Well, it's that time of year, cool and dry. That combination makes for a more electrifying climate due to static buildup. Static buildup occurs simply by just walking. Once you touch something that's grounded, the static buildup discharges. A discharge could even occur between what appears to be ungrounded elements just to achieve balance, like after you've driven your car, stop, get out, and touch the door again.
In the church, static discharges manifest themselves as pops through the sound system, usually caused by someone touching a wired up microphone after walking a while. Not only are static discharges annoying, they can damage sensitive electronics. Sometimes the discharge won't occur until the microphone touches the lips. This would be the case if the microphone was insulated from ground where held, but the screen wasn't (poorly designed, IMHO).
So, how can you minimize static buildup?
Well, you can add humidity, use anti-static sprays, use anti-static wipes, to name a few.
I prefer anti-static sprays and those anti-static dryer cloths. Use the spray over carpeted areas most traveled, and use the dryer cloths to wipe hands and microphones just prior to use. They can even be used on areas of clothing which are clinging. If your services use fog machines, you may be static free anyway.
Hope your services are static free this fall and winter.
Ken
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Mmm, tight bottoms
So, you're walking along and there it is, a tight bottom! No, not of the female variety, but audio of course!
Well, we got some more subs on the floor and some folks came in, Christian and Brandon, and they showed me a thing or two about how to get a tight bottom.
It all has to do with compression and when it's applied.
Compressors are used to squash signals under a variety of conditions. These conditions are determined by knobs labeled Threshold, Attack, Release, Ratio, Output Level to name a few. You can use them to tame the occassional hot signal, like when the keyboard changes patches to the unforgiveable "organ" (I don't know why keyboard manufacturers can't get their patch levels the same from one to the next, but I digress).
Threshold is at what level of the signal the compressor looks for work to do.
Attack is how soon after there's work to do, do you really want me to do it, me, the compressor. A setting of 0 (zero) or fully counterclockwise means "right now".
Release is how soon after I've done the compression do you want me to let go.
Ratio is how much squash of the signal do you want, a little bit (1.3:1) or a lot (4:1).
Output Level, sometimes known as make-up gain, is the boost in the signal which isn't compressed to pass thru. I use this on vocals and pastors so that when the compressor does kick in, it's not as obvious that it is. It's one way to maintain an even level.
Anyway, back to our tight bottoms.
What we want is the original signal to pass through and then squashed so all we hear is what we want, umph. This means the attack is a few milliseconds later. This of course needs playing with depending on the room and environment. You can start with say 30ms. Likewise the release will vary depending on how fast the kick drum is playing. You don't want it so high that the next beat of the kick is still squashed since you want to hear it again. 4/4 time, if you know music, might be about 1 beat per sec, and there's 1000ms per sec so 500ms might be a max setting for a release. If the settings aren't quite right, you'll hear the compressor "pumping". We don't want to level the result, so leave the output level at 0. The threshold gets adjusted based on signal level.
That's my simplistic understanding of what I learned last night. Yes, been running sound for a while, and still learning. So, you too! Don't ever stop learning nor thinking you know it all. That's when God will burst that bubble. We all can learn from someone. I just hope that what I wrote in this blog is accurate or close enough to get your bottoms tight.
Serving Him in sound reinforcement,
Ken
Well, we got some more subs on the floor and some folks came in, Christian and Brandon, and they showed me a thing or two about how to get a tight bottom.
It all has to do with compression and when it's applied.
Compressors are used to squash signals under a variety of conditions. These conditions are determined by knobs labeled Threshold, Attack, Release, Ratio, Output Level to name a few. You can use them to tame the occassional hot signal, like when the keyboard changes patches to the unforgiveable "organ" (I don't know why keyboard manufacturers can't get their patch levels the same from one to the next, but I digress).
Threshold is at what level of the signal the compressor looks for work to do.
Attack is how soon after there's work to do, do you really want me to do it, me, the compressor. A setting of 0 (zero) or fully counterclockwise means "right now".
Release is how soon after I've done the compression do you want me to let go.
Ratio is how much squash of the signal do you want, a little bit (1.3:1) or a lot (4:1).
Output Level, sometimes known as make-up gain, is the boost in the signal which isn't compressed to pass thru. I use this on vocals and pastors so that when the compressor does kick in, it's not as obvious that it is. It's one way to maintain an even level.
Anyway, back to our tight bottoms.
What we want is the original signal to pass through and then squashed so all we hear is what we want, umph. This means the attack is a few milliseconds later. This of course needs playing with depending on the room and environment. You can start with say 30ms. Likewise the release will vary depending on how fast the kick drum is playing. You don't want it so high that the next beat of the kick is still squashed since you want to hear it again. 4/4 time, if you know music, might be about 1 beat per sec, and there's 1000ms per sec so 500ms might be a max setting for a release. If the settings aren't quite right, you'll hear the compressor "pumping". We don't want to level the result, so leave the output level at 0. The threshold gets adjusted based on signal level.
That's my simplistic understanding of what I learned last night. Yes, been running sound for a while, and still learning. So, you too! Don't ever stop learning nor thinking you know it all. That's when God will burst that bubble. We all can learn from someone. I just hope that what I wrote in this blog is accurate or close enough to get your bottoms tight.
Serving Him in sound reinforcement,
Ken
Monday, September 29, 2008
Audio, a work in progress
Well, we've been in this new building for almost a year, and still, the audio needs help. The latest addition, speakers on the stage, and subs on the floor.
The speakers on the stage are to provide coverage to those folks in the first few rows of seats who are not in the main coverage pattern of the flown speakers. Unfortuneately, near as I can tell, there is no trim on the speakers in order to attenuate the one within 2 feet of a seat vs. those 6 feet away. And, these are great when seated, but as soon as the audience stands, guess what, no coverage to the 2nd row of seats (assuming of course that people are in the 1st row. :-) )
The subs on the floor, more to come by the way, are to get more umph in the bottom end, move some air, compress your chest as the kick drum is played. So, those of you who like the low end, go ahead and sit closer to the stage since that's where the initial impact of air movement will be felt. I could feel it pretty good during rehearsal last Wednesday, but didn't really feel it this past Sunday. I wasn't mixing though. :-)
And that brings up another point. Those of us who mix at front of house, do have our own styles. I tend to be more rock 'n roll, and others tend to be more musical or studio-like. We each use our giftings and knowledge the best we can for the moment. Grant it, in live audio, there's no re-do, you just roll with it, hope you get no feedback, and that the mics are opened when they should be. Sure, we make mistakes, and no one is perfect. We try to get a good mix with all the distractions of others relaying information to us while in the heat of mixing. It isn't easy and takes a certain kind of personality to deal with (or ignore) "it". There are some in the audience who loved the mix and some who didn't. There are those who have been in bands, are still in bands, and have a thing or two to say. We just roll with it, take what we can from it and hope to be better and better as time rolls on.
Think about it. A front of house guy can't really take his instrument home to practice, so the only practice we get is during rehearsals or live shows. That's why the better ones have been doing it for a long time. The really good ones keep on learning.
We've all heard the "God isn't finished with me yet", and so it is with audio. We're not finished yet either. More enhancements to come.
Serving Him in sound reinforcement,
Ken
The speakers on the stage are to provide coverage to those folks in the first few rows of seats who are not in the main coverage pattern of the flown speakers. Unfortuneately, near as I can tell, there is no trim on the speakers in order to attenuate the one within 2 feet of a seat vs. those 6 feet away. And, these are great when seated, but as soon as the audience stands, guess what, no coverage to the 2nd row of seats (assuming of course that people are in the 1st row. :-) )
The subs on the floor, more to come by the way, are to get more umph in the bottom end, move some air, compress your chest as the kick drum is played. So, those of you who like the low end, go ahead and sit closer to the stage since that's where the initial impact of air movement will be felt. I could feel it pretty good during rehearsal last Wednesday, but didn't really feel it this past Sunday. I wasn't mixing though. :-)
And that brings up another point. Those of us who mix at front of house, do have our own styles. I tend to be more rock 'n roll, and others tend to be more musical or studio-like. We each use our giftings and knowledge the best we can for the moment. Grant it, in live audio, there's no re-do, you just roll with it, hope you get no feedback, and that the mics are opened when they should be. Sure, we make mistakes, and no one is perfect. We try to get a good mix with all the distractions of others relaying information to us while in the heat of mixing. It isn't easy and takes a certain kind of personality to deal with (or ignore) "it". There are some in the audience who loved the mix and some who didn't. There are those who have been in bands, are still in bands, and have a thing or two to say. We just roll with it, take what we can from it and hope to be better and better as time rolls on.
Think about it. A front of house guy can't really take his instrument home to practice, so the only practice we get is during rehearsals or live shows. That's why the better ones have been doing it for a long time. The really good ones keep on learning.
We've all heard the "God isn't finished with me yet", and so it is with audio. We're not finished yet either. More enhancements to come.
Serving Him in sound reinforcement,
Ken
Monday, May 5, 2008
Where's the subs?
No, not the kind you eat; this is an audio blog afterall. :-)
The subs hang in the ceiling. We chose that for more even coverage, but especially so that those nearest them won't have that wind-blown look.
It seems of late, I'm getting more and more complaints of no low end. But I know I get plenty where I'm at in the mix position.
So, took a walk around this 270-degree room, and sure enough, there are seats where it is just gone.
What's the cause? Well, our absorption isn't completely installed yet. This means that the audio bounces off walls. Because of this, the sound will be louder in some spots because the signals combine to a greater amplitutde, and at other spots the sound is just gone, because the signals were of opposite phase and thus cancelled each other out. So you get these lobes and nulls if you were to map it all out.
So, be patient. Until we get the finished treatment installed to prevent all the bouncing around, we will have this problem.
It sure gives us audio guys a bad rap though.
Anyway, hope this finds you well.
Until the next time,
Ken
The subs hang in the ceiling. We chose that for more even coverage, but especially so that those nearest them won't have that wind-blown look.
It seems of late, I'm getting more and more complaints of no low end. But I know I get plenty where I'm at in the mix position.
So, took a walk around this 270-degree room, and sure enough, there are seats where it is just gone.
What's the cause? Well, our absorption isn't completely installed yet. This means that the audio bounces off walls. Because of this, the sound will be louder in some spots because the signals combine to a greater amplitutde, and at other spots the sound is just gone, because the signals were of opposite phase and thus cancelled each other out. So you get these lobes and nulls if you were to map it all out.
So, be patient. Until we get the finished treatment installed to prevent all the bouncing around, we will have this problem.
It sure gives us audio guys a bad rap though.
Anyway, hope this finds you well.
Until the next time,
Ken
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A blog? I don't have one!
So, here I am running sound for Maximum Impact at my church 12Stone Church and a guy named Dean comes up and chats about all things audio. We talked about the M7CL console in use, the Danley speaker cabinets, what I use the DCA's for, you name it.
And then, he asks if I have a blog. Well gee, I never thought of having one. Being a volunteer, the church doesn't yet have sharepoints for us to use, so the only alternative is to go create one on my own, offsite. I'd rather have a sharepoint for schedules and other information for my team, but that's another topic.
So, Dean, if you found me, you can thank yourself for inspiring me to get one going.
Anyway, I never put much thought into creating one or using the blog capabilities of my facebook login, strobelight.audio, for those interested, since my first thought is that a blog is time consuming. But then, I think, I only need to update it when I feel like it, when I might have the time. I figure, may as well have one, at least I can get things off my chest as issues crop up. "Issues?" you may ask; sure the Church isn't immune to people issues from within, I myself trying to come up with other audio team schedules, thoughts of a recent message, you name it.
So, for those of you who found this, welcome. For those team members reading, I trust this will be informative.
I don't claim to be the eloquent writer, so flames off as we used to say on newsgroups. But then, blogs aren't newsgroups. I suppose this is more of a one way treatise from me. Ha! Although, feel free to leave comments and such, with my approval, of course.
Thank you for your time,
Serving Him in sound reinforcement,
Ken
And then, he asks if I have a blog. Well gee, I never thought of having one. Being a volunteer, the church doesn't yet have sharepoints for us to use, so the only alternative is to go create one on my own, offsite. I'd rather have a sharepoint for schedules and other information for my team, but that's another topic.
So, Dean, if you found me, you can thank yourself for inspiring me to get one going.
Anyway, I never put much thought into creating one or using the blog capabilities of my facebook login, strobelight.audio, for those interested, since my first thought is that a blog is time consuming. But then, I think, I only need to update it when I feel like it, when I might have the time. I figure, may as well have one, at least I can get things off my chest as issues crop up. "Issues?" you may ask; sure the Church isn't immune to people issues from within, I myself trying to come up with other audio team schedules, thoughts of a recent message, you name it.
So, for those of you who found this, welcome. For those team members reading, I trust this will be informative.
I don't claim to be the eloquent writer, so flames off as we used to say on newsgroups. But then, blogs aren't newsgroups. I suppose this is more of a one way treatise from me. Ha! Although, feel free to leave comments and such, with my approval, of course.
Thank you for your time,
Serving Him in sound reinforcement,
Ken
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