Help With Live Sound Engineering Training.

[soundpickle]

Hello All,

I am a 30 year veteran FOH/monitor engineer, & technician and I am in the process of packaging a comprehensive live training I will be offering Churches in my area.

I already have a curriculum, but I would like to ask all music ministry leaders out there. What are the most important topics you would like to see included?

Thanks for all of your help

Lenny Berlingieri

[Brad Weber]

This is a more general comment and you probably already considered this, but is this going to be a 'canned' course or tailored specifically for each group? One of the challenges I've encountered, and in fact am working through right now for a presentation for a worship technology conference, is that not only the services, facilities and goals of churches but also the tools, equipment and resources available to them can vary significantly.

Unless you are presenting to one group at a time and can tailor the content for each, then I find it much more effective and less confusing to address more general topics and concepts that apply to most or all of the attendees rather than getting into any specifics that may not only be irrelevant to some but could potentially even lead to people erroneously assuming that everything presented applies to every, and specifically their, situation. Too many experiences with people that attended a class or training session or read a book and apparently gained the impression that everything presented was an absolute and applicable to them, even if it was actually personal opinion or preference or was irrelevant to or inappropriate for their situation.

On the other hand, if your plan is to offer training tailored to each group to which you present, then it can be very effective, and more interesting for the attendees, to try to specifically address their situation and address the practical implementation of the topics in that context.

[tdangelo]

Lenny,

Glad to see another NY/NJ guy on this site. Welcome.

[Esoteric]

What Brad said. All of our training is tailored exclusively to the individual congregation and is even done in their space on their equipment. We do general design presentations to multiple pastors at a time, but as far as specifics we tailor it to the client.

[JoshGuerette]

Out of curiousity, what would training like this cost? Where I'm located (Southern Ontario), there's no one close to where I am that gives church audio training, so we've had some so-so generic training.

Also, is it common to bring in training from a further away (partly across country, etc.)?

[Esoteric]

We do stuff all across the US. As far as cost, it really depends on exactly what we are doing. Everything is custom tailored to meet the needs of the individual church. Some churches don't have any idea what their gear does or how it works, so we have to start from the literal beginning. Sometimes their gear isn't installed/set up correctly and we have to actually do some system tweaks before we can even begin training. Others just need us to help them find their identity and mix to it. Our typical onsite training starts at $2500 (two days, one to observe, one to train) plus expenses and we have had training sessions that cost $10k+.

[Brad Weber]

Originally Posted by JoshGuerette

Out of curiousity, what would training like this cost? Where I'm located (Southern Ontario), there's no one close to where I am that gives church audio training, so we've had some so-so generic training.

Also, is it common to bring in training from a further away (partly across country, etc.)?

Josh, since he became one of the regular Smaart instructors I am not sure if he is still offering training to churches through his consulting practice, but I recommend you talk with Arthur Skudra. Arthur is located in Hamilton, Ontario and I believe he can be contacted at .

For training sessions, unless the trainer is local then their location may not matter that much. If someone has to travel more than probably an hour or two then that will likely limit their being able to make multiple trips, etc. and once that occurs then the difference between driving a couple of hours and flying from several hours away may not be that big a factor in the overall cost.

[Frank DeWitt]

Originally Posted by JoshGuerette

Out of curiousity, what would training like this cost? Where I'm located (Southern Ontario), there's no one close to where I am that gives church audio training, so we've had some so-so generic training.

Also, is it common to bring in training from a further away (partly across country, etc.)?

Some things to look into.
http://www.christianmusiciansummit.c...apel/index.php
This is Buffalo NY Most of it is for your musicians but there is a lot there for sound guys as well. Also, it is a LOT of fun. I have been the last two years and have paid for 2013 already.

http://www.howtosound.com/ This outfit wanders the country. The training is good, Perhaps a bit basic. The cheap easy way to get them close by is to volunteer your church to host.

You get 5 people free and a once over of your setup.

And, I think, the best is to spend real money and send someone to Syn-Aud-Con Principles of Audio, and Sound Reinforcement For Technicians. It is real money and it is real good.

Frank

[Arlin]

Anyone some first hand experience with http://howtosound.com/ ?
I've already contacted them about coming to our area.

Like Frank said, the training looks good, but on the basic side.
And like Brad implies, for a group of people, I think their 'basic' style actually works best. The basics can be "much more effective and less confusing to address more general topics and concepts that apply to most or all of the attendees rather than getting into any specifics."

http://howtosound.com/ often does their general HOW-TO workshop on a Saturday with 40-60 people. THEN, on Sunday, they do a more private Sound System Analysis & Training, or SAT, course that is specific to that church ($$2,500 for the full day).

To me, that seems like a pretty good one-two combination. And I have not seen any other comparable training for churches.

Any thoughts or other suggestions?

[Frank DeWitt]

The How to sound is basic, but it is very good. The guy teaching is clearly knowledgeable, He knows his equipment and how to mix. It is just the right course if the sound system is in place and working and you need training on how to use it. How to set up, how to build a mix, How to EQ. What microphone to use ETC. It was a good experence. Just don't go in thinking it will make a tech out of you.

I also found that acting as a host church was a good experience. The requirements are modest and well defined, and I felt that we were providing a ministry to other local churches.

Frank

[cmchamp]

I'm in the process of attempting to have a training in my neck of the woods on a weekend at a local church with a modest blended service. Am in touch with Taipale Media Systems and Worship MD regarding their possible cooperation/involvement.

[Frank DeWitt]

Originally Posted by cmchamp

I'm in the process of attempting to have a training in my neck of the woods on a weekend at a local church with a modest blended service. Am in touch with Taipale Media Systems and Worship MD regarding their possible cooperation/involvement.

Cory, as you probably know Taipale Media Systems is run byCurt Taipale He is the host of ChurchSoundCheck.com I don't know him except through that list but based on that I am sure he is a good instructor and a good man. I think you will be pleased.

Frank