Weekend Wrap Up - 7/19 & 7/30

From now on, we don't HAVE to listen to Sawyer Brown - only when we want to! We've reached the end of a great series, and I hope you are excited about 'Get In The Game'.

Some Changes This Week

We made the first change that I talked about as a result of Bob Blair's visit last week - the subs now have a dedicated feed from AUX 6, rather than a portion of all the signals. We've set the sub filter to cut off most everything over 300 hZ. We also opened up the low end of the L/R speakers to fill some of the gap caused by cutting the subs so sharply. Not quite as good as a cross-over, but the Shure doesn't support our needed configuration using a cross-over.

The only thing being fed to AUX 6 is the Kick, Bass and the CD/DVD/Computer. The overall improvement was dramatic. Listening to the kick, I could hear the slap coming out of the L/R while the energy came from the subs. There was also great definition in the bass notes - not often you hear a bass lead.

We also re-created the Alt Lead group, since Martha caught us by surprise by wanting to reprise 'Blessed Be You Name' with herself providing the lead vocal. More on this later.

Thanks to Kurt for all his hard work this weekend as we struggled to get this new configurattion right. Also, thanks once again to all who offered observations - for a change I only heard one negative comment. Pretty good, I think ;)

Why Alt Lead

We tried to keep the wireless Martha was using as part of the background group. That didn't work. When she went to lead, her voice was so different from Lisa's that we couldn't bring her out in the mix without some serious feed back. It's sort of OK to set up the mic for one vocalist, and then hand it off for spoken word announcements, but trying to have two vocalists - one back up, one lead with very different vocal qualities - share the mic just didn't work. By the 10:00 service, we set the mic for Martha's lead, and just dealt with it for Lisa backup.

For The Future

I've mentioned to Benjamin that we could use another wireless to use for announcements and such. Having that available would mean we could set it up, and if Martha wants to come up and lead again the way she did, we at least stand a chance to get it right.

That is better than one alternative, which is trying to reserve the second wireless just for announcements. All of the other vocalists except Chris' lead would be on wired mics. We are very short of both available mics and usable snake channels. As we keep adding more vocalists, more musicians and more 'stuff' on stage, our available resources get very slim.

Since we will be in this facility another two years (at least), we need to think about increasing the number of snake channels. Our main problem is that the conduit under the floor isn't all that big, and we will need something like 150 feet of snake. If we buy a pre-made snake - there aren't that many available at 150 feet. A 16 channel snake runs about $500 - when you can get it. Running that through the conduit will be a challenge.

The alternative would be to buy the cable (multi-pair or lots of single wires) and wire our own ends. That's a lot of cutting and soldering. With the cost of cable and connectors - the out of pocket cost would be close to (or more than) the cost of the manufactured snake.

Anybody have any thoughts?

As we enter August and the church's focus on Ministry Teams - please keep in mind that we must have 'Double Vision'. Talk up what it means to you to be on the Sound Team. Let people know how important you consider yourself to be in the overall ministry of C3

I think this verse is very appropriate at this time:

Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. Don't get sidetracked.
Proverbs 4:25-27 (NLT)

Let's not get sidetracked by all of the distractions that surround us. Let's keep to the straight path and stay safe.

For Him

Kevin

Visit By Bob Blair

Last night during rehearsal we had a visit from Bob Blair of ASP Integrated Systems. If you've been around the area for a while, you may recognize the company by the old name of Associated Sound Products. Bob and his partner, Bert Rogers, bought the company from the previous owners and had to change the name. ASP is well known in the area for both their rental business and their permanent installations. Their rental unit has provided the sound and staging for the Alive After Five concerts in Raleigh for years, as well as many other shows and events. Bob is the architect behind most of their permanent installs, and he has a special understanding of the needs of churches. If you have seen or read about Hope Community church in Raleigh/Cary, ASP was the company that took over the A/V project when the original contractor backed out part way through. It helps that Bob is a member of the church, and now heads up their sound team. We have contacted Bob to see if he can offer us advice on our current system, and help guide us as we look to the future in the new sanctuary.

Bob was able to diagnose some of the problems we have been facing, and he gave us some concrete suggestions. I'll summarize them here so that you can be aware of some of the changes that may be coming.

Our #1 priority is ALWAYS Matt's message. We have to be sure that his mic is working and ready to go at the start of the service. If we have any concerns at all, we need to bring them to Benjamin and get them resolved before the service. Everything else is secondary to that.

One thing that will happen fairly quickly is that we will have the board serviced so that we can address some of the issues - broken connectors, channels that won't solo, noisy channels, etc. Depending upon the speed of the service company, this may require that we do a weekend with a rental board. Don't be shocked. There was talk of possibly an Allen & Heath GL3300.

Another thing that Bob suggested was to further limit what we send to the subs. We are simply getting too much signal (bandwidth wise) going to them. Anything over about 200 Hz should be going to the mids. The Shure processor is not acting as a crossover for the subs, but we are using EQ to accomplish the split. The problem is that there is too much overlap into the subs, and not enough low end coming from the L/R speakers. That's why we get a lot of the rumble. So, what do we want to go to the subs? Should just be the kick and the bass. How can we do that? Use a post-fade aux send from the board to send those two channels to the fourth input channel on the Shure, then route that directly to the subs instead of having them fed from the L/C/R signals and trying to filter out what we don't want. This will involve a little extra wiring, and some reconfiguring of the Shure. This needs to happen before a rehearsal fairly soon - we don't want to make this change between a rehearsal and the weekend. I'll let you know when this will take place.

The next action step we will take is to have Bob or another consultant in to analyze the room and reset the House EQ to try to eliminate some of the dead spots. This needs to take place after we move the sub feed and get the board serviced.

Bob did not seem to think that our current acoustical treatment was being effective at reducing the reflected sound waves in the room. The material we are using is not thick enough to absorb a wide enough frequency range to reduce the reflected energy. I doubt that we will do something about that in the next two years.

Finally, we talked about stage volume. There is a tremendous volume from the on-stage amps and wedges. The recent addition of the center projector is also reflecting a lot of energy from the center cluster right back on to the stage. Why do we have feedback problems when the 'talkers' are in certain positions? Reflections from the house speakers. Bob gave us some specific ideas on how we can try to tame this beast, but there are trade-offs with each solution. We will discuss these with Chris and see what can realistically be done.

There are really many things that we can do without throwing gobs of His money at the problems. I'll keep you folks informed as we go forward. Please remember that your input is always welcome and is definitely needed.

Weekend Wrap Up - 7/22 & 7/23

God is truly blessing C3! On the same weekend we have the privilege of having Phil Dooley from Hillsong visit us, we find out that we have made the list of the top 100 fastest growing churches in America! AWESOME!

We had a great weekend, but it was not without a few rough spots. Feedback problems on Saturday night detracted from the audio for the DVD recording, and then some unexplained problems with Matt's mic made for a few tense moments. Add to that a change in the positioning of the vocals between services, and a significant rise in the audio level part way through the video, bicycles, mopeds and Harleys and it was not a weekend where we could relax. I've been there for all four sermons, but I'm not really sure I've heard the message yet. Praise God for Podcasts!

First - thanks to Dolly and everyone else who offered observations, comments, suggestions and kudos. Having all those additional sets of ears at different places really helps.

What Happened

Saturday we did not get a good sound check on the Countryman mics. We were using two - one for Matt and one for Phil. Matt's EQ was off, as was Phil's. We had some unexplained feedback through Phil's mic.

Sunday morning, Matt's signal went crazy during the 8:30 service. We had gotten a good sound check on it beforehand. As Matt handled the announcements, he was way hot and feeding back everywhere. Without doing anything at all, his signal level dropped by 2/3rds! Yet the receiver was still showing a strong signal.

What We Did

Before the Saturday service, there was some negotiation over the vocal level in the monitors. The vocalists thought it was too loud, but it had to be to get the vocals back to the bass. No In-Ears for the bass player. I remembered the small 'hot spot' powered monitor we have, and hooked it up to the Aviom for the bass player. That way, he could have his vocals loud without overpowering the front of the stage.

I think that introduced some of the feedback we had Saturday. We kept thinking that the feedback might be from the monitors, but both of the wedges did not have any of the presenters' mics in them. Sunday morning I got a revelation. The 'hot spot' monitor DID have the presenters in it, on Aviom channel 7. When I checked the level for that channel in that system, it was set to more than 50%. So, if the little guy was cranked, were were getting significant high-end volume from it that reflected off the back screen. Much of Phil's feedback was high-end, and happened when he was to his right - right in line with the reflected sound from the screen. I turned the channel down and left instructions not to bring it up in that mix.

To fix the Sunday morning problem, I changed cable between the receiver and the board, and we re-tested the system. It was then fine for the rest of the morning.

What We Learned

First, Chris agrees that it is ESSENTIAL that we get a good mic check on the presenter's mics - not just a 'Can you hear me now?' test, but one that checks the EQ, volume, feedback, etc. He said that rehearsal should not take precedence over that test. Also, if the test has not been completed to your satisfaction, do not put the mics out to be picked up!

But Praise God that we have developed a back up plan. For the 8:30 service, we had Matt switch to the spare body pack, and the second half of the service went well. If we did not have that planned and in place, I do not want to think about how it might have turned out.

I have no doubt that we will continue to improve our services. As we have additional guest speakers, and new, innovative ways of getting the Word to people, there will be additional challenges. But God has put each of you at C3 for a purpose - His purpose. He has given each of us the ability to do what He has called us to do. As long as we are faithful to Him and His calling, His name will be glorified.

After each service those people who prayed to receive Jesus were asked to raise their hands. Tears of joy filled my eyes as I saw how many people raised their hands. Those people made every tense second, every last-minute change worth it. That is why we do what we do - for His glory!

Weekend Wrap Up - 7/8 & 7/9

God Is Good!

What an awesome weekend - if you weren't there, you missed something pretty special. Be sure to get the CD or listen to the Podcast. As I looked around the 10:00 AM service, I had to keep reminding myself that this was the summer, and folks are supposed to be away. When we get back to the Fall, and attendance goes up, we REALLY need to have Double Vision.

Thanks to Bruce and Dolly for all their help this weekend. We were able to 'borrow' Bruce for the weekend, and it was a pleasure! His intimate knowledge of the songs and how they are played by the musicians brought out some extra special nuances in the mix, and the result was fabulous. Bruce is a natural at mixing - the only thing I've seen him do better is play bass. Dolly was rock-solid the whole weekend - as always.

Thanks also to Ralph, Kurt and all who offered observations. Feedback is essential to our ministry.

What We Did Different

With Chris speaking and Matt out of town, we gave Chris the second Countryman and Pastor's body pack. The problem we had is that Chris speaks in a lower register than Matt, so we were getting a very low-end rumble. I finally took to muting the subs during the sermon, and brought them back to about +4 during the response song. For the rest of the service, they were at their normal +8. The only comment about this was that his voice sounded a little thin in the first couple of rows. The further back you came, the better it sounded. Except, of course, in the booth - we work in the middle of a bass trap.

I didn't want to mess with the EQ on Chris' channel too much, since we have it set for Matt. During the 11:30 I had to tweak it a little, since he sounded muddy at the start. There was no change between the end of the 10:00 service and the start of the 11:30, yet his voice sounded different. I could understand him sounding weaker, but not muddier. Go figure.

Reminder

We need to mute the two hand held wireless during the sermon - they produce a low intensity hiss that is a little distracting in the first few rows. I forgot this Saturday night. There's a note on the board to remind us now.

Planning Ahead

Chris announced this weekend that the groundbreaking for the new sanctuary will be on the weekend of September 9/10. We will be having an outdoor tent service on the grounds of the new sanctuary. Be prepared for a great weekend, but also be prepared for a lot of work to make it happen. This will likely be one of those 'all hands on deck' occasions. Be in prayer so that we can be prepared.

Saturday night I met briefly with Gregory Bryant who is interested in joining the team. I will talk with him more during rehearsal tomorrow night, and see how he can fit in. Please pray that God will bring us the right people to expand the team to level we need - I don't want anyone getting burnt out. We need more passionate, talented people with a heart to serve. If you think you know someone like that - ask them. Have them talk to me. We need more people on all of the Tech teams.

This is today's verse from Gospelcom.net, and I think it is appropriate:

Phillipians 1:6 (woo hoo):

"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

I know that God has begun a good work in each of you, and my prayer is that you will finish that work He has for you until the day He returns.