This Sunday I had the opportunity to run the sound system live for the very first time. Below I have attached notes that I took throughout the day. 

Pre-service Mixing Practice & Prep

-I was told by one of the other sound volunteers that we switched from Wi-Fi switched to Ethernet, which is great

-I had to take time familiarize myself with the software layout again and think about adjusting the stage mix vs. the in house mix 

-I did the live mixing on iPad at back of the church 

-While mixing I noticed the tracks were a little bass heavy, but I couldn’t really adjust it or lower EQ band for the lower levels. I spoke to Pastor Byron and he said the Multi tracks internal mix tends to be very bass heavy, and they have to usually turn down bass track for each song from iPad running tracks. This is  more effective rather than doing it within the Soundcraft Ui mixer software 

-Observation: Can’t cue tracks from Soundcraft software. I thought about maybe using the feature on the iPad where you can pull up dual screen on iPad with multitracks playback app and mixer website page 

-Follow up on observation: I realized I won’t need to try that for service today, but maybe it’s something to try out during rehearsals. Creates more interaction between sound person and worship team. 

Service Notes

-Weekly in service discussion question: what is one thing you would like to see God so in you church?

-Mentioned by some members: Worship night – Pastor Byron and I have spoke about this, and may move forward in continually planning for how to make it happen with our church, especially since someone brought it up

-I focused mainly on changing levels throughout the song, especially as the tracks get louder during the chorus and bridge sections of the songs

-I also had to be changing levels between songs based on which person leads the song. May want to experiment with EQ on each mic, noticed some of them sounded a little muddier/less clear than others

-Focused on mixing in house due to there being difficulty having the ability to monitor the mix of the live stream

Preaching –

Not much to do with levels during preaching 

Overall, although I was a little nervous, I enjoyed my experience mixing live. It went smoother than I expected as there were no big problems or noticeable issues. I hope I have the opportunity to do it again! 

For my internship meeting that took place on April 12, 2024, Pastor Byron and so discussed more about the sound aspect of the media within the church.

The meeting started with Pastor Byron asking for more insight on my personal background and experience with audio production. I shared about my experience with different DAWS like Logic Pro & Pro Tools, and my understanding of audio basics like mixing, compression, etc. I did express that I had a few instances of doing live set up and mixing, but the focus was more on the stage set up and not on running the mixing board.

We reviewed the audio set up within the church so I could have a refresher, and he shared examples of the church live stream audio balance from both the YouTube and Facebook serving recording. We both gave our feedback and thoughts on the mixes (they differed between platforms which I found interesting), and discussed the issue of being unable to adjust the online mix and troubleshooting with the online streaming audio. To improve this we considered varying options such as training more people to run the set up, or changing the set up entirely.

We then discussed more about the worship experience and ways it can improve, and evaluated the skillset and musicianship of team members, and ideas for how we can move towards increased growth as a team. Ideas included: worship retreat (full day experience with a guest speaker and music skill training).

We then discussed the plan for this upcoming Sunday April 21st, where I would be running sound for the first time at Identity. We decided that I could set up one of the iPads and pull up the mixer online with the IP address and adjust the mix in realtime during the pre-service worship rehearsal, and during the service.

As we are approaching the end of the semester we will be evaluating what areas of the internship we have yet to cover and address them.