No. No. No. I didn’t run sound for the iconic rock band who may or may not be knights in satan’s service. Oh no- I’m already off topic.

This blog post is going to be about one of my rules for running sound: KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. Me. I’m the stupid one. Not you. OK? Don’t get offended.

The other night I got to use the Yamaha M7 digital console, which has tons of available plug-in, EQs, compressors, gates, FX, blah, blah and really cool blah… Instead of a standard FOH package with 8 comps, I could, if I wanted, put a compressor on every channel!

I just came across this website and wanted to pass it along! Balanced cables. Unbalanced. Tip-Ring-Sleeve. XLR. Quarter inch… It can be really confusing. Start throwing in RCA cables, iPods, DVD recorders, and it’s enough to make your head hurt.

The basic idea is that you should use balanced cables as often as you can, especially for longer runs. Any interference that penetrates the cable will still be rejected, even if it gets past the shield. (How that works is so cool. I’ll save it for a future post though). Note that if your signal is going from an unbalanced output (iPod) to a balanced input (XLR input), DO NOT connect anything to pin 3 (the negative connection) on the XLR.

One of the most common comments I get sounds something similar to, “We got this great sound system, and at first it was an awesome improvement from our old system. Now, though, it just sounds bad. I’m not sure what else we need to do!”

On one hand, I feel for these churches. They are right. They did invest in a good-sounding system. They believe the problem though, is with their gear. I think the problem, which is not the best word to use, though, lies someone else.

Recently, I’ve been able to work a couple shows, and it has reminded me how much different the church world is from the ‘real’ world when it comes to audio and production. I’ve had a few thoughts stick in my mind that I want to share, and some insight I’d like to impart after a conversation or two with some production company owners, roadies, and musicians. The 1st lesson I want to share is one that I hadn’t planned on mentioning or focusing on when I started this blog. However, this aspect is one of the most important areas you can focus on to become the best possible audio engineer.

I just got done posting 3 sections of audio files in a new “Download” section. Before making my own files, I researched the web for a product out there that provided these type of tracks. I found none. The 1 product I did find was $80 plus shipping from the UK, and it was produced in a recording studio! My files are NOT produced, and it’s on purpose.