Ringing out the Room

Okay gang now it's very rare that I post every day let alone two in one day! But I ran accross this short but very good video on the basics of ringing out the room.

Enjoy!

More About Mics!

Okay so last time we talked about your standard vocal mics and some of their stregnths and weakness's. Today I want to tell you about one specific mic that to my surprise many have never heard of, that is a "sub kick" mic.

"Cardioid dynamic.  For many years, a trade secret of top engineers was the use of a spare NS10M woofer 'in reverse' as an additional kick drum mic. Eventually, Yamaha cottoned on to the idea and made a proper (and reliable!) product. When used in addition to a mic inside the drum, the subkick lends incredible depth to the sound, and is also excellent on other bass instruments."

So that being said what are we really talking about here and why should you purchase one. Think back to a concert to that concert, you know the one that the drums exspecially the KICK that kick drum was incredible! I mean almost put a lump in your throat and pretty sure your heart skipped a beat! That was a sub kick! Now there are those who say that kind of power from a kick drum can only be released from the mighty powers of the compressors and gates. We could go on about that for days, so we wont!

In all seriousness this funny looking mic is nothing more than a small sub woofer wired to be a microphone! Brilliant right! Now it is a little more technical than that, but not much! One of the great things about this mic is its ability to perform, whether on the road indoors or even better outdoors! (it's awesome to be able to reproduce heart thumping kick outside!) but it will also perform in the studio and of course the most difficult venue of all, the worship service.

The key to a successful set up is to still use your standard kick drum mic for the attack in conjunction with the sub kick mic. Here is a demo video so you can hear the difference. I think you will still hear it fine even with out a sub on your computer speaker system.



If you have never heard one of these little beasts in action, stop by and reference one this Saturday! Let me know what you think!

God Bless!

Microphones!

Today we are going to talk a bit about microphones, both the definition and the appliaction. The technical source for today's discussion is Sure Technologies. Sure has many wonderful road worthy products on the market that we have all learned to rely on through out the years! So thanks again to the great folks over at Sure.

Mics

The Omnidirectional microphone has equal sensitivity from all angles, a full 360 degrees. This type of mic is the most sensitive and will pick up the most ambient sound of all mics. This extreme sensitivity comes with a price. In the live worship service application this mic will pick up all kinds of stage sound, most of what you don't want! This microphone will give you the most heartache as well as you can not aim it away from the main speakers (360 deg range) they feed back very easy. If you are forced to use this mic on stage for any number of reasons remember to keep as close to the sound source and as far from the ambient sound as possible. This will help in picking up a usable balance between the two.

The Unidirectional mic is most sensitive from one specific direction. The most common is the Cardioid (heart-shaped) response. This mic is most sensitive at 0 degrees (on-axis) directly straight into the mic. The effective coverage range is about 130 degrees, about 65 degrees off axis (either side). This mic picks up about 1/3 the ambient sound of the Omni.

Example of the on stage use of both cardioid and super cardioid with regards to floor monitors.
Cardioid Mic requires that the monitors be directly behind mic @ 180 degrees. Supercardioid allows for monitors to be as far as about 100 degrees, 50 degrees off axis and still reject sound (no feedback!).

So as you can see in this short and basic description of these mic types should help you pick the correct mics for the application, and how to adapt to a changing situation that may require you to suddenly add or change out mic's.
 

Ustream and Church service

Unless you have lived in a cave for the last 4 years or so you know all about youtube.com. Many of your churches are using it to broadcast your messages and this is a very good idea! At the time of this posting youtube does not offer live broadcast. This is what ustream.com offers over youtube you can stream live video to the internet in a channel much like any television channel on broadcast TV. This service even has an app for Android and I phone. Setting up a live stream is very simple and if you are sending to youtube you have all the gear you need to provide live video feeds.

Try it out and let me know good and bad

Til next time God Bless!

Location Location Location

This past week i got into the discussion of the proper location of the sound both. I thought this might make a good discussion point.

So what have we all seen or even had to mix from?

• Sound both on the Mez (2nd floor) of the main sanctuary.
• In the back of the sanctuary 
• In another room completely with monitors providing sound reproduction.

I am sure that many of you could come with some even crazier set ups, But what is right? Well this also I'm sure has some differing opinions but there is a standard for proper location of the sound both.

So The typical set up is just above stage level and just off center. Either stage left or stage right is not that important. What is most important here is the fact that you are in the actual listening area. The setup of the sound-both at the back of the room is still okay not the best but usable. 

The problem we run into is the fact that very few pastors will allow a sound-both to take up space were people could be sitting! This is a hard cold fact and best not to argue the point.

So how can we set up the system to make the best of the back of the room location. I would suggest that to have the best possible sound will require the best loud speaker option, this is line arrays. The line arrays allow for even distribution of sound across the room virtually removed both dead and hot spots in the room. This will also allow you to configure the speakers to hit your ears in the sound-both acting as if you were right in the middle of the room. This option is a truly win/win for the team. You get the sound you need and the congregation gets the seating space they need.

So what to do if you can't move your sound-both? Well to be honest this is a tough spot to be in! I would say at first look at it as an exercise program! (find the positive!) But really you will need to make trips down the main level and listen listen listen. Move around the main level find your hot spots (you should know were they are) make sure the sound levels are good (85db+-2) and that the mix is good! Remember you can not set the board up during practice and expect it to sound good during service!!! There are too many things that change it does not work! If you are doing this STOP you are causing your own headaches.

Sound-both's in another room completely! Very Very bad idea! But, if you are stuck in this for what ever reason you can deal with it and still provide a good mix. You need to tackle it much like the sound-both on the second level, you need to make many trips to the main listening area, a remote db meter would be a good investment thus allowing you to know the sound levels in the main room. Also spend the money on monitors that will match your main speakers the best you can. Just like loud speakers all monitors are not equal, and yes they are very expensive. 

Again to remind you and your team stopping buy the local guitar/music shop is not going to provide you with level of expertise you will need to build a quality system. Church sound systems are required to be a better quality than any concert hall in the country. Church is the only venue that goes from a band performing at 85-90 (or higher) to a whisper in seconds! The last thing anyone wants to hear during a prayerful moment when the spirit is moving and touching the hearts of everyone in the room, is the buzz of cheap, poorly installed sound equipment.

leave the cheap gear for the high school garage band down the street!

The Mix?

Today I visited a church, and I had some thoughts that I thought would be a good idea to share as I'm sure they are not alone in what was going wrong.

So first what was right. Well they did have a nice system that was sized right for there building and the quality was very good. Line arrays for mains, Yamaha main board, in ear monitors (no mixers) and the drums were in another room allowing for total control. All the right stuff and a pretty good application of the hardware. So what was bad you say?

The Mix! it's all in the mix. So this is indeed the most difficult part of the sound engineers job (besides the e.q. settings on a real piano)

So this is what i wanted to write about today some good pointers on mixing live sound. The first thing to do is the most obvious, LISTEN! does what your hearing sound at all like any CD you have every heard?
The human ear is like anything else it needs training to become refined. Spend any time you can listening to worship music, Now don't just hear the music listen for the individual singers and instruments. What do the drums sound like? do they sound the same when I mix? Vocals? how many how does the blend of voices sound? is some one louder than the rest? is that okay? should everyone really be heard in the mix?

One of the most difficult things any worship leader must do is ask someone to step down from the team. Sometimes it's easier to just pull them out of the mix! I know that sounds bad, but not as bad as some people I have heard on the stages of our churches. Remember we are pleasantly amplify the band as to not distract those who are attending the service, we want to be seamless were people don't even notice the sound!

Mixing live sound is very difficult some people want to set there sound boards up once and leave it for ever! If you are one who subscribes to this idea, i'm sorry but it is wrong for many reasons. I will share a few to hopefully help you see the light.

Sound is never the same from day to day. The temperature change in the room will change how things sound. People have allergies that will affect how they sound. Instruments will change with a re-stringing or tune. all of these types of things change the dynamics of the room and you need to be ready to deal with them when they arise.

A worship service is a live set and each sound will require a slightly different mix. This must be changed from song to song and many time during the song.

It is good to know the set what songs are going to be played and what and who will lead each of those songs so you can be prepared to adjust the faders as needed.

The best tool you can have in your bag of tricks is your own set of ears! Training those ears is most important reference reference reference!

And remember to look for that guy in the service that keeps turning around to look at you in the sound both! This means there is something wrong! and you should try and find out what it is...

Till next time remember to get those ears in shape and hang in there it will get better!

God Bless!

It's to Loud!

So i have had this idea to build a web page and blog to help out those who serve week in and week out behind the sound boards of Americas church's both large and small. You would think that most of the large churches today are the ones who have it all together..... Well not so, now that's not to say that some don't because believe me they do! But for the most part they are all the same regardless of the size. In fact the one thing that all church sound systems have in common regardless of there size or cost, they can and usually ruin the worship and teaching for many different reasons!

Now I know some of you are gonna be upset with some of what I have to say and that is okay but the truth is the truth.

So.... what to tackle first?

I think today we can start with what is the most common mistake that all churches are dealing with today. That is defining the difference between a concert and a worship service.

So one of the special things i have realized sense moving to the South/Midwest (not sure how Oklahoma fits?) is the desire to have worship/praise bands that are soooo large! I have mixed for some very large groups before some professional (New Song) and some not so large (Gary Chapmin) We had a summer concert series at our church many moons ago but they were all great! New Song at PF Chang's what a lunch!

So what I see today is any where from 7 to 15 people singing on that same stage? Now this in it self isn't all that bad, but when they are all singing the exact same thing??? you have to wonder why? Is everyone really needed? In fact I would venture to say that most are not even in the mix!! Sorry for those who never realized this till now, but the sound guy really is in control! (thank you Lord) and is it really needed to have a full horns section how bout 2 keyboards and a piano?

I see so many church's not only here in Tulsa but in many other places I visit as well trying to capture a Hillsong United feel or something that is huge. Hillsong United is one of my favorite groups of all time, but even they sound horrible on tour for one of the same reasons your worship team sounds horrible on Sunday morning.

Simply, TOO LOUD! So don't stop reading bear with me please. I get told that things are to loud all the time just like you, but today there is a trend to really be to loud. Most people can deal with the volume of the band if it is consistent from week to week. How to deal with the volume issue at church,well remember we are talking about a worship service not a concert. Most church's have the wrong sound system for there building I have seen some setups that wasted so much money and didn't fix the issue. The quick rule of thumb for the actual db level is right around 85 db. One of the best pieces of equipment you can get is at your local Radio Shack, that is a db meter. You can simply place it on the table in the sound booth and get a very good reading of the sound levels in the room.

So once you have the sound meter you need to walk the room with it every row and isle. You will be amazed and the difference in sound levels from one row to the next. Now this brings up another issue of complaint. Our very favorite people sit in the absolute worst places! The blue haired group always sit in the hottest seat in the room right! direct line of sight with the horns (tweeters) of our speakers! This complaint always comes to us as to loud when on fact it's not db levels as it is the tone quality, it's actually to sharp and hurts their ears, and to be honest they are usually right, but the problem is that for everyone else to hear that seat is the worst in the house!

So how can we fix this issue?
If you are in the market for replacing your speakers you are the lucky ones, if not well I have some ideas that might help.

Those who are purchasing new speakers. The best piece of advise I can give is don't go to the local guitar center looking for pro audio speakers. What they have is good equipment but little knowledge of the proper installation. If you can afford it hire a sound engineer to design a system that works best for your room. If not (like the rest of us) You need to drop the standard trapezoid speaker design. They will cause more issues than they are worth. You will need to go with a line array design. We are very lucky today that all manufactures are now selling these speakers for all size rooms. In the past they were only built for large venues. Today you can have them just about anywhere. Why are line arrays better? They basically provide a speaker for each section almost each row and eliminate those nasty hot spots we talked about earlier. The last system I engineered was a church in Las Vegas and was build in basically square room (another no no!) that sat around 700 . Each stack had 7 speakers in them, the system in complex, I will share it another time. When complete I walked the room with my trusty db meter and there was only a 2db range any were in the room, from the sound booth to any corner of the sanctuary! It was amazing this really helped with a lot of things!

So what to day if you are not buying new speakers? So you can start with simply rearranging some seats. If you have pews well I will have to think of something else. So moving seats will make some ushers quite upset but you shouldn't have to move much to help. Take your readings and find those hot spots, sit in the seat and simply move forward or back until the sharpness is gone. Wow you say that's rocket science! I know this is a simple idea but give it a try and let me know how well that works for you, I think you will be surprised!

So I think that is all we will bite off for today!

God Bless!

First Post!

First I want to take a moment and that you for stopping by. Please feel free to post questions enjoy articles and share with the rest of the church sound world!