Transcript Sound Advice Advanced

Welcome to
“Effective Audio”
Presented by
Terry Neudorf
Your instructor:
Terry Neudorf
 Began mixing in 1982
 Turned “pro” in 1993
 Well “traveled”, have
toured North America
extensively, as well as
Africa and Europe.
 Have been fortunate
to work with many
well known artists,
groups, organizations
and festivals.
 Experienced in the
design & installations
of systems.
A very brief bio:
 Have worked with Hillsong,
Hillsong United, Robin Mark, Paul
Oakley, Paul Baloche, Kutlass,
Delirious, Newsboys, AudioAdrenaline, Tim Hughes,
Parachute Band, Noel Richards,
Vicky Beeching, Robin Mark, Jars
of Clay, Dakona, Promise Keepers
and many others over the years.
 Current sound engineer for Brian
Doerksen, Unite in Worship
Canada as well as many other
groups, festivals and
organizations.
 Classified as an A1 technician in
the world of corporate audio.
 Lead audio tech at 2000 seat
Church in Abbotsford, BC.
Brian Doerksen
Dakona
Promise Keepers Toronto 05’
So, what’s my point?
I bring up where I’ve been
and what I’ve been involved
with to simply assure you of
one thing:
I live in your world, I know
personally what your up
against.
I understand the issues,
they’re universal, and we all
deal with them.
Hillsongs Steve McPherson
Brian Doerksen in Cairo 2007
The Frequency Range
Input Devices
Input devices are items such as
microphones, direct boxes generally
used for connecting various
instruments and playback devices like
CD players and cassette decks.
Microphones
Microphones are extremely common and yet
hardly understood by those who use them.
How do they work and how do we best use
them?
The two most common types you will find are:
The Dynamic Microphone
The Condenser Microphone
How microphones hear...
Microphones come with “pick up” patterns, they hear in
specific ways depending on the type. Here are some
common types you will encounter:
Microphone patterns and
angles of coverage
Darker shaded areas give prime pick-up areas in
pattern of coverage. Working within these areas will
lead to the best pick-up and the most off-axis rejection.
Feedback
The cause…and the cure
•Cause: microphones set
too sensitive due to
improper microphone
technique or placements.
•Cure: using microphone
properly, thus reducing
the need for extra
sensitive microphones.
This will give you much
more control.
Direct boxes (D.I.’s)
Direct boxes are used to convert the audio signal
from a line level (1/4” jack typically, -10dBu) to a
balanced format (XLR, +4dBu) format.
This is done to transfer the signal safely from the
stage to the mixing console.
Let the buttons begin...
Input gain control/amplifier. If an incoming
signal is too weak you can amplify it here or
if a signal is too strong you can turn it down
This is the channel equalizer section. Mixers
range anywhere from 2 band fixed EQ to 4
band fully parametric. Shown here is a 4 band
EQ with two sweepable midrange controls.
Setting the tone
Tone controls are just volume
controls that work on certain
frequencies.
Consoles provide different levels
of equalization control ability.
Some are very basic, others are
very complex and capable.
Visualizing equalization
The following illustration shows a 2 band EQ in action:
Visualizing equalization
This illustrates a 3 band EQ in action:
Multi-channel EQ tips
Tonal boosts or cuts combine to create a
greater sum, or total channel volume.
Remember…tone controls are just
restricted volume controls.
Your mix is a summation of all the
individual channel EQ settings as well as
the individual channel volume settings. It
all becomes one mix output.
Multi-channel EQ tips
Only take what you need from each input
to create the overall mix. This allows each
input to have it’s own space
Taking everything offered can quickly lead
to a mix with no definition and clarity,
always remember to not get greedy.
Tip’s on Bass management
Because BASS frequencies are much larger than HI
frequencies it is very easy for BASS to become overpowering.
Overpowering BASS tends to cause muddy, boomy sound that
has no clarity or clean sound.
Sound persons need to be constantly aware of this in order to
maintain clean, natural sounding and understandable mixes.
The trick here is to not let unwanted BASS into the system.
This is done by using high pass filters, rolling BASS out of
vocal microphones and instrument inputs that do not produce
BASS to begin with.
Bass Management
Many newer mixing consoles have a
selectable HI PASS Filter available.
This filter, when it is activated cuts out
frequencies below a certain level (75 100Hz) and keeps them from getting into the
channel.
BASS from your speakers or stage
instruments can sneak into vocal
microphones and if you do not manage this
situation you will unwittingly be amplifying the
BASS all over again…unintentionally.
The other 85% of the frequencies
With proper bass management the rest of the
mix should flow nicely
Pay attention to articulation, establish clean,
clear intelligible sounds from the various inputs.
Remember that life is sibilant and alive, not dull.
Keep your mixes in that “live” sound space
Try to always find spaces to put things, for
example, leave some low mid out of the synth
and piano to make space for guitars and perc.
Why all the attention to bass?
Bass waves are large, much larger than mid and
high frequency sound waves. Therefore it is
easy for these bass frequencies to overpower
ALL other frequencies
Intelligibility is established in the mid/hi ranges.
Without proper representation of these
frequencies your mix will not be clearly defined
and easy to hear
 If you do not pay close attention to your bass
mix the rest of your mix won’t matter anyway!
The “rest” of the buttons
Channel strips also offer
AUXILIARY SENDS.
Aux. sends are used to send a
signal to different locations, other
than the main speakers. They are
used to create stage monitor mixes,
recording mixes, effects sends.
They fill other needs you may have
for separate & area specific mixes.
Each channel will have Aux. sends.
Getting it to the audience
Some mixers simply send the individual channels directly
to the main outputs.
Others allow the user to assign them to subgroups first,
allowing the user to control multiple channels with one
subgroup fader.
This is very easily done once understood. Essentially all
subgroup capable mixing consoles operate the same
way.
All you have to do is simply decide which subgroup you
want a channel to go to, push a button, turn a dial and
you are there.
Subgroup’s
For example, if we wanted to take this channel
and route it to subgroup #3, we would first press
the button that says 3-4. This tells the mixer that
we want the channel to go to these subgroups.
To have the channel only go to subgroup #3,
turn the pan control at the top all the way to the
left. This is known as the “odd #” side
Going to the right on the pan control is the “even
#” side which would have sent the channel to
subgroup #4.
On with the mix!
Welcome to the hot seat!
It’s rarely the same twice and
always subject to change.
A mix wakes up and comes alive
when the sound person does!
This is where the fun starts!!!
Controlled Chaos
 There is generally not a lot of time
 Different tech’s have different “styles”
 Equipment is not left in a standard setup
or configuration…altered & not reset
 Musicians sometimes don’t understand
the purposes of “sound-checks”
 Everyone has a plan…a different one
Putting together a mix
This can be the most frustrating part…
trying to put it all together in the few
minutes they give you…
It does not have to be hard!
With a few basic guidelines and “house
rules” set up, sound-check and the
performance can be creative and fun.
Here we go…
How would you like to be able to set input
gain (volume) levels, audience mix levels,
monitor mix levels, recording mix levels,
all within two songs?
And get it right too?
You can.
Start your mix with the basics.
What will you want to hear?
What will the singers want to hear?
What will the musicians want to hear?
Audience/Soundperson needs
As a soundperson your
goal should be to
achieve a linear
mix…
nothing drastically
louder than
something else, so
that everything can
be clearly heard.
Singer/musician needs
Singers & musicians
generally want the
same thing…a nice
even stage mix with
consistent volumes.
Stage monitor mixes
will have different
priorities but the mix
still needs to be linear
and even.
Brian Doerksen in Biel, Switzerland
Preparing the mix
 Get the console set up as much in
advance as you can based on the
info you have
 A large part of your events
success will depend on “preplanning”, on advance technical
needs information. If you don’t
have info…why not?
Get an early start on the mix...
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Set the stage as you expect it will be
Connect the input devices
Have a clean stage, cables neatly run
Label the channels on the console
Test the inputs…ensure they are working
Prepare as much “stuff” as possible in
advance of what you know is
coming...
Get an early start on the mix...
Make some assumptions about what’s
going to be needed and start there.
Then…
PRE-DIAL.
Watch this…see how easy it can be.
The “Pre-dial”
You know you will
need some input
gain…set all used
channel gain
controls to 10
o-clock.
EQ pre-dialing
 Adjust the channel EQ’s
as you think they might
be best used per input
type & item
 Remember, channel EQ
affects the total channel
gain structure…it’s best
to pre-dial at this time.
Monitor mix pre-dialing

Set any monitor mixes up as you
would expect them to be needed
 If using Aviom prepare the Aviom
direct sends or auxiliary sends
using the predetermined format
for Aviom mixer channel layouts
Setting up the main mix
Set ALL used channel
faders to the “Unity”
or “0” position.
Subgroup items as
needed.
Set subgroup faders
to “Unity” as well.
Set Masters to -10
What are you doing right now?
Due to the fact that you have pre-dialed a
lot of stuff already your next task is to set
the input gain structure.
As the band plays work your way across
the gains…using them to create your main
mix. Increase and decrease volumes as
needed with the volume controls to set up
the mix blend.
Bring on the band!
Sound-check is for the soundperson.
To begin the sound-check the band needs to
just start playing a song…and they need to
KEEP playing the song.
The only way a soundperson can set up the
mixes is to have input program coming in, so
the band need to give the soundperson 2
back to back songs.
This time is strictly for the technician.
The “mix” key
The input channel’s GAIN
control is the master volume
control for the entire channel
strip.
This includes the main channel
output and all of the Auxiliary
sends your console offers.
One master volume per
channel when used wisely.
Remember...
It’s not about how much gain you can
take in before you clip the channel.
It’s about only taking what
you need and giving back
what you don’t need.
Doing a bunch at once.
Due to the fact that the gain control is the
channel master volume control, and due to
the fact that musicians basically want the
same as you do…
when you dialed in what you wanted with
the gain controls you also dialed them in
at the same time.
Now you can fine tune the mixes easily.
After the two songs...
 You are now ready to
take requests from
stage…fine tuning the
monitor mixes. Ask each
“mix” how things are and
adjust as asked
 You should find that the
changes are minor
 Let the band continue
“rehearsing”, fine tune
your mix as needed.
MJC (Mennonite Jazz Committee)
Staying in touch…
 Because you started off
your mix with lots in
common with the
band…you will be able to
accurately correct a
drastic shift in an inputs
level
 If an inputs level
drastically changes…use
the gain control to bring
it back in line, thereby
fixing not only the main
mix but also the monitor
mixes on stage
Dakona
Stage monitor guidelines
 Monitors are there to give the
artist direct sound for accurate
“monitoring” of their
performances.
 Monitors should be the first thing
a musician hears, not the only
thing. When this rule is followed
stage monitors will never be too
loud “out front”. Physic’s won’t
allow it.
 Less is more. The more things in
a mix the harder it is to hear each
of those things.
 Have artists differentiate between
what they want and what they
need in their mixes. This will
greatly enhance the mixes clarity.
Monitor console, “Today” recording. 21 stage mixes.
One very important thing...
A sound tech should NEVER compromise
the audience for the sake of a performer.
Especially when mixing in Church!
Musicians & worship leaders… please be
sensitive to & respect the tech’s foremost
responsibility…the congregation!
They are also your first and most
important consideration!
Have the right mind set
Mixing audio is not a power thing
A calm, easy going professional manner
will go miles in easing performer tension
Remember that the happier the musicians
are the better you ALL sound
Be in control in such a way that others
think that they are, but always know
what’s up and how you are going to deal
with it.
You are the direct link!
Understand that
you are the centre
of the hour glass.
You represent the
congregation first,
worship team
second.
One very important thing...
Never, ever, for any other
reason than an Act of God
compromise the audience for
the sake of a performer.
Especially when mixing in
Church!