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.

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.

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.

For eight years I was the full time audio engineer for The Elms. Touring was fun, but I made the decision to get off the road late last year. The guys were in Columbus last weekend and asked me if I could step behind the board for them again. It was a blast, I have to say, and it was good to see everyone again. There is a lot church bands and audio crews can learn from a show like this. I’m going to give you a peek at the gear that was used, what it’s like to be the opening band, and some insights into the politics of a show this size.