Continuing the trend...
...yeah, I'm blogging about sound again. Bite me.
I just realized that since I'm going to be home for the summer, I'm probably going to be put back on the roster for the 8 AM service. It's understandable and really quite expected, as the church really is short on sound techs, especially ones who are young enough to not complain too loudly about having to get up really, really early on Sunday mornings.
Unfortunately, the 8 AM service is both the traditional service and held in the Fellowship Hall. As with many churches, the Fellowship Hall is the older, smaller sanctuary from when the church was smaller, and as such has the older sound system, complete with old speakers, old amps, and old wireless microphones. As with most older hardware, it's riddled with distortion, feedback, and random buzz and hiss - absolutely perfect for clear understanding among the grandparent-heavy crowd that comes to the 8 AM service each week.
Last year, when that system was all I knew, I lived with it, and carefully played the fine line between just-barely-loud-enough-to-understand and raw screaming feedback. This exercise in both sensitive hearing and fast reflexes certainly made me a much better sound tech, and is one of the reasons I've been appointed monitor tech for most big shows (lots of feedback through the monitors if one isn't careful). However, there is a better way, and I've been working with it all year. Going back to the old dance with feedback is going to be about as much fun as having teeth pulled.
I could rebuild that system quite easily. It doesn't have to be loud, just clear, so huge speakers really aren't necessary. I already have ideas as to how to do it. It wouldn't even be that expensive. ($15,000 is less than half what they spent on the sound board alone when they rebuilt the sanctuary's sound system two years ago, and that should be plenty for what I have in mind.)
I'm going to be talking with the Worship Pastor (who is also in charge of the sound systems) quite seriously about this, methinks...
I just realized that since I'm going to be home for the summer, I'm probably going to be put back on the roster for the 8 AM service. It's understandable and really quite expected, as the church really is short on sound techs, especially ones who are young enough to not complain too loudly about having to get up really, really early on Sunday mornings.
Unfortunately, the 8 AM service is both the traditional service and held in the Fellowship Hall. As with many churches, the Fellowship Hall is the older, smaller sanctuary from when the church was smaller, and as such has the older sound system, complete with old speakers, old amps, and old wireless microphones. As with most older hardware, it's riddled with distortion, feedback, and random buzz and hiss - absolutely perfect for clear understanding among the grandparent-heavy crowd that comes to the 8 AM service each week.
Last year, when that system was all I knew, I lived with it, and carefully played the fine line between just-barely-loud-enough-to-understand and raw screaming feedback. This exercise in both sensitive hearing and fast reflexes certainly made me a much better sound tech, and is one of the reasons I've been appointed monitor tech for most big shows (lots of feedback through the monitors if one isn't careful). However, there is a better way, and I've been working with it all year. Going back to the old dance with feedback is going to be about as much fun as having teeth pulled.
I could rebuild that system quite easily. It doesn't have to be loud, just clear, so huge speakers really aren't necessary. I already have ideas as to how to do it. It wouldn't even be that expensive. ($15,000 is less than half what they spent on the sound board alone when they rebuilt the sanctuary's sound system two years ago, and that should be plenty for what I have in mind.)
I'm going to be talking with the Worship Pastor (who is also in charge of the sound systems) quite seriously about this, methinks...