MCKEES ROCKS, PA–Steve Raslevich of Northern Sound and Light has begun a campaign to raise money to benefit Jim Sidney and Bonnie Patterson of Gourmet PA Systems in their fight against Bonnie's breast cancer. Bonnie, 46 years old, was diagnosed with breast cancer in June of this year. Even with medical insurance, the co-pays and non-covered medical costs have already exceeded $20,000.00.
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I am a small sound company owner and I also work as a volunteer on the sound crew at my church. My problem is that my church is planning an outdoor concert event and I have agreed to provide the production support for the show, with the understanding that I would be paid for my services. While attending a concert planning meeting, we were discussing all the different aspects of the event including some sponsorships that we plan to get from local businesses. At this point in the meeting, someone turns to me and says, "Hey, you could donate a thousand dollars as a sponsor and bring your equipment for free. You'll get your name on the back of the t-shirts we're having made." This put me in a very awkward position. While I generally do my part to support the church financially, I'm still trying to run a business and make a living here. I'd like to help, but I'm already thinking about my expenses on this show. What do you suggest in this situation?
Read More »What you hold in your hand is something pretty unusual for FOH–a themed issue. Most of what you will find between the covers of this month's collection of live audio missives relate in some way to the world of house of worship sound. Before you non-churchy road warriors run away screaming, don't worry, there is plenty for you here, too. That includes coverage of a decidedly un-churchy Ozzfest.
Read More »Gone are the days when sound reinforcement for house of worship applications meant a few podium-mounted mics, a wireless lav and an automated mixer. Church installs have grown to the level where they incorporate high-ticket digital desks, full band and choir miking and multiple monitor mixes routed from a dedicated monitor desk — often embarrassing club, theatre and even touring systems. Many churches have started the practice of making audio and video recordings of their services in an effort to preserve their message while simultaneously finding a new stream of revenue.
Read More »Do you go to church? How about a synagogue, Buddhist temple or mosque? Well, if you are in the business of mixing or installing live sound you should be at a house of worship regularly. Let me clarify myself. I am not suggesting that we in the live sound biz are bigger sinners than the rest of the population, I just want to make the point that if you are not involved in church sound at some level you are missing out on a potentially enormous income stream. Don't believe me? Are you sure you read the rest of this magazine?
Read More »Why in Heaven's name would anyone want to spend huge amounts of weekly tithing to install a State of the Art (SOTA) sound system into a house of worship? Better yet, why on earth would any house of worship deem it necessary to get into the sound reinforcement/concert business? Is it all just pomp and circumstance, a vanity stemmed from coveting a neighboring congregation's techno wizardry, or is there a higher purpose?
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For anyone who thinks a church sound department means a Mackie mixer with two knobs missing, four pockmarked SM58s, two Samson wireless mics and a 17- year-old volunteer, Lakewood Church in Houston may be something of a revelation.
Supporting the theory that everything's bigger in Texas, Lakewood is a 16,000 seat arena-sized facility whose list of gear, musicians and crew reads like an attempt at a Guinness Book entry: 11 piece band, 200- voice choir, four Nuendo rigs recording 135 tracks of audio, four Euphonix consoles and five full-time sound crew professionals, all under the supervision of one Reed Hall, director of audio and technical production.
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What room is so large that a 350- voice choir: is so far from the podium they can't hear the conductor; is 45 feet back and 12 feet above the orchestra; can't hear the orchestra (and vice versa); sings directly in front of a pipe organ whose ranks and pipes can overpower a room with seating for 21,000?
If you said the Conference Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints then you are correct!
Read More »For one corporate pharmaceutical gig I worked the company decided to create lifesized mascots of their biggest sellers, medicinal "pen" injectors. If you've never seen one of these they do look somewhat like a pen. They're a brightly colored plastic tube about eight-inches in length, about as thick as an Italian sausage, gently rounded at the tip, where there's a small hole where the injection comes out of. It is no stretch to say they look decidedly, um, anatomical. The biopharm company hired four actors to wear the costumes and lip-sync to songs between sessions, the songs consisting of lyrics about the company's products set to classic rock tunes.
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To be honest, when FOH called me needing someone to cover Ozzfest I was pretty stoked. I had always wanted to see Ozzfest, but in this biz doing a few shows a week of my own, I have generally no desire to be around another show. I also had never been asked to "cover a show". Typically FOH just wants me to "rant"–which I'm OK with.
This time, though, it was coverage, so my wife Lisa and I drove from Vegas to San Diego Saturday for a Sunday show. We had arrangements with Ken "Pooch" Van Druten, FOH engineer for System of a Down, to get working passes for the day. When we arrived around 2 p.m., Pooch met us at the gate and took us to his bus where we had a 30-minute discussion with him and Dave Coil, monitor mixer for System of a Down.
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Hear Technologies Mix Back and Hear Back Combo System
By Bill Evans and Jamie Rio
Monitor World has changed. Blame it on the increasing use of personal monitors and higher expectations on the part of performers, but the bottom line is that three or four mono mixes and a couple of sidefills will most likely not do the trick on most gigs. Especially in venues–like churches–where a small footprint is needed and where you need to squeeze maximum flexibility from a crew with often limited technical know-how. We have found a solution that works well for us. At a trade show in 2003, we went introduced to an affordable, easy to use and flexible system called the Hear Back from a company called Hear Technologies.
Read More »As self-proclaimed audio experts, it is our duty to learn the ins and outs of how microphone elements work, and how best to use them. Even though we are not Diva or Mister Ego vocalists, we should know how to work the mics. This is especially the case in house of worship (HOW) situations where most of the speakers and singers are not professionals. So let's get on with teaching the teachers.
The Mic Fits The Task
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