Often, you will see the line "when turning on three channels, the total output volume increases."  There is science in them thar words!

The first thing you must understand is how sound volumes are added.   read more »

Failure comes when we forget the fundamentals, be it basketball, chess, or live sound production. 

Here's the typical situation a sound tech encounters on a Sunday morning...  read more »

I was discussing reverb on vocals with a local musician whose mastered a few of his bands CD's.  He said that another musician told him the amount of reverb changes with the times.  "Sometimes, popular music uses a lot of reverb.  But today, very little is used."  If you apply it to a genre like pop or CCM, I might see a little of that.  It does seem the farther apart the years, the easier to see the difference.  The topic I see that needs to be raised is "how much reverb should I use in church worship songs here in 2009?"  read more »

Sonic space is the frequency range that an instrument or a vocal sound takes up when it is played.  That's the short definition but it's like saying paint is red or green in color without talking at all about what happens when you paint one color over another when the paints are still wet.  read more »

A long time ago, there was a painter on television named Bob Ross.  "Let's paint some happy little trees," I would hear him say.  He could paint mountains, trees, and streams in just minutes.  He was able to paint landscapes very well because he knew what trees looked like up close and from afar.  When I mix a live song, I'm painting a landscape picture like Bob...but with sound.  The more familiar I am with musical instruments and sound frequencies (the individual trees and bushes), the more beautiful a painting I can create.  read more »

I just finished reading an article by John Stackhouse on the terribly high volumes of worship bands during congregational praise times.

He claims five reasons why the band must turn down their volume.  read more »

This past weekend, I was training a new volunteer for my sound team.  He was sitting in the sound booth with me during the service so I could show him the work that's done during the service.  Several times, I found myself saying "you can do [whatever] for a slight improvement in the sound."  read more »

I know people who work on dead bodies.  I have several friends who, after graduating from college, went on to medical school.  They were given cadavers (dead bodies) which lasted throughout much of their schooling.  They dissected the bodies so they could learn how the body works; where nerve bundles are found and how muscles are connected, among other things.  In time, understanding the parts of the body meant gaining a better understanding of how the body works together as a whole.  read more »

Setting EQ vocals is easy if you know what you're doing.  The good news is much of that work is rather formulaic.  Before I get to the "how" part, let's look at the "why."  It's important to know why you are EQ'ing a singer so you can produce the best result.  read more »

I'm a tweaker.  Not a twitter'er, a tweaker.  I just can't stop from tweaking the mixer during the first one or two songs.  Unless you have a band full of professional singers and musicians, it's probable their practice session and performance session (Sunday morning worship sets) are going to be different.  I usually hear the difference in how the singers blend and how loud they sing.  The musicians sometimes play louder - and occasionally softer.  Many times, if they sound sloppy during practice, they sound tight during the performance times.  All this to say, what I might mix during the practice to compensate for volume or "sloppiness/tightness" can be different during performance time.  But when do I stop tweaking?  read more »