Live Sound Mixing with Greg Hill AVGenius.com Basics of Mixing Live Sound Mixing with Greg Hill AVGenius.com Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Who Are We ?  Who is this Guy ? Tell me about You You are a Servant Tech and Worship Teams have the same goal Act like a Team What is Your Job ? Make Disciples. Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com What is Sound ? It’s a mechanical wave of pressure It’s Energy transported by air Similar to light waves, except in a vacuum Hertz = 1 complete vibration per second The Speed of Sound is around 1115 ft/sec Calculate Wavelengths using speed Mind Blower: What does sound do when reaching an obstacle ? Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Microphones Mic Patterns Cardioid Super or hyper-cardioid Omni Figure 8 Mic Types Dynamic Condensor Electret Condensor Ribbon Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Microphones - 2 Lapel (Lav or Lavalier) Wired vs. Wireless Inverse Square Law Doubling the distance from a sound causes the SPL to fall by 6 db, or 4 times 75 % less energy Critical to knowing mic placement How close a mic is to a sound is the most important thing when placing it. (Blasphemy, I know) Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Mic Placement Good Mic Technique Know your mic Patterns Remember the Inverse Square Law How to Hold/Place a Vocal Mic Lav and Headworn position Drum Mics DI When Possible Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Mixer Setup Organize from the Bottom Up Vocal/Speakers at your Fingertips Use Group Faders What is a Group Fader ? Group sets of Mics that need to be adjusted together Drums Backup Singers The Band Horns Percussion Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Sound Check Basics Start by Setting Levels Check one instrument at a time Musicians: Watch where the sound team is… Don’t play your best powerchord when their head is in front of your amp ! Go from the Bottom Up Do Vocals Last Musicians/Speakers: Use a range of styles Make sure to check ALL instruments and voices Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Mixing Basics What is a Good Mix ? You hear everything Clear Separation of all parts from each other Nothing “Sticks Out” - unless it’s supposed to No Frequency Range “Sticks Out” Smooth, Balanced, and not Irritating You can Clearly Hear the Vocals If It Sounds Good, It IS Good. Vocals are the Most Important The Low End is Where it’s At ! Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Mixing Basics - 2 Why Do You Mix ? Amplifying Music/Speech has changed everything You’re trying to make every instrument have it’s own Space You’re trying to Separate Each Sound from the Others You’re Forcing a Stage Full of Separation through a Couple of Small Points (Your PA speakers) You’re Trying to Contain the Dynamic Range Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Mixing Basics - 3 The 4 Ways to Get Separation Volume Can’t separate many instruments/voices Can’t separate similar sounding instruments EQ The Most Effective and important Gives each instrument it’s own musical space Can remove “low end clutter” to reveal instruments Panning Only valid in stereo or surround PA Yours is probably mono - and should be Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Mixing Basics - 4 The 4 Ways to Get Separation - cont. Effects Use Reverb and Delay to add space and Depth More effect moves sound “further back” Less effect or none brigs sound forward Limited effect in live spaces Less effective than the other methods Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Live Event Issues Feedback What is Feedback ? You should be able to hear it happening Mic Placement and Types Monitors can be a primary cause Sometimes a System Setup Issue that needs Outside Help SPL Meter Every Church should have one. Weighting (A and C), Speed (Slow and Fast) How Loud is Loud enough ? Or Too Loud ? Try to keep the music in the low 90 dBC range – or Lower? Speakers and Pastors around 75 dBA is usually good. Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com

Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com Questions, Questions Q&A AV Genius Amplify SPECIAL Churches - $ 249.99 Good until July 2012 Hi-def, multiple logins Individual - $ 99.99 standard-def, single login Copyright © 2011 AV Genius, LLC www.AVGenius.com