I recently visited the my distributor of light and sound products and Burt showed me a bunch of great new products.

Lights
A new robotic light in both spot and wash versions. Now these lights are going to take the market in a whole new direction. They are about the size of a big coffee can with a price point (under $1K retail) that will make it great for Houses of Worship, DJ, Club, and Touring applications (believe me they are bright enough). The great thing about these LED lights is the capability to have 32 fixtures on one 20 amp circuit.

I will post picture as soon as they go on sale.

Speakers

The Omnisistem B3 R6/R12 Line Array will be available in an active version within the next 2 weeks. Great news for churches with up to 2000 people/seats. they can be configured as follows:
these arrays are extremely compact and with the addition of subs on the floor give you a 5 way system. more....

Tags: sound, sound systems, subs, line arrays, live sound

Now we have the trusses up and the mini line arrays in their right location. Here was the sequence of events.

We started the install on Thursday with the 2 uprights and finished the rest of the truss on Friday.



Read More...

Tags: sound, sound systems, subs, line arrays, live sound

Here is the "Live Stage" version of the Studio Gobo design.

The panel is 1/2 the density of the Studio Gobo design. You should notice that the surround uses two panel sizes. One 48" panel and four 36" panels to make the surround.
There are a couple of other things to notice as well, wheels that help you move the panels around and the space it provides for cable management.

Again I must point out that the most important ingredient to this design is the use of "Quietrock".





Get the full size image here....

Tags: sound, sound systems, subs, line arrays, live sound

Here is a temporary install of a mini line array for a small church in Tacoma WA. It is a temporary install because they are putting in a truss system very shortly and the speakers are not in the optimum position right now.

Here is a render of the future truss system with the speakers hanging in future location & a picture of where they are right now:


the new line arrays in their temporary location:

Read More...

Tags: sound, sound systems, subs, line arrays, live sound

Church Systems



Most church buildings today are not designed for sound, so even the smallest church building needs a sound system. Therefore the sound system is the cornerstone of every local church.

Why do churches go through at least 2 sound systems before they get one that really works?

The reason is that the music stores don't usually have the churches best interest at heart. While they do have good equipment, they usually don't have the necessary skills to determine your needs?

Do you think of speech reproduction first? or Do you design for music reproduction? There is a difference and You can have both. Read More...

Tags: line arrays, live sound, sound, sound systems, system design

I’ve added a link to the online interactive version of the “Test” ( see link in sidebar) or you can take the Test right here right now. Here is the “Test”




The online version does not have any questions from page 3 of the downloadable PDF file but is quite entertaining. It will give you a grade when you are done.

download “Audio Console Test” here

This is the test I use in my training seminar. For church media worship ministry leaders this will help you find a competent sound system engineer.

The biggest shortfall in church audio engineers is their ability to create a mix. They pretty much have a grasp of the functions of a board but lack the mixing skills. This is why I created the test, to reveal what they know or don’t know.

Tags: sound, sound systems, training, church

Well, here it is, the completed sound booth. We raised the floor one step ( 7” ) which gave better site lines and now all the personnel running the service can see the platform clearly. The sound from the main speakers has a clear path now.




Here is the old booth:



and the wiring below the board.



As you can see the original install was quite bad. Read More...

Tags: sound systems, system design, live sound, facility

The First Baptist Church in Tacoma gets a Sound/Video Booth overhaul. They have a very tight space and a lot of gear. We took their equipment list and put together a very efficient design. The install takes place from Jan 21 - 23. We are also raising the floor one step (7”) to get better visibility for the sound/video personnel.



Phase One of the overhaul was to move the monitors amps down to the platform. We did that in Nov ’09. The amps for the mains are still in the booth (as you can see on the audio rack on the right side of the booth).

Phase Two - the design, construction, fabrication and install of new booth.

Once the install is done I will post an update.

Tags: sound, sound systems, facility, fix, upgrading, church, system design

I just finished correcting a problem at the St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Issaquah. The problem was a very reverberant space with lots of echo. In the sanctuary there wasn’t a lot sound absorbing materials, tile floors, plaster walls in a basic rectangular shaped room. The 4 speakers providing sound to the 4 seating areas were located in the skylight structure. see pics Read More...

Tags: facility, fix, church, problems, system design, sound systems

Well here we are all finished with the install. We moved some of the equipment we replaced (with the new equipment) downstairs to a multifunction room. Put it all in a rack (see above pics) We also brought a feed down from the sanctuary so they could use this room as an overflow. Read More...

Tags: sound systems, Active, live sound, church, choir

I recently when to a church service where they had a new McCauley M Series system installed. The configuration consisted of 7 x M-90 modules, 1 x M-120, 2 x MS1 and 1 x AC355 per side. The sanctuary is a 80' x 80' x 26' (WxDxH) with a balcony.

The 2 MS1 cabinets where flown in a separate array next to the main array. I noticed some interesting things (no mids) with lots of sizzle in the high end. They had an acoustic guitar player as well as an electric guitar and you couldn't hear either one. The vocals where not very clear either. Because they did almost 90 degrees of vertical coverage they had some slap back and early reflections in the seating area. Read More...

Tags: sound systems, church, live sound, line arrays

Have you noticed that if you put your cell phone up to the ear that you don't use, it doesn't sound right. That's because your mind has trained your ear to use the right filters to compensate for the sound that your cell phone puts out. Read More...

Tags: sound, sound systems, training

There is a reason why that switch is there on sub-woofers. Read More...

Tags: system design, sound, sound systems, subs

When was the last time you went to a concert? I stopped going... why? The sound in the venue was terrible. The last one I went to was Eric Clapton when he toured with a 40 piece orchestra. Read More...

Tags: sound, sound systems

If you have a system that you are going to add to or just update some components, your existing speakers for example, the passive speakers are your best bet. Unless you are looking to really upgrade to the next level. I am working with Read More...

Tags: Passive, sound systems

I have had a lot of questions lately about whether to go active or passive in the choice for main speakers. While active is great, it does deserve some caveats. If you choose an active system make sure that you order one extra of every model you have in your system. The reason; if you have a problem with any of your speakers it will have to sent somewhere to get repaired. Having an extra allows you to keep the integrity of your system while the component is being repaired.
So which is better? Read More...

Tags: Active, sound systems

1. The pastor better be a pastor, someone who loves people, a people person.
2. Grounded in the word
3. Have a great sound system

The last one may sound funny, but it is very, very true. If the congregation can't hear the word, or the vocal intelligibility is poor, the church will not grow. I have a good case in point. A baptist pastor called one day and asked if they could improve the vocal intelligibility of their system because the older members were having a hard time understanding the pastor's preaching. Read More...

Tags: sound systems, facility, grow, upgrading, system design

Churches have migrated from the bullhorn and soapbox to fairly large complex sound systems. Most church buildings today are not designed for sound, so even the smallest church building needs a good sound system. Why do churches go through at least 2 sound systems before they get one that really works? Read More...

Tags: sound systems, church, sound

It seems that every 5 years from an install I get a call with comments like "Our system just doesn't sound good anymore" or "We need a better system". If the system was great 5 years ago why the indifference to it now? The answer is that we quickly get used to the way it sounds. The best remedy to an ailing system is to have it tuned. Every sound system needs to be tuned at least twice a year. Read More...

Tags: sound, church, sound systems