main PA speakers away from the mics a little. Also check the back of the stage, because if the wall is acoustically reflective, some sound from the room will be reflected back into the mics increasing the risk of feedback. Avoid excessive use of boosted EQ as this can encourage feedback and may also spoil the basic character of the sound. Consider it an aid to fine tuning rather than as a means of making radical changes. The use of stage monitors will also worsen the feedback situation so run these at the lowest volume that the performers can comfortably work with. Position the cabinets so as to allow as little direct sound as possible to enter the vocal microphones. If possible, use a graphic EQ on each monitor. NB: Remember, people soak up sound! The perfect mix achieved in an empty venue will have to be tweaked when the crowds arrive. Sound waves are also affected by heat and humidity. The Soundcraft Guide To Mixing Soundcraft USA 08/

14 Called to Excellence by Curt Taipale A couple of months ago, I mentioned to my MoM (Minister of Music) that our backing vocals were sounding pretty rough on a regular basis. Their intonation was so bad at times that we often had to use the "shoot it before it multiplies" approach to mixing. You know if it doesn't sound good, don't turn it up! So over the summer he scheduled regular rehearsals just with the backing vocalists, and he stopped me in the hall recently to tell me about how well things were going. Not only were the vocals sounding better, but the singers were encouraged and really enjoying the process. We rejoiced together over the results of their renewed faith in practice, but I couldn't help wondering why they hadn't been practicing like that on a regular basis for years. I guess sometimes we get used to how things have been done in the past, and it's not easy to see, or hear, the need for improvement. As Chris Beatty is known for saying, practice doesn't make perfect it makes permanent. We Need Practice Too By the same token, if you're responsible for the sound in your church each week, you need to be attending those rehearsals as well. The single most effective thing any church sound mixer could do to improve his/her contribution to the worship service is to practice with the worship team on a regular basis. We are called to excellence in the technical support ministry. God gave us His best, and our service through the tech ministry should offer no less than our best pursuit of excellence for Him. Audio, lighting, and video are all crafts that require our diligent study to learn. We can learn by finding someone to mentor us, by reading and studying books on the subject, by participating in online discussion groups (like our own ChurchSoundcheck Discussion Group), by attending trade shows and workshops, and so on. If anything, the majority of people who serve in a technical support ministry of their local church are way behind the curve on learning that craft. Let me explain. In most churches, the musicians and vocalists who lead worship each week are accomplished musicians. They have studied music and how to deliver an excellent performance with their instrument for many, many years. During those years of learning they immersed themselves in the learning process by taking lessons, practicing for hours on end at home, playing in recitals, practicing some more, and attending concerts to hear others perform. It wasn't easy, but they finally got there. Some are just farther down that road than others. Yet the majority of individuals who find themselves serving in the tech support ministry of their local church don't have years of study at that craft like the musicians and singers do. Many of them are just starting to learn how the gear works, often struggling with well-meaning people teaching them the wrong way to do stuff, filling their heads with audio mythology instead of truth. Being good at any one of those crafts also requires an element of performance during a worship service. A worship leader doesn't walk on stage to perform. He/she goes out there to lead others into worship of God. But there is an element of performance in what they do. Knowing the right words to the song, knowing how the melody and harmony parts go, developing the ability to sing well and in key all of those are elements of performance. I think you would agree that we're thankful for the time they've invested to develop the abilities God gave them. God has given us unique abilities to shape and control the sound, or the lights, or the video equipment, to capture and even enhance the gifts of the worship team. But you didn't wake up one day with the ability to

15 deliver a great mix. You had to work on it. Artfully lighting a dramatic presentation on stage, or even lighting the stage evenly so that the video team will have a smooth picture to broadcast takes an investment of our time and a decision to learn and develop those unique abilities that God has given us. Stay on Task Delivering a flawless worship service requires focus and sensitivity on our part. First, we need to be focused on the task at hand. As much as I want to close my eyes and lift my hands in worship during an especially moving song, I can't. It's not that I can't get anything out of a worship service, because I do. But I tend to look at my part of the service as a sacrificial offering to God so that others can enter in. If I allow myself to get distracted, if I'm not fully focused on the task at the moment, then I can easily miss a mic cue, allow a bit of feedback to get out of hand, miss a lighting cue, forget to put the right song lyric graphic on the projection screens, and so on. Those kinds of mistakes are understandable, but inexcusable. We need to put ourselves in the congregation's shoes. The congregation should simply hear exactly what they need to hear, at the moment they need to hear it, at the exact level they need to hear it, and not know how it happened. They should never even know that we're there. We do this by paying attention to the little things. For example, if your worship leader is anything like 99.9% of the worship leaders I've worked with, they sing a whole lot louder than they talk. So let's say that you have their input fader at "0" (unity gain) while they're singing. You know from experience that if you don't push their fader up to +10dB between songs, that there's no way your congregation is going to hear what's being said. So when they finish the song, and you know or suspect that your worship leader is going to talk before the next song starts, you should have already started moving their fader up to a position that you know will be loud enough for them to talk with the congregation. No compressor is going to make up for that difference. You yes, you have to push the fader up while they're talking so everyone hears what they need to hear. You also have to pull the fader back down when they start to sing or they're going to blast everyone out of their seats. That takes some work on your part to learn the worship leader. Every worship leader I've worked with has a certain style all to their own, including how they interact with the congregation. Once you've worked with them for a while, and that may take a few years, you'll begin to sense when they're going to do this or that. "How did you know to push the fader up at that moment?" "I don't know. I just sensed that he was going to do that, so I pushed it up." You'll also sense in advance when they're going to sing a couple of words too loud, and you'll instinctively pull the fader back the right amount without thinking about it. It will eventually become so automatic you won't realize you're doing it. It's like a piano player who can make the piano do anything they want it to do without even looking at the keyboard. They could probably explain the mechanics of what they do, but they're such a part of the instrument that it would be difficult to explain the thought process and emotions that go into creating the sounds that they create. So that's one of your goals to get so comfortable with the gear that you operate it instead of the other way around. To listen so analytically that you can discern even the slightest imperfection in the mix and deal with it before someone else notices it. If it fits your style of worship service, to make moves with the house and stage lighting systems that allow them to have a life and breath that matches the worship service. Excellence requires study and practice. Lots of it. It's a never-ending assignment, so get used to it

16 Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit We also need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading at the moment. This can be as simple as knowing that the guitar player is about to take a solo, without anyone having told you about it. Now, frankly, if they're already planning on it, I'd prefer that someone in the band tell me that the guitar is going to take a solo during the third verse. But I'm sure you understand what I mean. Trust your intuition. Another reason for our staying focused on the task at the moment is so that we don't do something really stupid during a service. For example, we generally dim the house lights to a preset value at a couple of strategic moments during our worship services. The dimming system we use has a fader that determines how fast that fade up or fade down is. On occasion, one of our tech team members will hit the preset without checking to see where that dimming speed fader is positioned, and the lights will snap to the next setting. Now, that's going to be obvious to any congregation member. Instead of a slow dimmer move from one setting to another, it's a sudden change that could be a distraction to some. If it happens often enough, it could even have some members thinking "There go those idiots in the tech booth again. Why can't they get that right?" If it distracts even one person from the worship service, it shouldn't have happened. My Most Embarrassing Moment Bet you can't top this one. Several years ago, we were in the middle of the offertory special music one service when I offered what will hopefully be the worst mistake of my entire mixing career. The choir was singing with a live band. To improve our chances for gain-before-feedback in those days, we had gotten into the habit of pretracking the choir. That gave me a click track on one channel to feed to the band, and all the choir I ever needed on the other channel. So imagine this. We're in the middle of the song. The band is playing with the click track fed over their headphones. The choir is singing live. I have mics on the choir, and I'm using the prerecorded choir to fill out the sound and give me some extra choir volume to use as needed. As this is going on, I've allowed myself to get distracted. I'm thinking about the transition from this song into the sermon. And I'm looking around the sound booth, checking for things that I might have overlooked, like forgetting to turn off the CD player that I'd used for walk-in music before the service. I look over and discover the cassette deck rolling, and I says to myself "Well, what's that rolling for?" The moment I hit the stop button I realized what a stupid mistake I'd just made. You guessed it. I stopped the track that the band and choir were singing along with. Now, fortunately for me, my Bachelor of Music degree and 12 years of making my living as a musician kicked into gear at that moment. I realized that I'd stopped the track on the downbeat of a bar. So I somehow counted four bars and hit the play button on the next downbeat. I'd be willing to bet that 99% of the congregation never knew what happened. Bless their hearts, the band and choir director caught it, and gracefully adjusted for the extra four bars. But my goodness did I feel stupid. You can bet that I've never made that mistake since. It also taught me to stay focused. In a sense, it taught me to keep from being too focused as well. It may sound odd to say this, but I was trying so hard to be focused that that in itself allowed me to get distracted. My List of Pet Peeves Here's my list of pet peeves regarding stuff that just shouldn't happen in a worship service. Some of these may seem so silly, so expected, so taken for granted that they're not worth saying. But you'd be surprised how many times I've seen these mistakes made in other churches, or even by my own volunteers. If you've got some to add to the list, please send them to me and we'll compile a list. Don't miss mic cues. We can't afford to not have a mic turned on when it needs to be on. But if you come to one of my workshops, you'll hear me talk about keeping the number of open microphones to a minimum. That is to

17 say, if the choir's not singing, don't have their mics open. If the pastor's not talking, don't have his mic on. And so on. But we also need to stay focused so that the pastor doesn't have to say stuff to the congregation like "Is this thing on?" What an embarrassment. Turn off the mics before they hit the stand. It's purely unprofessional to let a singer put a mic in the clip on a stand without having first muted that channel. If you don't, the congregation is going to hear a loud thump over the system, or at least over the monitors. Hopefully the channel mutes on your console also mute the monitor mixes. That way all you have to do is mute each vocal mic channel, and they'll be muted both in the house and in the monitors simultaneously. Mute the guitar channels. Don't you just hate the loud "buzzzzzt" that goes with a guitar cable being plugged in or unplugged with the channel open? If we can equate the word professional with excellence, then it's unprofessional to not mute those channels in time to save the congregation from that moment. It's a two way street though. The sound guys aren't mind readers, nor have they been assimilated and become one with the automation of the console. All that to say, the guitar and bass player in your worship team should give you a moment to mute their channels before unplugging. It's just common courtesy, a recognition that we're a team, that the tech support guys and the musicians are equal members of the worship team. Leave the sudden light changes to drama. Unless it's for dramatic effect, the light changes both on stage and in the house should be slow. If possible, they should be so slow that the audience really isn't aware that a change is being made. Dim the house and stage lights for video presentations. If your church sometimes uses videotaped segments to underscore part of the pastor's message, or for other things, you can really help the congregation see the screens better if you'll dim the house lights a bit during that presentation, then bring them back up afterwards. Teach your backing vocalists where to stand, and how to use a microphone. Would someone please tell me why most backing vocalists stand so far away from their stage monitors? I don't get it. In one church I used to work at, our vocalists were very compliant and stood where we told them to stand so they could see down the throat of the HF horn in their stage monitor. Yet I've seen so many vocalists who run away from their monitor. You ask them if it's too loud and they'll say no. But they refuse to stand where it will do them the most good. Those vocalists I used to work with were also careful not to hold their mic to their sides facing down between songs. They simply held it about at their waist, still pointed up. Think about it. If your vocalists drop the mic to their sides between songs, the zero degrees on-axis point of the mic is going to be aimed at the monitor, which is likely going to make it feedback. There's nothing worse than 2001 eyes from the congregation looking at you when you did nothing to cause the problem. Don't create a visual distraction during a worship service. Investing your time and God-given talents in the tech support ministry is great. But remember that it's an unseen, helps ministry. Do your best to keep it that way. If you need to walk out into the auditorium during a worship service, plan your route to offer the least possible distraction to the congregation. If you need to talk on the intercom, do so quietly so that others around you won't be distracted. If you need to get a message to one of the musicians or singers on stage during a worship service, see if there's a way to talk to them quietly over the monitors rather than sending someone on stage with a note. That's another perfect reason for headphones instead of monitors. Tighten up the fittings on boom stands. One day in college, I was helping set up for a jazz concert. As music engineering students, we were responsible both for sound reinforcement and for recording such events at the music school. And I had been given the responsibility of setting the mic stand with a boom arm and a rather heavy mic on the end of it for a guest saxophone soloist. At one point during the performance, of course during a saxophone solo, that boom arm started to slowly drop lower and lower. Guess who was sent out to fix the

18 problem!?! That's another mistake I've not made since. I'd encourage you to learn from my mistake. Hey, get your own ones instead! Don't stop mixing between songs. Remember the technique of bringing the worship leader's fader up between songs so the congregation can hear what's being said? Well, if your pianist or keyboardist continues playing between songs, go ahead and pull their faders or submaster down about -20dB or so. They don't know how loud they are in the house mix. Even if they're playing softer, it may not be soft enough. It's your job to maintain a great musical mix, even between the songs. Don't forget to practice. It's just amazing to me that musicians and vocalists people who are used to practicing on their own have to be reminded of the need to practice as a group. I've seen the same scenario repeated countless times around the world. Stay plugged in! This is a given, but I've seen this happen to too many tech support volunteers myself included. This constant commitment to pursue excellence requires vigilance on our part, but it cannot replace our relationship with God. If we get lost in the fun of twiddling knobs and playing with the gear, and in so doing forget why we're doing this in the first place, then God won't honor our service. All that to say, don't work every service. You and your family need time to immerse yourselves in the worship services as well. If it needs to be miked, then put a mic on it. I once watched a sound guy at a church realize that he had forgotten to put a mic on an instrument on stage, and then decide that it was just too much trouble to bother going all the way back downstairs to add the mic. Hmm, not worth the bother? Keep Up the Good Work I'll be the first to admit that I don't always want to bother with the details it takes to deliver excellence in every worship service. But I can't get away from the fact that we're called to excellence in this ministry. We don't have a choice but to give God our best. It honors Him. It's a way to say we love Him. It's not brain surgery, but it's important. So keep studying. Join our discussion group so you can learn daily as well as share your knowledge with others. And keep giving it your best. See you next time. Published in the Sept/Oct 2000 issue of Live Sound International

19 Mic Input Mackie SR24-4-VLZ PRO Signal Flow Channel Trim Mic PreAmp Aux #1 Aux 1 Send Monitor Stage Left Equalizer High Aux #2 Aux 2 Send Monitor Stage Right Mid Low Channel Fader Aux #5 Aux #5 Send Effects Unit Summing Point Aux #1 Return Master Fader

20 Sound System Signal Flow Stage Performer Input Mixer Mic Input Channel Trim Mic Preamp Aux #1 Aux 1 Send Monitor Stage Left Aux #2 Equalizer High Aux 2 Send Monitor Stage Right Mid Low Channel Fader Aux #5 Aux #5 Send Effects Unit Summing Point For all Channels Aux #1 Return Master Fader Signal Processor Main Amplifier FOH Speakers