Production Musings

K-1 System Installation

// March 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // Audio, Stage Design

Much of my attention this past week has been directed towards installing a small audio visual system in our K-1 room.  Our kid’s ministry recently restructured in order to combine Kindergarten and 1st graders.  Along with this came the need for a small system to support a mini production that will be fairly video heavy and include several actors. I wanted to share this install because I know many churches are looking for DIY methods to support their various services.  This is a documentation of the route I chose.

Note:  I am not a certified system designer.  I do not use software such as Ease for precision.  There may very well be a more professional install for this room and as always, I’m open to critique.

Here’s what we chose.

Audio:  JBL Control 28 Speakers w/ SB2 Sub.  I chose these because of their cost, coverage (90ºx90º), weight (12 lbs), and ease of hanging.  3 Control 28s arranged as a center cluster provides the 180º of coverage needed.  The challenge was how to hang from drop ceiling.  Our solution: the Chief CMA-455.  It’s a 2×2 mounting plate that can be flown above the drop ceiling.  We flew this from the purlins, used 4 turnbuckles to level, anchored the mount to the drop ceiling grid and we were ready to hang.  The mount was also safety cabled back up to the purlin…just in case.  The JBL MTC-28/25CM ceiling mount arms were used to hang each speaker.  Each Control 28 is safety cabled to the mount.  The SB2 sub was mounted about 3″ from the ceiling on the back wall, stage right.  A Draper screen will be installed next week in front of the sub.  Allen&Heath ZED14, Sennheiser wireless systems, QSC amplification and DBX DriverackPA for system management.

Media:  We love Renewed Vision‘s presentation software, ProPresenter.  With our site license it just made sense to stick with this software.  I’m very confident with it’s stability especially when it comes to handling a lot of video.  A 20″ iMac w/ good size hard drive — we were granted permission to rip the curriculum DVDs to the local hard drive for more reliable playback.

Lighting:  Available power was an issue in this room.  I know LED lighting has a way to go but in this case it was hard to resist.  I chose Irradiant’s LEDPro64 Short fixtures.  They were very cost effective.  Since they are RGB LED mixing, the fixtures don’t produce the best white but for K1 children they’ll work just fine.  When we tested them today the different colors produced some great effects on the stage paint…completely changing the look.  I may post a video later on of this.

I must give a shout to my friends at Point Source Audio for all of their help with this project.  I wish every production team had a group of professionals they could trust like my friends at PSA!

I like photos….so here’s the progress thus far:

2009 Father Daughter Dance

// February 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Audio, Stage Design, Thoughts

Fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
- John Mayer

This is becoming a tradition around here at Blue Ridge.  Once a year we get all the dads and their girls (about 250-300 or so), both young and old, and have a fun night of food and dancing.  We typically sell tickets to this event for a nominal fee ($5 or so) to cover the cost of some of the food.  For this event, we used the Dynacord XA-2 system for audio.  The system itself boasts H-Class amplification at 4,000w per amp.  It’s designed to consume small amounts of power but really pack a punch.  It can easily sustain over 135dB and throw long distances, but of course that would be very dangerous to the health of our hearing.  Absurd really.   I love the sound of the system, it’s weight, ease of use (really, an impaired monkey could set it up without damage), and it’s mobility.  Check it out if you need a nice portable system.

The event was DJ’d by Mark Lamb.  He provided his own equipment and patched into the system.  Lighting and truss was provided by Lester Hamrick of Just Right AV.  This combination created a great environment full of energy.  Each father or daughter could submit requests to Mark or his wife Kara and they’d read them aloud.  This element added a great deal of meaning because many of the messages were so meaningful and impacting.  One daughter said, “Dad I love you.  You have always been there and have always protected me.  You’re a solid rock.”  I bet that guy is gonna go home filled up!  Or the dads who gave shout outs to their daughters to tell them how special they are and how much they care for and love them.  I think it’ll be cool to have a daughter one day, or a son will be great too.

We had a little photobooth set up as well so the girls could go get their photos taken.  We assigned each father/daughter a number so we could manage the flow to the photo line.

Now playing:  LIonel Richie – “You’re an Angel”

Next up:  Will Smith – “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It”

The Question I Didn’t Think Of

// February 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Audio, Thoughts

Last week a friend from another local church asked me for advice for splitting several of their audio signals and asked for my thoughts on the best way to go about this.  After a few more questions, I suggested using a transformer isolated splitter and used the old analogy of splitting a water hose.  If you and I want to wash our cars at the same time but only have one water hose, we could add a simple “Y” split in the hose.  After all, it’s cheap, quick, and easy!  The problem, however, arises when you take the nozzle of one side of the split and begin washing your car.  All goes well for a while, that is, until I take the other nozzle and begin washing mine.  Now we have a water pressure problem!

The same thing happens with audio when we use a simple “Y” splitter.  A transformer isolator solves this problem by isolating both side of the split signal.  Now a FOH tech can adjust his gain structure without affecting the signal going to, say, an audio/video recording tech, monitor tech, etc.

In my friends case, they wanted to split the signal coming to the FOH console to the console and also to their Aviom system.  We settled on the Whirlwind MLTSP1x2 splitter for the job.

A few days pass.

I get a call.  “Drew, it doesn’t seem to be working right.  The band can’t hear the signal.”  Now, they have a wonderful FOH guy named Derrick who spends a great deal of time and energy supporting the band and teaching team at their church.  So, after hanging out with Derrick and looking at the problem this past Saturday afternoon, we both agreed that the splitter was connected correctly (and I’ll add that it was done beautifully).  And then I noticed the problem, and the the error I had made.  They were using the Aviom AN-16/I.

It’s designed for Line Level inputs.  We were sending it Mic level inputs.  Totally different input sensitivities!  What would be nice to have in this case, if the funds were available, would be the Aviom AN-16/I-M Input Module that’s made to receive both Line Level and Mic Level inputs.

So, my friends, be careful before giving advice. In my case, it came down to one question I didn’t ask, “What are we splitting into?” Really, it’s a pretty small issue. I mean it comes down to a difference of only, a volt or so, but that small difference has huge implications when it comes to technical support!

We’re Legal!

// January 31st, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Audio

As things are now back on for the Feb. 17th DTV transision, we’re now 100% legal!  I’m not sure when the FCC first iniated the 700mHz bandwidth auction but I remember being at a vendor training seminar at the Electro Voice facility in Minneapolis about three and a half years ago when I first heard about it.  It’s been the buzz of blogs and the media and frankly, I’ll be glad to see all the commercials go!  I sincerely doubt that there’s anyone left who does not know whats going on.  However, in case there are check out Mike’s blog – I think he’s done a fantastic job staying on top of the whole thing!

We had 5 systems operating in the 700mHz range.  Yesterday when I left, we had none.  Perhaps there are some churches in Canada looking for a good deal on some great Sennheiser EW300 IEM systems!!

Along the way, we added one more system to expand the number of IEM mixes by 2.  Rehearsal Thursday was smooth as ever!