Small Church Sound

Hey all,

Ok, what is Software Audio Console (SAC)? SAC is software that runs on a Windows-based PC and processes audio like a regular analog mixer. Maybe an easier way to say it would be, the software turns a computer into the mixer. In this part I will discuss the features of the software and some advantages those features present. And just as some background, I have been using this software as the bands travel system for the 5 months mostly without any problems (more on that in a later article). My current system is a 24-channel system that runs on a wireless network (that will make more sense later). Now for some of the features.

Me running SAC at Crossover.

First, the software console allows for up to 72 individual audio channels, just keep adding hardware inputs when you need more channels. Each channel has a 5-band fully parameteric eq and selectable high-cut and low-cut frequencies for a total of 7-bands of eq. A fully adjustable gate and compressor can be found on every individual channel. This is one of my favorite features because basically it replaces racks of compressors and gates for drums and vocals that most churches can not afford any way. However, with SAC a high-end sound can be had for very little cost. Also found on every channel is a gain selector, six aux sends (for internal plugins or external gear), a pre/post section for virtual effects and plugins, 24 output options, surround sound mixing capabilities, solo, mute, and fader. There is also a return section for the aux sends where you can put an overall reverb, delay, or eq for selected channels.

A couple of other keys features include up to 8 main outputs and 16 subgroups. There are also 24 completely separate mixes below the FOH or main mixer. This resembles layered pages on a digital mixer accept it is a full mix of every available channel. These mixes are generally for monitors, however they could also be used for a nursery audio feed or tv/internet streaming feed where you want a separate mix from the FOH. These pages make it possible by providing all the same individual channel features as the FOH for each page (granted the more individual eq/gates/comps/plugins that are added the faster your computer has to be to process the information). The last feature I would like to mention is that a remote computer can control the main SAC computer through a wired or wireless network. Actually, up to 28 remote computers can be logged in a one time with verying levels of access. That means each musician can have access to their own monitor mix through their laptop without having access to the FOH mix. In other words every musician could mix their own monitor and have exactly what they want. The other thing that I like about this feature particularly for traveling or moving a sound system is that you can leave the main SAC computer and the inputs on stage and put a remote laptop anywhere in the venue for FOH. This way we can eliminate the heavy stage to console snake and speeds up setup.

Before I go I know the first question I’ll get is what does it cost? Well, the software itself is only $500. For more information, purchasing, support, and a complete description here is the SAC website. The hardware necessary is another story and I will cover that more in an upcoming part to this series. If you are interested in installing a SAC system but want it built for you or need some training I would be glad to help and give you a quote for your customized specific needs. If you have questions or want a quote please leave a comment or send an email to darin@smallchurchsound.com.

D

Hi all,

I haven’t posted in forever. So, I’m going to give it another shot and will try to stay consistent. My problem is that I am a perfectionist. I think that I have to have a video or picture to make the post sizzle. Instead what I need to do is make this website usable and fun. Therefore, if you get a video or picture consider it bonus material.

You know, I think sound engineers, volunteers, whatever are perfectionist too. We work so hard to have everything perfect: the right amount of drums and bass, all the compressors set properly, not too loud for the audience or congregation. Then someone on stage plays the song in the wrong key. We get so upset that we take them out of the mix for the rest of the day … yep, it’s ruined so let’s just quit. Ok, maybe it’s not that horrible but maybe we just need to be consistent with what we have and work on improving that stuff. That is what I am going to try to do. Over the next couple of posts, I’ll give you some insight to a new program I have been using called Software Audio Console (SAC).

A couple of my previous posts were about keeping the stage volume down. Just a couple of days ago a friend emailed me a link to an article about 5 reasons to turn the sound down in church. While I do think it is important to keep control on the volume, because as the author John G. Stackhouse Jr. points out, its not a rock concert it’s church, this article had some added perspective. Very interesting read — tell me what you think.

“Memo To Worship Bands”

D

I had a suggestion given to me to write about how loud is too loud for monitors. So here is the other side of the stage so to speak. In my opinion monitors are one of the hardest things to control. The sound engineer wants to keep them as low as possible so that the front of house mix is true for what the congregation is hearing and everyone on stage has another idea of how loud it should be. I know this probably never happens in your church, you know you have just turned on everything got all the levels set and the mix sounding good and then the guitar player wants to turn his amp up. Consequently, the next song and a half in practice results in the drummer playing louder, the bass player wanting himself turned up in the monitor, the keyboard player breaking one of the weighted keys because they have to play that hard to hear themself, and the singings asking for more vocal in their monitor. Of course, by the end of the song you’ve turned the mains all the way down because the monitors are so loud it’s killing the congregation. Ok, maybe it’s not quite that bad but you get the idea, and I’m sure it has happened to you in some form.

So how loud is too loud? Well, that it the million dollar question. From a purely technical standpoint I would fall back on what ear damage standards are for decibel levels. By the way OSHA has a great chart here that shows these levels. Basically though, if your stage volume or one particular monitor is over 92-95 db it’s probably causing some damage to the musicians. If this is happening I would suggest humbly talking to your worship pastor or pastor about having a meeting with the worship team about how to reduce stage volume for everyone’s benefit. Of course, everything in the first article is a valid reason for also reducing monitor volume. Among these one of the best reasons to lower stage volume is for clarity. Sometimes in small churches the musicians are too close to the monitor and the majority of the sound is hitting the musicians knees because of how close they are, so they want it turned up more so they can hear better. Unfortunately, everyone else on stage can hear that monitor better than the person using it. Additionally, pushing that much sound through a monitor can cause it to become muddy and distorted. At times it would be better to provide a basic clear mix and challenge the musician to focus on there sound in the midst of the context of the music.

At this point you are probably saying to yourself easier said than done. My response is – yep, but unless you can afford a nice drum cage, or a good set of electric drums, and in-ear monitors for everyone you are stuck with some stage volume. In-ear monitors do bring up one last partial solution to stage volume. Currently my church is using a combination of an Aviom Personal Monitor System and Shure Wireless Personal Monitor System . These are very good starter products, particularly the Shure system because you can buy just the pack and use it wired and later add the wireless transmitter. By incorporating in-ear monitors it is possible to lower stage volume. Adding in-ears can be done over time as well, so don’t think you have to go all or none with them. Every little bit counts.

Use the comments to tell me what you think, don’t forget to subscribe to comments to stay up-to-date with this article, and click on the RSS feed to have new articles from my website notify you…..thoughts?

Just thought I’d throw something out there today to keep the posts rolling. Last Friday I went with the findingBethel guys over to Quincy to see Remedy Drive in concert. By the way these guys put on a good show if you have the chance to see them do it, plus they are from Nebraska which is an added bonus (ok, maybe just for me). Anyway, as I was listening to the opening band a thought crossed my mind, how loud is too loud? Here’s where I’m coming from on this, the sound for the opening band was so loud and piercing that I started to get a headache. However, it did add to the rock concert effect and got everyone moving to the music. Still, after a few songs it was starting to not be fun. Amazingly, the sound really smoothed out for Remedy Drive which saved the evening.

Obviously, in a praise and worship setting at church we are not going for an all out rock concert, but there is some value to turning up the mix a little bit. As praise and worship becomes more intense in the expression of the congregation a little volume helps engage people even more in worship. But the question remains how loud is too loud? Well, I’ll give you a couple of ideas and easy reads to help you tell if you are too loud. The first easy read is people covering their ears. There used to be a guy in my church who would sit right in front of a speaker every Sunday, and he would come to me every Sunday and say the music was too loud. That is not what I am talking about, what I am saying is if there are several people throughout the congregation that are covering their ears it is probably too loud. The second read is the actual mix. If you have a good mix in practice and then turn it way up for the service and everything becomes muddy sounding, you’ve probably turned it up too loud. At high decibels it is hard for the human ear to make subtle distinctions in the different frequencies. Finally, if your head is hurting from the pressure or the lead vocal sounds like a drill, it’s probably too loud.

Here is a good rule of thumb to use. If you have a decibel meter it will help take more technical readings, but in general an orchestra plays at 80 decibels without audience participation. This is considered normal, comfortable music listening level. Since praise and worship has audience participation the level of music should rise so that people feel comfortable sing along. Our sound engineers generally try to bring the level up to between 87 and 92 decibels. It may not sound like much, but it is important to remember that an increase of 10 decibels is a perceived doubling of increased volume to the human ear. Our church does have a higher ceiling level and if your sanctuary is smaller and has a lower ceiling, you may need to turn it up a little more or down some depending on the number of people. At that point you can tweak it to your style of worship service.

So, how loud is too loud?

This last Friday findingBethel was at Quincy Christian School for a chapel service. While we were there a couple of us had the chance to tour the church building. This however was no regular church building it was an old Catholic Cathedral. Grandview Church in Quincy had just bought the entire campus which includes the church, school, and a house. They have been taking this old cathedral and remodeling it to have a more contemporary worship service. Of course you can see the awesomeness of God as you look at how they have redone the sanctuary. The columns, stainglass windows, and woodwork are detailed and enormous. Sounds like God right? Anyway, soon our discussion moved to how complicated the sound was going to be in that room. Trust me, you could snap at one end and hear it echo through the sanctuary, even with the floor already being carpeted. My mind immediately went to one of the first questions that was asked to me when I opened this site. Are you going to put subwoofers in here? If there was ever a place where subwoofers wouldn’t be a great choice this would be it, but subwoofers are going in.

Grandview 'Cathedral' – Simply Awesome

An ongoing discussion is when should subwoofers be put in a church. Is it dependent on the size of room? Does it depend on the worship team, or style of worship? Does it depend on who complains? Or does it depend on room acoustics? There are definitely a number of things to consider and issues to solve. Regardless of the issues it is my opinion that you can and should use subwoofers in any church setting. Let’s look at the arguements.

1. We worship in a small room, won’t the subwoofers be over-powering? My answer to this is, yeah they can be but they don’t have to be. Here’s what I mean, one of the great advantages to using subwoofer is that it gives the ability to hear the full range of frequencies being produced by the worship team. This supports the dynamics and flow of the music in worship by enhancing the sound being produced. Just because you have subwoofers doesn’t mean you have to break the glass in the entry way with them. Make them support and match the rest of the sound spectrum. This can be done regardless of room size. An additional argument here is that the actual cabinets are too big and bulky for a small room. Well, technology has developed some nice compact subwoofers that are physically small with good sound.

2. Does it depend on the style of worship? Ok, so the real answer is probably yes. If you don’t use bass, drums, or electric guitar you can probably hear everything without subwoofers. But, most engineers reading this are looking to improve their sound and one of the best ways to put a little more life in the worship music and shine on the overall sound is to have a little bit of air moving from the subwoofers.

3. What about people in the congregation who complain? Oh yeah, this one is difficult. The way to solve this problem is a lot of conversation, patience, and understanding. Researching information and listening are key in persuading people to try new things. But if you choose an appropriate size subwoofer and try not to make the first worship service a rock concert with it, people will get use to it. The may even end up liking it.

4. What about when our sanctuary is already pretty boomy and echoes a lot? Acoutsic room treatment. While this is a whole other discussion, room treatments will help tone the room down and make not just subwoofers usable, but the whole sound system sound tighter. This does cost a little bit more due to materials for the treatment but still improves the system.

When thinking about subwoofers the thing to remember is that a solid, tight bass response is what a sound engineer is looking for. Its not just about volume, its about the richness and clarity of the sound. However, they can help us worship God just a little louder.