What do you do when your technical director departs and know one really knows what all that stuff does?You re-think what’s important.  Empowering an individual to achieve the desired outcome, or designing a system that will empower a community to get it done.

Part one of our work with Calvary was to empower their musician community to handle the Sunday morning mixing duties.  To do that , we first upgrade their behemoth analog console and outboard to a streamlined Soundcraft Vi1, then we trained them in the art and techniques of live sound.

Part two, is a project that currently underway.  We are updating their SD video broadcast system to HD.  What started as a 7 computer kludge of consumer and broadcast gear with endless cabling and trouble, is now a tight HD package built around a Broadcast Pix Mica and Viewcast flash encoder,

Power up your touring in-ear monitor package

You’re an indie band mounting a tour and you want to introduce in-ear monitors to the band and minimize setup time at each gig.  There’s a great technology approach to handling this situation that many regional acts have worked with companies like Tour Supply to design and build out.

If you’re more the DIY type, with a bit of time and some technical background, here’s my shopping list for a complete 6 stereo mix In-Ear kit.  This kit is mean to fly.  It’s heavy, but it’s portable and capable!

Reality LA is a “portable church” that meets in the heart of LA.  They run a 2 camera (Sony EX1) shoot to capture video for the web and simulcast to a cry room.  The product team cuts live to an AJA KAI Pro that’s neatly tucked into a rack we build for them a few months back.

Reality LA has an amazing volunteer crew that never ceases to amaze me, however they were spending an hour building the video rig each week, and then trouble shooting the video and audio connections right up until the service started.  Yuk!

Andrew Hummel, the ever fearless leader of the media ministry, commissioned Kungpow to build a video rack, and I took this opportunity to simplify the system and help RLA build for the future.

The Video Rig is built around a Newtek Tricaster, which made the video side of this build out fairly straight forward.  HD-SDI is feed  from the cameras into the Tricaster.  Out out the Tricaster into the KAI Pro.  Return from the KAI Pro for confidence.  I came up with a sexy way to interface to the Tricaster using some 90 Degree BNC adapters.

The Tricaster isn’t necessarily the right switcher for the RLA video ministry.  It has a lot of features that are not currently relevant.  The ministry had already acquired the cameras and switcher long before we got involved.  There are a number of lower cost ways to handle simple switching on a multi-camera shoot these days.  New products from Panasonic and BlackMagic Designs can get the job done with simplicity and elegance.

Its all about the audio…

When I got on the scene the team had stuff the back of the FOH Midas Venice full of cables, taking separate feeds for a CD Recorder, the Tricaster and a Zoom H4 and pushing them down a snake to the control room from which the video team operates the rig.

Around this time the sound department upgraded to a AVID Venue, so we set up a special Matrix output on the Venue that would feed the a special recording mix to the video crew.  The recording mix had the stereo mains running about 15 dB down, and the wireless feed at unity.  We then tickled a multi band compressor on the way out and encoded to Ethersound with a Digigram ES220.

The ES220 is bi-directional 2 channel Ethersound node that allows us to pass audio back and forth on an Ethernet (CAT5) network.

Back in the control room another Digigram ES220 feeds a Rane DA16 audio distribution amp which in turn feeds the CD recorder, A Tascam Flash recorder, Tricaster , KAI pro and a overflow speaker system…

A front mounted connector panel gives access to power, Ethersound and the audio feed to the overflow speaker system.

We also caped off the unused BNC’s on the front of the Tricaster to eliminate the remaining confusion.

The rack is pre-wired and ready to go and setup time in dramatically reduced and the extent of trouble shooting is greatly reduced.

If you’re ready to reduce the time it takes to setup your production rig, get in touch with us. We’d be honored to design a system that gets the job done and frees your volunteers from the tyranny of the technical!

Media Ministry can be a real sink hole for resources.  When poorly designed they consume money, time and burn out volunteers.  When production systems are pieced together without a master plan, especially by technology generalists, you may have a looming disaster on your hands.

It seems that every pastor has a person in their life who knows much more about technology then they do.  And in a technological work that’s changing as fast as ours you need a trusted source for good advice.  Wether it’s a lay person in your congregation or your tech director, I encourage you to get second opinions on big purchases and always, always ask for clear written communication on how these purchases fit into a long term master plan.

A number of key technologies are transitioning from technologies that have been around for 30 years to new digital technologies.  With these new technologies comes five massive benefits for you, your volunteers and your pocket book:  They’re easy to use, they simplify complex production systems, they reduce the time it takes to get the job done and they use a lot less energy to do it.

There are at least four major areas of media ministry that are going though a digital revolution, Mixing consoles and signal processing, digital wireless, wash lighting, and HD Video Production Equipment.

Now is them time to consider upgrading key parts of your production systems to new digital technology.  Even with giving down, and your current systems seemingly  functional, planning to upgrade is a much better approach waiting for something to fail, or worse continuing to burn out your volunteers.

Why is now the time?

1. Ease of Use – We’ve all experienced moments where the technology prevented us from getting something down.  It’s one thing when it’s in the privacy of your office, but when technology lets your down and you’ve got 1000 people sitting in a room waiting to start the service, it’s really stressful.  It’s this kind of stress that burns people out and invites the return of a couple of old friends: “fear of failure” and “frustration”. Save you nerves and engage your volunteers with digital systems that are much easier to use.  One of the  top benefit of digital systems is their ability to distinguish the two levels of operation: operations that are essentially simple and creative, these are jobs that many volunteers can be trained to do in the audio, video and lighting departments; operations that are fundamentally advanced: things like the setup, configuration, programming or tweaking of audio, video and lighting systems.

In the digital world most of the advanced stuff can be handled by an consultant/expert that’s called when needed.  This doesn’t always have to be someone on yours staff.  For example, with some of our clients we handle the advanced stuff remotely over the web.  When properly designed, a digital system can free your volunteers from the tyranny of the technical.  Let them concentrate their effort on serving their community with the creative gifts they’ve been given to share, and let’s work together to eliminate the complex systems that unnecessarily increase the possible points of failure.

2. Simplicity - It’s frustrating when something that you don’t really understand fails you.  How did this happen? How did we build a system that we can’t make work in our 1 hour and 15 minutes of need?  When designed properly, digital can dramatically reduce the amount of gear needed to get a job done. That means less gear, less wires, less heat, reduced points of failure, and most of all, less time to train volunteers on a system.  OK it’s time for the men in the blogosphere to confess:  We all love our “man caves”.  For some it’s tools, for others its books, for some it’s technology for me it’s musical instruments.  To make the man cave truly impenetrable and impressive to men and women alike it has to be formidable and intimidating!  How many of your media ministries have been transferred into man caves over the years? How many of you have a single person in your ministry who is able to make it all work or even knows what it all does?

I am happy to tell you, it doesn’t have to be like this.  A well designed digital system makes key production job much simpler to accomplish.  It’s time to dis-assemble the man cave and put up a system that will engage your volunteers, reduce their stress and release their creativity.

In part two we’ll explore how digital systems can better honor people’s time, offer versatility and save you energy.

Until then.  If there is anything we can do to help you make your media ministry easier to use for your volunteers and staff, please get in touch with us at helpme@kungpowpro.com.

It’s been a few weeks since we put in the Soundcraft Vi1 in Calvary Spokane. This was an inspiring project that incorporated 3 different audio networks and my new favorite digital console to get the job done. The job was to address a common issue many churches face today. Our mandate was to remake their sanctuary sound system into something that could be easily managed by volunteers.

In northern Spokane you’ll find the welcoming campus of Calvary Spokane. In a re-purposed mall, this 2500 seat sanctuary is flanked by a massive family center with a full kitchen and coffee bar, as well as youth and children’s ministry rooms fully equipped to engage today’s families. Calvary’s 56 channel Allen & Heath ML5000 analog console presented a formidable challenge for training volunteers. For many years the church resorted to hiring in professional engineers to fly the console on Sunday mornings.

Recently a new generation of tech savvy musicians had entered their ministry internship program and were eager to engage the media ministry at Calvary. And so we werecalled in to design a system that would empower the musicians, who were taking turns leading the Worship service, to mix for each other. After carefully considering a number of approaches, we settled on the Soundcraft Vi1 for two main reasons: Number one, it sounds phenomenal and two, its so easy to train volunteers on this desk. In the end the Vi1 proved to be an intuitive mix surface, providing the powerful routing I needed to configure the complex system, and the ability for the volunteer crew to easily re-configure custom fader banks for each of the operators and their associated worship team. And here’s the amazing part: We had them up and running after a couple hours of training. That’s pretty remarkable considering how new they were to mixing sound.

The new console was only the beginning. It attached to a Soundcraft Compact Stagebox with MADI. We then integrated an Digigram Ethersound card into the Soundcraft Compact Stagebox networked to a Yamaha DME24N (speaker processing) with an Avitran AVY-ES100. From there Digigram ES network nodes provide multichannel audio feeds to and from the video production room and nearby family center. The Avitran AVY-ES100 also connects to a PC running Protools at FOH via an ASIO over ethernet connection as an affordable way to track and playback rehearsals and services via the Vi1′s second input on every input channel.

In the weeks that have followed I’ve had a solitary call to get instruction on splitting the wireless lag to multiple channels strips. Something we were able to walk though over the phone in a minutes. This is a testimony to the straight forward operation of this desk, especially for this generation of tech savvy artist/mixers.

Footnote: During the integration we setup remote access to the Yamaha DME24 as well as the Ethersound network configuration application. Should Calvary Spokane require exceptional routing one day, I will be able to take care of that request from my home office. The benefit: We take care of the technical burden so that those mixing sound can focus on their artistry and creating the conditions for engagement.

If you’re interested to see the network layout click here.

I’ve been delighted to work with the fine crew down at Reality LA (“RLA”) on the design and implementation of their new audio and lighting rigs, as well as improvements to their video capture rig as well.

BACKGROUND
Reality LA is a church plant of Reality Carpinteria. Tim Chaddick started praying about planting a church in the heart of Hollywood in 2004. January 2006 RLA launched its first Sunday morning service. RLA now packs out 3 services each Sunday at the Helen Bernstein High School. Brian Ortize is their music ministry pastor; he’s a talented man with an ear for tone and a heart for the Lord. RLA is blessed with a roster of pro touring and local session musicians to draw off. What ever you might think a Hollywood church might look like, let me tell you what I’ve been blessed to observe… The worship at RLA is unpretentious, beautiful and an authentic response to what God is doing in their community. FOH is located in the middle of the room, and so I’ve been treated to be able to mix in the middle of an engaged congregation as they worship their King. More about that later…

The Helen Bernstein High School courtyard is the tiered courtyard that you see on the TV drama GLEE. This school was masterfully built in an inner-city part of LA. The soft seat auditorium holds about 1000 folks, with theatre style diffusion panels from 8′ up and dense fiberglass absorption from 8′ to the floor. The room is quite tight from 200Hz up. The bottom end tends to ring out, and so we run a little light on the subs to keep things together.

RLA rents the facility, so everything needed to pack up and be kept in local storage. Kungpow Production was commissioned to build a system that could be setup by volunteers in 45 minutes, and stored in a room though a couple standard door ways. Nothing could be attached to the structure, which ruled out flying the PA, lighting or projection. In addition, we had to run the whole rig on the 20A Edison outlets available around the stage.

PA
When I got involved, the sound team lead by Brian Garcia was considering a ground stacked 8 box Nexo GEO S12/RS18 rig. Given the dimensions of the room, the limited stage thrust, and the fact that the rig had to be setup and torn down each week, the Nexo engineering team recommended that the church limit the rig to 2 GEO S12′s stacked in a horizontal array on 2 RS18′s per side. While this rig would have been a huge improvement over the Mackie SR1530′s, the team was concerned that the rig might not provide the kind of SPL they were out for.

Enter the Tannoy VQ NET60‘s. From the moment I first heard the VQ’s I knew I was in love. The VQs are a point source array. They’re terribly efficient, articulate and smooth in the vocal range, and punchy. We chose to run 2 VQNET 60′s, 2 VQ MB’s and 1 VNET 218DR per side, which is a lot of PA for a room this size. GC PRO masterfully sourced the gear, and let me tell you, everyone was impressed the day we lit the fuse on this rig. The PA run on available power. We’ve got all 4 tops on one 20A circuit per side. Each Sub runs on it’s own 20A circuit. Once I got the MB’s dialed in using the VNET software controller, I listened to a handful of my favorite songs at a range of volumes and eq’ed the boxes with the available parametric eq. This rig presents detail that I’ve only ever heard on audiophile systems. Later that afternoon, a handful of musicians and pro mix engineers ran the VQ’s through there paces. Everyone was impressed, some commented that the rig occurred like a mastering monitor system. Oh yeah and it can get scary loud.

CONSOLE
Four consoles were considered for this project: The Allen Heath iLive T112/iDR48, Digico SD9 & stage rack, Soundcraft Vi4 and the Avid Venue Profile. Since a number of the sound mixers made a living using Protools for film and television work, the Profile console emerged as an early front runner. I must admit, initially I protested selecting the Venue, mainly because I have had great experiences training volunteers on the iLive desk, and/or when a more sophisticated approach is needed I prefer the workflow of the Vistronic interface on the Soundcraft Vi series. The decision for the Venue was pretty much made when the Digico SD9 entered the fray. Perhaps using Waves plug-ins via Soundgrid would get the mix operators enough of the plug-in experience they knew so well… In the end after each approach was costed out, the support policies understood and factored in, and after collecting the opinions of a number of touring FOH mixers that the team knew, we decided to go with the Venue Profile system.

NOTABLE
Total Structures did some incredible work building custom rolling speaker carts for us. The Tannoys roll out of storage stacked and pre-wired. This configuration trimmed 30 minutes off the setup time and eliminated operator error when hooking up the PA.

The Radial Engineering Custom Shop built us four 8X4 sub-snakes that are pulled to each of the key positions on stage. The sub-snakes terminate with Veam connectors at the stage rack and keep the stage clean. It’s a clean system that goes together quickly and allows our volunteer teams to work in parallel to get our mics and powered monitors situated and cabled quickly.

Digigram ES220′swere implemented to carry audio to and from the video room over CAT5. The Digigram Ethersound system has worked flawlessly offering us a low-latency, reliable connection that eliminated the grounding issues we previously struggled with.

VIDEO
RLA uses a pair of Song PWMEX1s and a Newtek TriCaster 300 to archive the sermons for podcasts, and to send a feed to a cry-room. Kungpow was given the opportunity to consolidate their video production switcher, and we did just that. We racked the Tri-caster, added a SSD audio recorder and a AJA KAI PRO to capture the HD-SDI signal from the TRI-Caster. The whole system is pre-wired in a rolling rack that sets up in seconds, shaving another 30~45 minutes off the setup time.

LIGHTING
I love the fact that RLA has a focused strategy for lighting. The elect to use CYC lights and side lighting for the worship team. With no front wash, the musicians fade into the shadows on stage. It’s a great look, and an approach that’s very conducive to
clarifying that it’s not about the people on stage. We run a 8 Chauvet Colorado 1 Tours on stands, and 8 Colorado Batten 72‘s for the CYC. We’re using the Jands Vista software with an M1 console on a Mac to control the lights, and a couple W-DMX transceivers to get the DMX signal to the stage.

I’m one of those guys who’s spent a lot of time on both side of the mixing console. Sometimes as a worship leader or house musician, sometimes mixing FOH or tracking the band live.

Over the years I have observed the interaction of musicians, technicians, production equipment and venue staff.  Like many of you, I’ve experienced the gamut of outcomes from pure bliss to utter despair.  I’ve learned the patterns that show up when it’s all working in harmony.  And I delight in the opportunity to share those patterns with you.

I am driven to excel at production design because I have come to recognize that most churches don’t have a clear strategy or clear outcomes in mind when they go about sorting out their production needs.  Over the years I have come to stand for a holistic approach to production design, one that keeps the artists, technicians and financiers in mind.  I stand for:

Great tube amps can be really inspiring to play.  When they’re dialed into their sweet spot, then put the tone in your hands, offering you an incredible range of expression.

We all have our favorite amps that have just the right amount of breakup, handle our favorite pedals well and vibe right on stage.  Of late I’ve been on a quest to find an amp that does all that at a wattage low enough to use on stage.  It’s tough.  In my experience even a 10W valve amp can be too loud for may stages, let alone my Marshall SuperBass 100.  Open back combo amps spray sound everywhere.  412 beam like a flashlight.  If either are pointed at the sound guy, you gotta know that it’s going to affect his ability to mix.

Add to that the fact that most guitarists are not in touch with the “on-axis” speaker sound.  Guitars amps usually sit on the floor, and we’re usually a few feet in front listening to the speaker at an angle.  If you were to get down on the floor and listen to whats coming straight out of the speaker,  you know the sound you’ve aimed directly at your audience’s heads is, well a little harsh.

So on behalf of a great mix, and a happy audience many guitarists have and technical folk have though long and hard about how to achieve great guitar tone without generating a lot, or perhaps any physical volume on stage.

Things are different in the studio.  We’re in the  control room listening to our dialed in, screaming loud, miked up amp that’s sitting in a isolation booth.  While it’s not the same as being in the room with the amp, it’s advantageous to be playing our parts in the full context of the rhythm section and vocals.

In-ear monitors are a staple on many stages now.  Just like in the studio, a  great in-ear mix puts your tone clearly into the context of the band and the songs your playing.  If you’re on “ears” you’re already somewhat comfortable with listening to your amp miked up, instead of listening to it directly on stage.  In some cases crafty technicians have used this opportunity to “isolate” the guitar amp’s speaker into a portable Iso booth, to keep the sound off the stage.  In some situation artists have embraced POD’s/Tonelab’s/AxeFX’s to achieve their miked up amp tone.

The problem with digital.

Digital doesn’t sit well with some guitarists.  They miss the “warmth” of their tubes and the straight forward nature of dial in their favorite amp.  With modelers some guitarists feel like they’re always tweaking in search of a tone that will transport them to that magical place.

As a keen observer of guitarists, I’ve noticed that many guitarists tend to go “hog wild” when they get their first POD.  They lather up their tones with tons of cool effects, and switch amp models in an attempt to get great cleans, killer crunch and soaring leads.  Very few guitarists treat their modeler like an amp, very few take the time to dial in a single model like they would a new amp, or hit it with their pedal board.  Digital offers endless possibilities, and sometimes the endlessness can be a distraction.

Making Digital work.

Bottom like amp modelers are on some of the most high end stages you could imagine.  Here’s my recommendation for making them work:

1. Start by turning off all the effects and auditioning the amps dry.  Look for a single amp that does something close to your thing.  Listen to it using the headphones/in-ears you’ll be using at the gig.

2. Once you’ve found a model that’s starting to work for you.  Dial though the cabinet selections.  One will pop.  Don’t pick the one with the massive bottom end, pick the one that feels real, and offers you the warmth you need.

3. Then dial though the microphone selections and choose the one that offers the most natural sound, clarity and detail.  Great.  Now save that.  Go back and start dialing in your amp.

4. Get the tone controls where you like, (don’t be afraid to go to extremes), and set the drive to put as much control into your hands a possible. Remember that in most pop/rock situations less is more when it comes to distortion.  Save it.

5. If you’re going to hit it with your pedal board, then move on to dialing in your pedals to work well with the amp tone.  If you want to use your modeler for effects as well, then use this presets as a template for all your presets.  Try to keep the amp, cab and mic selections the same on each presets, and dial in the effects and amp drive to make the preset work.

When it comes to hardware modelers, there are a number of Brands to consider, Line 6 POD, Vox Tonelab, Fractal AxeFX, AVID Eleven and the Boss GT10 all have their strengths and weaknesses.  Then there’s the field PC based products like Amplitube, Guitar Rig and PODFarm.  I’ve listened and compared them all, in numbers shoot outs and live situations.

Along the way I’ve learned that you don’t necessarily need the most expensive or the latest and greatest to get an excellent outcome.  Here’s an idea:  Make a recording of your favorite amp miked up, dial it in until your really pleases with the sound.  Load it on your iPOD, grab your in-ears and head on down to your local music store.  Spend time with each of the modelers, and try to re-create that tone.  You’ll know which modeler is right for you when you dial it in to do the thing that inspires you.

An Analog

Another valid approach is to make your valve amp work on stage by use of power attenuators, power soaks, load boxes and or an isolation cab or cab simulated DI.

We’ve had a lot of success with the THD Hotplate.  Make sure you get the one that’s setup for your output impedance, but she’ll do wonders on behalf of achieving your amps sweet spot at a useable stage level.  The down side is that power attenuators can leave your amp feeling a little compressed and stiff.  You’ll get passed it, but be forewarned.

TIP:  if you’ve got a PODxt handing around, drive the pod with the THD’s line output, select “Tube Preamp” set the controls to noon, and select your favorite cab/mic combination for the ultimate cab simulated DI experience.  Failing a PODxt the Palmer PDI-03 and Radial JDX are worthy Cab Simulator / Load Box/ DI’s.

The final solution we’ll explore are isolation cabs.  They put a speaker in a sound isolated box with a microphone.  While they might sound a little compressed, they work great and  let your amp do it’s thing.  We think the trick with iso-cabs is to run them with a lower wattage amp.  That way you can use a speaker you know and love and get the outcome you’ve always wanted.   Check out the Randall Isolation 12, Demeter SSC-1 or the AxeTrak.

Whatever you choose, play well and enjoy the flow.

I enjoy exploring the origins of language. Here’s a quick word study I did for a presentation that was insightful….

Technology (Technologist)

1 a: 1615, “discourse or treatise on an art or the arts,” from Gk. tekhnologia “systematic treatment of an art, craft, or technique,”

1 b: the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area : engineering

2: a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge

3: the specialized aspects of a particular field of endeavor

Etymology: Greek technologia systematic treatment of an art, from techn? art, skill, techno- from Gk. tekhno-, combining form of tekhne “art, skill, craft, method, system,” probably from PIE base *tek- “shape, make” (cf. Skt. taksan “carpenter,” L. textere “to weave;” see texture). -logy “a speaking, discourse, treatise, doctrine, theory, science,” from Gk. -logia, TECHNE – Greek Godess of Art

Technique

1 a: the manner in which technical details are treated (as by a writer) or basic physical movements are used (as by a dancer) ; also : ability to treat such details or use such movements

2 a: a body of technical methods (as in a craft or in scientific research) b: a method of accomplishing a desired aim

Etymology: French, from technique technical, from Greek technikos, 1817, from Fr. technique “formal practical details in artistic expression,” noun use of adj. technique “of art, technical,” from Gk. tekhnikos (see techno-).

Technical

1a: having special and usually practical knowledge especially of a mechanical or scientific subject

Etymology: Greek technikos of art, skillful, from techn? art, craft, skill, 1617, “skilled in a particular art or subject,” formed in Eng. from Gk. tekhnikos “of art,” from tekhne “art, skill, craft” (see techno-).

Technician

1: a specialist in the technical details of a subject or occupation

2: one who has acquired the technique of an art or other area of specialization

Etymology: 1833, “person expert in the technicalities of some question,” from technic “technical” (1612), from Gk. tekhnikos (see techno-). Meaning “person skilled in mechanical arts” is recorded from 1939.

Musician

c.1374, “one skilled in music,”

Music

c.1250, from O.Fr. musique (12c.), from L. musica, from Gk. mousike techne “art of the Muses,” from fem. of mousikos “pertaining to the Muses,” from Mousa “Muse.” In classical Greece, any art in which the Muses presided, but especially music. Meaning “film or theater piece of which song is an essential element” is from 1938. The use of letters to denote music notes is probably at least from ancient Greece, as their numbering system was ill-suited to the job.

Artist

1581, “one who cultivates one of the fine arts,” from M.Fr. artiste, from It. artista, from M.L. artista, from L. ars (see art). Originally used especially of the arts presided over by the Muses (history, poetry, comedy, tragedy, music, dancing, astronomy), but also used 17c. for “one skilled in any art or craft” (including professors, surgeons, craftsmen, cooks). Now especially of “one who practices the arts of design or visual arts” (a sense first attested 1747). Artistic first recorded 1753; artistry 1868.

Word Endings

• -cracy - from M.L. -cratia, from Gk. -kratia “power, rule,” from kratos “strength,” from PIE *kratus “power, strength” (see hard). The connective -o- has come to be viewed as part of it.
• -phile – via Fr. and L. from Gk. -philos, common suffix in personal names, from philos “loving, dear,” from philein “to love.”
• -phobe – comb. form meaning “fearing,” from Fr. -phobe, from L. -phobus, from Gk. -phobos “fearing,” from phobos “fear, panic, flight,” phobein “put to flight, frighten” (see phobia).
• -sophy – suffix meaning “knowledge,” from O.Fr. -sophie, from L. -sophia, from Gk. -sophia, from sophia “skill, wisdom, knowledge,” of unknown origin.