HELP!!!The Church's mixer

[apl]

I know some of this sounds like bad advice but you want to keep the stage volume down for worship.
It's going to take a lot of adjusting for everyone to get used to the lower stage volume but it will work.

No, it's great advice. I'd add e-drums and everyone uses in-ear monitoring.

The biggest challenge of all in church sound is finding capable people to operate the system. Think about, they've dubbed Rokket the expert, and by his own admssion he doesn't feel all that qualified.

 

[Rokket]

For a cluster like that you will need a high ceiling.

I would not use any guitar or bass amps on stage. Go DI on every thing that you can.
The reason I say go DI is so you you can keep the stage down. (I know DI E-guitar sucks...Use a cab sim)
Are the drums in a GOBO, If not ask the drummer to play with rods.
Keep the stage volume down.
Get the drummer (and bass player if you can) on headphones.
If you can get 3 or 4 monitor mixes that would help a lot.
1 for the Drummer and Bass player
1 for the Guitars
1 For Keys
1 For Vocals

If its a small church I would keep it in mono.

I know some of this sounds like bad advice but you want to keep the stage volume down for worship.
It's going to take a lot of adjusting for everyone to get used to the lower stage volume but it will work.

I don't know about getting the bass and guitar to go DI. They have amps and the pre amp outs are going to the board. They are always turning up because the stage monitors are not set up properly. If I can get the monitors set up (there are only 2, and they can't afford to buy more right now), I think I can convince them to leave the volumes down.
It's a fairly large room, the ceilings are at least 20 feet high, and it will seat 300 easily. The acoustics are pretty good, with the exception of a hardwood floor.
The drums are behind a plexiglass shield (is that GOBO???) and there are 4 mics on it: kick drum, snare/high hat and two overheads. I was going to experiment with XY AB and a couple other mic patterns to see if I can bring the tom tom volume up. The SD condensors are picking up the cymbols just fine, but the toms are buried.
I split it up into a stereo mix and they were amazed at how much it improved the clarity of the mix. They had it in mono prior to this, and it was working, but they prefer the stereo mix. I have to work the board and bring it to the busses this Saturday, so that I can utilize the built-in reverb on the board if I can't get the outboard unit working (as I stated above, they don't know if it works, it's never been set up).
I will report on my progress as I get there. I am going to call the old sound guy and find out the make and model of the mixer so that I can get the manual and check out the schematics.

Thanks for all the tips. I hope to get some help later on in the week!

 

[Rokket]

No, it's great advice. I'd add e-drums and everyone uses in-ear monitoring.

The biggest challenge of all in church sound is finding capable people to operate the system. Think about, they've dubbed Rokket the expert, and by his own admssion he doesn't feel all that qualified.

You hit it on the head. The problem is that the guy who was the expert, and started setting up the system, left the church because he was active duty Navy and he got transferred. So they were stuck with not having a clue. I am not the expert in live sound. I am barely a novice at recording. But I am all they have.
With the help of all of you, and blessings from God, I should be able to pull it off.

I wish we could afford in-ear monitors, but they can't even buy a couple more mics because most of their budget is going to pay the building off.

 

[timboZ]

Rokket, Check out churchsoundcheck.com
They also have an email type form, or you can look into the archives.
Curt also has some good docs up on the site, tips on monitor mixes and other things.

 

[Rokket]

Rokket, Check out churchsoundcheck.com
They also have an email type form, or you can look into the archives.
Curt also has some good docs up on the site, tips on monitor mixes and other things.

Thanks! I'll check that out!

 

[Rokket]

I think my biggest hurdle now is going to be to figure out exactly what the mixer is capable of. Once I get that down, the rest should fall into place.

 

[Rokket]

Well, it's all for not. I am leaving for my new ship tomorrow, so whatever I did is going to have to do until I can get back. It'll give me time to learn a few things until I can come back, which might not be for a few months...