Weekend Wrap Up - 6/17-18

Since our fearless leader graced us with his skills at pickin' and grinnin' this weekend, I thought I'd take care of the wrap up this go 'round.

First, thanks to Bruce and Dolly for doing a tag-team this weekend. You both were great, and your help was truly appreciated! Thanks to Joe, Dan, Kurt, Fred and everyone else who offered observations and suggestions. All input is appreciated!

Is anyone else as excited as I am about Kingdom Come? That song ROCKS. It was fun to mix, and even more fun to sing! I drove four hours yesterday afternoon and it was stuck in my head the whole time.

As I write this, I am aware of no major complaints or problems from the weekend. Benjamin may have heard otherwise, but I thought things went really well from our end.

In a previous thread we discussed what we could do to try to overcome any technical failure with Pastor's mic. We have to be comfortable with the fact that we are not going to get a sound check from him prior to the service. Won't happen. So, what is our Plan B?

Working with Benjamin we developed a Plan B this weekend. Eventually, it needs to be better documented, but this thread is the first draft at doing so. What did we do?:

We continue to set up and sound check Pastor's primary mic and body pack as usual. However, we also set up and check a second body pack (the spare one) for use with his mic. The second pack is carried by the Armor Bearer, and will be given to Pastor in the event the first pack doesn't work.

There are a number of things we need to keep in mind. Pastor's mic is the only one on the M1 frequency band. All of the other systems (and the spare pack) are an the J1 band. So, if he switches to the back up pack, he will be coming in on a different receiver. I had to think about what frequency to use for the back up pack. Wireless C was used for drama last week, and I think we want to keep that available. We frequently have someone on stage with Pastor for prayer or announcements, and they use the wireless 87 (the one with the green tape, Alternate Lead). We don't usually have Pastor and our lead vocalist on stage at the same time, so I set the body pack to use the same frequency as the lead vocal (Beta 87, yellow tape).

This give us a couple of advantages - the lead vocal runs through a dedicated compressor, just as Pastor. The gain structures of the Countryman and the lead with Pipes singing is similar. Therefore, we should get an acceptable sound right from the start, and we can EQ the channel on the fly to get it better. Thoughts, comments?

What that means is that EVERYONE needs to know that when Pastor switches to the back up body pack, the lead vocal mic can not be used at the same time.

That still leaves us with a weak link in the chain - the Countryman. We don't have anything in place if that mic seems to be the problem. We also don't have a Plan C. Let's see what we can come up with.

Benjamin tells me that a project to add speakers to the lobby is an almost certainty. It will involve getting rid of the two TV's and replacing them with a display over the Welcome Center. I am trying to arrange a demo for tomorrow night using a pair of EV Evid 3.2's. Anyone who is interested can listen and see how these would do for the room. The name Bose has been mentioned for this, but I gather it may be because they are perceived as being unobtrusive. We don't want to put up a couple of SR15's and say that's it. Do any of you have any input?

Don't forget that we have a team meeting at 6:00 tomorrow before rehearsal. See you there!

Kevin

June First Wednesday

Since Stephen is still on vacation, I'll take the lead on filling everyone in about First Wednesday

First, thanks to Joe for helping with rehearsal on Tuesday, and to Kurt for helping on Wednesday! The willingness of you guys to just step in and assist is an inspiration. Thanks to Fred as well. Being an observer can be rough, since you sometimes feel like a fifth wheel. I hope I was able to share a few nuggets that will help you.

Benjamin will be passing this information on through Stephen, but I think it important enough that every one reading this be aware: Any time Pastor Matt is giving a message, we want to record the message. Last night I was going on some old information and did not record his message. It should have been. It must be in the future. 'Nuf said.

Where we are at now on the gain structure -

The new structure makes mixing a much simpler process. By trying to run near unity (0 dB), we can now quickly use the board's meters to get a visual representation of what we are hearing. I was able to take a quick glance at our center section and see who was hot, who was not and what needed to be tweaked. Your ears are still the final arbiter, but the tools can now help you to narrow your focus quickly. Praise God!

There may be a few more refinements, but we are real close to where we need to be. If we make major changes (like flying the subs) we'll need to re-work some of our structure, but it will be a much simpler process.

Another thing I learned last night - Pastor Matt doesn't care for a 'subtle' mix. I was mixing the vocals on one of the first songs where Martha was leading. I had her placed just a little in front of the background vocals, with what I thought a great blend on the harmonies. Pastor complained that he could not hear Martha. I brought her WAY out in front of the background, and he was happy. Same thing for the electric guitar. Something to remember.

Just a reminder that next week will be a busy one for us - Sound Team meeting on Tuesday at 6:00 PM, a trip to RIC on Wednesday at 7:00 (if you can make it) and the Creative Arts Team cookout on Friday at 6:00 PM. Don't miss the cookout, since we will be talking about what the next level is for us and how we are going to get there. If you didn't get the e-vite from Chris Pipes, contact him for more info.

It is such a privilege to serve with all of you! GOD IS GOOD!

- Kevin