So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
- Romans 10:17

This blog post is dedicated specifically to church sound systems and their need for careful planning, spending and training.  You know that you have a sermon that God has for your congregation and you want them to hear it.  So let’s get started in the right direction to a effective listening environment for your congregation.

Planning is crucial to a church sound system.  A lack of planning can waste a ton of money through poor installs, wrong equipment choices, and potentially having to reinstall equipment.  Make sure you plan what you need as detailed as possible so you can make an informed decision.

Spending too little can cost you more in the long run than spending too much.  If you do not buy the appropriate system for your current and future needs you could spend more money when you have to replace components that do not meet your needs.  Always be always compare costs in conjunction with services, equipment, and quality of work.

Training your staff is very important.  You have just invested thousands in making sure your church can hear the message you have studied, prepared, and prayed over.  You want to make sure the message you know God has given for your people is heard and your people are not distracted by unneeded noises, feedback or other.  You will want to invest time and resources in your people to help them be the best they can be.

Follow these basic guidelines and you will be well on your way to make a wise and successful decision.  If you need help just email me at ryan@brackmanconsulting.com and let’s get started getting you in the right direction!

Band Members

Shane Morgan- Keyboards
Ashton Milliken- Drums
Brett Phillips- Bass
Jimmy Plater- Tenor Sax

I had the opportunity to mix a local Jazz band called The Wrest this weekend at the Gospel Tabernacle Christmas party.  After getting the band plugged in and a quick sound check they were ready to go.

They performed pieces from top bands including The Rippingtons and Van Morrison.  Accompanied by the noteworthy guest soloist, Tom Ferguson, they performed warm, memorable Christmas classics to perfection.

This was an excellent performance filled with smooth drums, peerless piano rifts, solid bass lines and rounded out by a first-class tenor sax.

Booking the Band

If you need a band for your event then The Wrest is an excellent choice and is available for booking.  Contact Ashton at amilliken0109@email.campbell.edu to book them for your next event and help support local talent!

This is the last of my 5 basic questions from my early years learning AV systems.  This will be a list of tips I have learned over the years to help you have a more simplified easy to use system.

Number 1 tip: Keep it simple and labeled

Basic tips

• Whenever possible use matching numbers
  • ex 1:  Snake channel 1 plugs into sound console channel 1
• - Label rack mounted equipment showing what each section is controlling
• - Label all cables, including all cables.
• - Use inserts in their physical order inserted from left to right in order of use.

Real World Example

Ch Desc Insert

• Use Board tape to label monitors according to what output on the console controls them.  This way people on stage can tell you what number they want turned up if the speakers are mixed up.
• Test all multimedia and tracks completely to ensure they do not skip

Best way to set up mains/monitors

The best way to set these up depends on the room and the band.  A good start it to set up your monitors in order from house left to house right.  (this refers to the stage as you see it from the main mixing console)

A mains can be set up in a huge variety of ways.  Left Right, Left Center Right, Mono and each of these can have different variations of what would work best for a room.  Email me pictures of our facility and I can offer some suggestions on what would help provide proper coverage and operation.  ryan@brackmanconsulting.com

Mixing tips

- Remember you are mixing for the audience.  Listen to their complaints and see if it is something that can be addressed.    Some things cannot be addressed easily but

- Listen in other areas of the room for even sound.  Incorrectly setup PA can have large dead spots or areas of phase cancellation and you will want to be aware
- Listen to a wide variety of music styles, and instruments with the EQ set flat.  THis forces you to listen to the mix rather than the tone and help you better understand the mix structure of various styles of music

Extra tips not related sound systems

Video

• Label your A/V inputs on your video switchers.  MOst times these are AV 1, VGA 1, etc.  Label them according to what they are so you can change them knowing what you are changing
• Label output cables
• Know how to blank out and freeze images on the screens
• practice changing inputs so that it is as seamless to the audience as changing a channel
• Avoid having the mouse show up on screen
• Test all DVD clips in their entirety before showing them to find out if they work
• Make sure the projector fills the entire screen.  This will improve the contrast of your video because the black edge of the screen creates an outline that gives a definite ending to the picture.

Lighting
Everything in lighting is all pre-planning.  Changes to your setup cannot be made on the fly.  The main thing here is again label everything plus a few following tips:

• Keep notes on when lamps where changed so that if they get close to end of life during a production you can go ahead and change them to reduce the odds of having a blown lamp.
• Do you maintenacne on the fixtures
• USE SAFTY CABLES ON YOUR LIGHTS.  $10 per light and they can help prevent a light from falling and doing damage or worse yet, hurting someone.
• Make sure all bolts are tighten when setting the fixtures
• if you have subs in your sound system make sure you check your lights regularly for any that may have worked loose from the vibration.

These tips can help you have a more successful and engaging show by reducing the mistakes we all can make.  Have fun, enjoy the show, and send pictures of the show!

Send me some pictures so everyone can see what your show looks like!   ryan@brackmanconslting.com

This is an interesting question. Mainly because everyone has a different point of view as to what is a good sound.  Some like it bass-thumping, while some like more highs in their mix.  So if nothing I advise you to do makes your system sound like you want it to, then simply change the settings.  A sound system is only as good as it sounds.

The goal of a sound system

The ultimate goal of the system is to be as transparent as possible so that it reproduces the sound of the instrument of vocal it is picking up.  In order to achieve this, the system needs to have minimal distortion in all the components plus have minimal installed equipment and connections that could change the sound of the source.  A tube compressor can sound nice but couple it with an EQ, another compressor, a separate gate, and anything else you can add and the end result could be a complicated and potential buzz creating trap.

Setting the EQ

First:

When setting an EQ for the mains I start out flat then go from there.  I avoid the smile, frown face or any other emotion.  These are always too generic of an approach for pro audio because the complexities of a room and system can vary greatly.

Next step:

Find trouble frequencies.  You can do this several ways.  You can listen for the exact frequency and get so good that you know what frequency you want to change.  You can buy expensive analyzers that will help you find the problem frequencies or you can simply turn up a mic until it starts to ring and find the problem frequencies.  Any way you choose is fine,if the end result is a system that sounds good and does not ring every time you turn a mic on.

Finally:

It can be tough to get the EQ set just right, so turn up your favorite band and enjoy your hard work!

These techniques can be used on mains and monitors.  Monitors take a little more time because they generally have a speaker aimed directly at the mics and ringing can be a quick problem, so make sure you take great care when setting them up.

Call me or email me today if you have any specific questions on install or selection advice for EQ’s  910-658-7893  ryan@brackmanconsulting.com

You can also use my contact form

A compressor is a piece of equipment that helps with a many situations.  It is used to control the volume of a source without having to constantly adjust the fader.  This unit can only reduce the volume so setting it can take some trial and error.  Correctly setting up and using one can help almost any type of instrument or voice.  Take a look below for some terms you will want to know and some helpful tips.

Terms you will want to know

Threshold

This is the amount of input it takes for the compressor to kick in.

Ratio

This is the amount of input compared to output shown using a colon.  For example a 2:1 ratio will allow 1 dB of audio to pass through for every 2 dB of audio sent to the unit.

Good starting ratios

– Vocal 2:1

– Kick drum or bass guitar  4:1 – 10:1

– Other instruments 2:1 and work up from there as needed

Hard knee

This is a way to describe the compressor kicking in at the set ratio when the threshold is met.  Some compressors have a button for this setting and others you may need to adjust the attack.  It is called this because when it is graphed it looks like a knee.

Attack

How fast the compressor kicks in

Limiter

This is always an extremely high ratio.  Sometimes expressed as high as 30:1 up to infinity:1.  This essentially makes a point that no matter how much sound is put in then it will not get much beyond your set threshold.

Gate

This may be on some compressors.  This acts as a mute. It has it’s own threshold setting and will keep the channel muted until the gate threshold is met.

Tips on Getting Started

Bass player

When mixing with a bass guitar they may already have a compressor.  Many bass players use them to help them when they change from playing steady bass notes to louder slap bass licks.

Vocal

Make sure you don’t set you compressor to where it compresses too much.  When the person stops signing and the compressor allows more sound to go through it again it could cause feedback quickly!

Limiters

Use limiters to help protect speakers from getting damage.

Gates

Good for reducing the extra tones coming from a tom that just resonates for too long.

Compressors are great pieces of equipment and are used by the novice and professional alike.  I have seen some techs use a compressor on just about every channel to help keep volumes at a set range (generally the 80-90 dB range) however this takes skill to achieve a polished result using this technique.  too much compression and the music can sound squashed or unnatural and not enough it just gets out of control.  This technique also costs money to buy the right equipment to do the job.

So get started trying out on your equipment!  Trial and error is the best way to find out how to get them set just right. 

If you don’t have your own equipment call me now and I will help you pick the right compressor for your needs.  910-658-7893.  You can also email me the details and I will send you my recommendation.  ryan@brackmanconsulting.com

This is the first in a series of 5 questions I had when just learning about AV systems. They specifically deal with sound because that was the first systems I learned how to work on. I will throw in some lighting and video on the next series.

1. What is a parametric equalizer? What is it’s purpose?

A Parametric Equalizer (PE for short today) is a equalizer that has banks of frequencies that it can it can change. Each bank has a range of frequencies. Each bank can choose a frequency and alter it by either boosting or cutting. Depending on how advanced the unit is, it may be more precise and only affect the selected frequencies and a few around it or may affect a broad set of frequencies. So let’s go over some terms you may run into on these units

Low Shelf: Affects the chosen frequencies and all the frequencies before it.

High Shelf: Affects the chosen frequencies and all the frequencies after it.

Frequency knob: Has a range of frequencies you can choose from for each boost/cut knob.

Boost/Cut knob: The know that affect how much you turn up or turn down frequency selections. This is normally labeled from -15 to + 15.

Nominal/Flat: This is the point of the PE that does not affect the signal at all. This is generally the boost/cut knob set at 12:00. The frequency selector knob now can be in any position and not affect the sound.

How is it used?
Sometimes techs prefer to use outboard gear that gives them the sound they want but most of the time the PE on your console will work fine to help bring out of the mix or accent instruments and voices.

What is it’s purpose?
To make it sound good. That this the only purpose in the equipment.

Tip on learning: Play with the equipment. Make changes see how it does and then change something else. You can do this during an event but don’t be too drastic where it draws attention to it.

Comments and Questions: Send me your questions; or even throw in your thoughts about equipment.  Use the comment box below or click the call out icon to the right of the title.  Looking forward to hearing from you!

ryan@brackmanconsulting.com

Something interesting I found on Groupon today.  www.groupon.com

Deafening Silence:  A recently developed low-frequency sonic-pulse weapon has made it possible to temporarily deafen enemy troops from a distance so that they can’t hear you loudly discussing your secret military strategies and firing your guns at clouds for practice.

So next time it’s silent….it might not be…lol

When you are working with someone’s headset mic and it must be used for someone else it is a good idea to take a picture of it next to a known reference. Even if you don’t have a ruler then then a book, card or in this case a tithes envelope. It can be just about anything you just want that is a flat object with something on it that you can use as reference points to help you get it bent back to the same position. You may want to take a side and top view picture of the mic so you can can be more accurate in the bends.

Sometimes you get some people that will bend the mics like paperclips. You want to do everything you can to get them back to the correct shape so you can get back to tweaking the effects or downloading a new song to test the PA. No one wants to spend 30 minutes bending a headset mic back and forth several times to get it right. Worse yet…some of these mics break like paperclips. Believe me. I have done it before.

So grab your camera phones and snap away. Send me pictures of any weird bend configurations.

What are your tips and tricks that you use to help your life in the AV world easier?

Measure once… Cut twice, right??

I love doing carpentry products.  The smell of sawdust plus the sound of power tools and nail guns blazing.  When you are finally done there is nothing better than a nice finished project that is solid and looks good.  But out of all the lessons I have learned when doing carpentry projects, the one that has helped me the most (aside from keeping your hands clear of the blades) is “measure twice, cut once.”

When you are looking at the design of a system you want to make sure you look at all your measurements carefully.  Below are a few of those areas.

Equipment Placement

When putting equipment in your design you must take note of things like line of sight, rigging hardware, rigging points, structural supports, optimal location, and much much more.  If you don’t plan on these things you have the possibility of equipment blocking the screens, being installed too low, positioned wrong, and potentially cause the system to not work correctly at all.  You may even have to add equipment later to make it work right causing an increase in costs.

Wire length

The advice I have here is you cut wire shorter but you can’t make it longer without creating another connection (which is bad practice).  Always leave yourself about 3’ – 6’ of extra wire beyond where the connection will be.  You can cut them shorter and use the short cable sections for jumpers later if they are long enough.

Extra tip: If your installing hardwired components in ceiling grids.  Leave enough room for you to work on the equipment on the ground or scaffold so it is easier to connect correctly.  You can always coil the extra up above the grid.  This makes for faster work and better installs.

Conduit length

Never, never, never ever, cut wire to length for any conduit that you are not 100% certain of the length.   If you need to run a tape measure through first so you can make sure.  Conduit paths are not always straight lines.  Especially poured concrete floors. Listed below are the NEC and ANSI codes associated with your installs.

Codes:

NEC 346-11: “There shall be no more than the equivalent of four quarter bends (360 degrees total) between pull points, e.g., conduit bodies and boxes.”

TIA/EIA-569, 4.4.2.1: “No section of conduit shall be longer than 30m (100ft) or contain more than two 90 degree bends between pull points or pull boxes.

Following these guidelines will help you keep from wrestling a horrible conduit run or put too much stress on the cables and have them break.

Tip:  Put pull boxes in long runs to help you meet these guidelines and save your back.  Avoid putting the pull box under the stage.  No one wants to pull wire on their back.

So measure twice, cut once, save thousands.