This past summer I did a few shows that were outdoors in a festival set up, and the production was provided by fairly large companies. It’s not uncommon to have way more gear than needed for these types of shows, and one thing I typically see is gates on all of the drums. As you may already know, I want to keep things as simple as possible, yet on the rider I use most often, I ask for at least 4 gates, but preferably 8. My logic is simple. I’m going to use as little as possible, yet if I need more, it’s nice to know they are there waiting for me.

Do you ever feel like the volume of the band on stage is louder than the house? On my first tour 8+ years ago,  we were in a very shallow room, and before I had even the first mic turned on, the band was already jammin’ on stage. I quickly got all in a huff, pulled out my dB meter, and started lecturing them as the meter was passing 105dB and I started wondering how I was ever going to get the sound system above this. I wasn’t prepared for the reaction I got, and it taught me quickly some important aspects of stage volume.

Have you ever seen one of these charts, showing you where different instruments live in the audible frequency range? I include this graph in my workshop workbook, but it’s included so we can talk about the bigger picture. After my last post on frequencies, I wanted to mention and elaborate on these commonly-seen, and deceptive graphs.

One of my core principles for being a volunteer on the audio crew, is having the right attitude. I like to call this the customer service approach. In short, you are there to help facilitate the service, supporting the band, the singers, and bridging the connection between the stage and the congregation, all with a spiritual focus!

Have you ever been to a restaurant though, where the waiter would not just leave you alone?! I’ve experienced that, and it’s very frustrating. You can’t take 2 bites of food, or get more than 3 sentences into a conversation with your company before he’s back again asking how the food is, if you need anything, and what your plans are for the weekend. How in the world does this apply to your Sunday morning service?

Last Saturday, I was again running sound for The Elms. Side note- they released a new record recently, and I highly recommend it. Funny enough, they have a song titled, “County Fair.” The show last Saturday was at the Dekalb County Fair, just north of Fort Wayne, IN. I’ll get to the audio production portion, but let me show you what it’s like to be on the road. Our Friday night show ended and we rolled out at about 1:00am and instead of getting a hotel, we drove 4 hours across the state in a van and trailer, which goes slower than in your car. When we arrived at the hotel at 5:00am, they of course couldn’t find our reservation! Don’t worry. Happens all the time. We’re used to it.