Getting Started With Sound...

[ChurchGeek]

Short synopsis: Our church upgraded their sound this past week thanks to an awesome anonymous congregation member. We've completed two phases of a six phase upgrade plan where we hope to eventually have awesome screens, digital sound, and the ability to pipe throughout the church, etc.

I've taken over running basically anything tech in our church; our numbers are starting to grow but at the moment the tech department is me, myself, and I.

The Pastor does an awesome job of trying to help, and I do as much as I can with working a full time job that I have to commute 45 minutes to each day. So as you can see, my time is limited at the moment.

I'm a complete newbie to sound. I like/love music, and my father is very musically talented...but not me. With this sound upgrade, we're going all digital and most stuff is run from a computer where I am comfortable. However, the recent upgrade has given us a 16-channel mixer with some other thingamabobs that I don't know what they are. There is something about a "NEXIA SP DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR" amongst other Greek terms, but yeah I'm lost.

Is there a website, book, or something that you'd recommend for a neophyte like myself? I'm pretty familiar with computers, but I have a totally untrained ear for sound other than it needs to be louder or quieter.

Any resource for a total beginner would be a blessing!

[Frank DeWitt]

"I have a totally untrained ear for sound other than it needs to be louder or quieter."

I know exactly where you are because I have been there. I am still week in the trained ear area. I recommend a couple of things. First, make sure that your system has been tuned (that is set up for the room it is in. The people that sold it to you should have done it, if they did, and they did it well, you are all set. if not, find some one that knows what they are doing, and pay for it. Have them tell you what they did and why. If you can take the time, offer to go with them on a few jobs to load in and out, and learn.

On your board. First, sit down with your worship leader and ask what he / she wants the mix to sound like. Sunday worship is not like a CD because you are leading. Many want the following. First, the lead vocal. people need to hear the words so the lead is the loudest. Next, all the other vocals about the same and just a bit under the lead. Just a bit under them are all the instruments. With a untrained ear, the solo button is your friend. Solo the lead, bring in another vocalist and compare. adjust and go on to the next. The entire worship team wants to be just a bit above the congregation. To low and people stop singing because they are unsure. To loud and people stop because they can't hear themselves. A skilled person with a trained ear who knows the artists will not need the solo buttons near as much. That's OK I need them and many others need them. go ahead and use them.

If you can find a volunteer who knows music like crazy, but is not a geek that is great. You can train them how to mix, then they mix better then you, then they train you. I was able to do this with a retired professional flutist. She had attended the church for years but never volunteered for the tech team because she wasn't a geek.

After you are comfortable getting the volumes right THEN you can move on to EQ during practice only. No EQ knob ever get's turned more then 1/3 off center until you really know what you are doing. Once you are a pro, then you will not need to turn a eq knob more then 1/3 off center.

I professional told me "If it doesn't sound right, go up front and listen with your own ears (at practice of course) then move the mic. If it still doesn't sound right, move the mic again, if it still isn't right try a little eq."

EQ is not your friend.

NOTE some people use a lot of EQ. They are going for a particular sound that is not the sound up front. I am OK with that, but that is pro level stuff.

BTW The DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR or DSP. is used to tune or "voice" the room. and or as a crossover for your different speakers. You and I adjust that thing exactly never.

More in line with what you asked, I would keep your ears open for hands on sound seminars in your area there are always a few going on some where. Watch the lists, ask other sound guys around you and watch the forums.

Frank

[bpalermini]

There are a couple of books you might want to get. The old standby is the Yamaha Guide to Sound Systems for Worship . It's getting a bit old but you will learn a lot from it. Another good basic book is Live Sound Reinforcement . You might also want to see if your local community college has a live sound class. I took one from the one where I live a number of years ago. It helped a lot to have someone to ask my questions and help me solve my problems, kind of like what we do here.

[Brad Weber]

Originally Posted by ChurchGeek

Short synopsis: Our church upgraded their sound this past week thanks to an awesome anonymous congregation member. We've completed two phases of a six phase upgrade plan where we hope to eventually have awesome screens, digital sound, and the ability to pipe throughout the church, etc.

Originally Posted by ChurchGeek

I'm a complete newbie to sound. I like/love music, and my father is very musically talented...but not me. With this sound upgrade, we're going all digital and most stuff is run from a computer where I am comfortable. However, the recent upgrade has given us a 16-channel mixer with some other thingamabobs that I don't know what they are. There is something about a "NEXIA SP DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR" amongst other Greek terms, but yeah I'm lost.

It sounds like you have a pretty ambitious plan in terms of the technology. Who put that plan together? And who performed the recent upgrades? I'm both trying to understand where you are and if there are other parties already involved, such as a consultant and/or contractor, that might help you.

Originally Posted by ChurchGeek

Is there a website, book, or something that you'd recommend for a neophyte like myself? I'm pretty familiar with computers, but I have a totally untrained ear for sound other than it needs to be louder or quieter.

Any resource for a total beginner would be a blessing!

There are certainly books and other resources that can help but it can be challenging for a beginner to teach themselves without any mentoring, one of the biggest challenges being that you can't necessarily judge the quality of the resources and information presented and thus can be subject to taking in both good and bad information. One common complaint from professionals is often having to get people that are self-taught or taught by others with limited actual knowledge to first 'unlearn' the misunderstandings and misconceptions they have picked up and reviewing some of the resources related to worship technology that are available they may often be the source of many of those misunderstandings and misconceptions.

One of the best resources may be other area churches that have experienced personnel that may be willing to help you. Educational resources such as SynAudCon can often be beneficial, the online training can be good but attending a class or any hands-on training offerings may help with understanding the actual application of the information as well as allowing one to make contacts that can be helpful. There are numerous DVD and Internet based educational offerings for worship technology, from a few that are free to some that are a rather significant investment in terms of both time and money.

One aspect of this topic can be your goals. Learning enough to operate a system for typical services may differ from the training and educational resources you want to pursue to be able to setup and troubleshoot a system which may differ from if you want to be able to design the future elements, program the DSP you have, tune a system, etc.

Related to defining the goal is that worship media often involves technical, artistic and organizational/administrative aspects. Some people may want to gain expertise in specific areas while others may want or need some general familiarity in all aspects. This can be important as many of the available resources tend to focus on and/or properly address specific aspects.

And please keep in mind that while some people can learn a great deal from a few books and other resources, there are people for whom music, audio and/or AV are their vocation and in which they have invested years along with large financial resources. If getting to that level is your goal then you might want a bit different approach than someone who is just looking to learn enough to get by.

[scmatthew]

There are very good replies above.

One of the best resources is the owners manual for the equipment that you own. Take a look to them to familiarize yourself with what you have and what you can do with it. This will help you to get a better understanding of your system.

Steven

[Josh Scott]

Here is a good free resource to help you learn what all thosethingamabobs are
http://www.rane.com/library.html

It would also be a great idea to meet up with techs from other churches, it will also help in being creative and solving problems, no reason to learn something the hard way when someone already has.

[cmchamp]

Here's the link to ElectroVoice's PA Bible.

[ike]

Originally Posted by cmchamp

Here's the link to ElectroVoice's PA Bible.

Thanks for the link to the "Pennsylvania" Bible! It looks great! It seems like there are many additions to the original covering a very broad range of topics. Can't wait to read them all! Who would have thought those Pennsylvanians would know so much about public address systems?

-Ike

[ServantForLife]

Another great resource that has practical tools is ownthemix.com. It is a paid service, nut the do an excellent job of providing training.

[Brad Weber]

Originally Posted by ChurchGeek

I'm a complete newbie to sound. I like/love music, and my father is very musically talented...but not me. With this sound upgrade, we're going all digital and most stuff is run from a computer where I am comfortable. However, the recent upgrade has given us a 16-channel mixer with some other thingamabobs that I don't know what they are. There is something about a "NEXIA SP DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR" amongst other Greek terms, but yeah I'm lost.

Originally Posted by ServantForLife

Another great resource that has practical tools is ownthemix.com. It is a paid service, nut the do an excellent job of providing training.

A very good resource in terms of typical system operation. However, it sounds like the immediate challenge here may be more along the lines of system design and installation. For example the Biamp Nexia SP mentioned is a programmable, 4x8 matrix digital signal processor. It is a contractor oriented product that is sold though professional dealers and is not available through the typical music store or online sources. It would typically be part of a professionally installed system. It has no user controls and has to be programmed to have any function, it literally is a blank slate in which you create a virtual system using various mixer, processor, filter, delay, router, etc. algorithms. To effectively use such a device you need to understand not only its programming software but also audio in general sufficiently to know what to program. It would be a bit unusual to find in a DIY system with a 16 channel mixer and is typically not a user installed or adjusted device unless you have a very technically competent user.

It sounds like you have multiple pieces of equipment that you do not understand. I am real curious as to how you got to that point and that is why I asked before who was involved in the selection and installation of the equipment. Are you responsible for the Master Plan, system design, systems installation and system operation? Is someone else in the church responsible for the Master Plan, system design and systems installation? Was there a professional such as a Consultant or Design-Build Contractor involved in the Master Plan, system design and systems installation? This also seems relevant since you mentioned it being Phase 2 of 6 planned Phases and it may be important to understand the thoughts behind the Master Plan and how what you are working with now fits into the overall plans. Going back to the Nexia, it's programming may need to address aspects that are planned but not currently installed and knowing that would be critical to understanding and programming it.

If what you have is a system a Consultant or Design-Build Contractor designed and a Contractor recently installed then there should be documentation of the system and there should have been some training provided, at least enough to let someone know what the thingamabobs are and what you need to address or not. If this is the case then I would try to find out the party responsible and make sure that you have received all documentation, training, etc. you may be owed. In that situation they may also be the best resource for any additional training and support.

You mentioned having limited time and quite frankly, you aren't going to learn everything you need to know to address how to put together a Master Plan for AVL systems, design those systems, install the systems, program a matrix DSP, operate the systems, etc. with some limited time with books or videos. So I think one factor is identifying what aspects you are really looking to address. If you really want to understand all those aspects then you better plan on making it your profession and investing significant time, effort and money in learning that profession.