So this past week was my last week of my internship. I ran audio in the Student Center for the last time, and honestly I’m going to miss it. I finally feel like I’ve really started to get the hang of it, and the whole experience confirmed my interest in live sound. When I first started at Stetson, I thought I wanted to exclusively work in recording studios but the past few years have definitely opened my eyes to other things. I love live sound, and I even enjoy working in different areas (like lighting) sometimes too. 

The past couple of weeks also presented an unexpected opportunity as well. I mentioned to my supervisor awhile ago that I had an interest in graphic design and I’ve done some minor work in the past. Last week, he asked me to create an information packet for any volunteers that are interested in joining the music and tech team at the church. He gave me a rough sketch of the information and general layout he wanted, and let me roam free from there. I used Adobe Illustrator to create a foldable brochure that I think he was pretty happy with. It’s not entirely done, because the communications department has to review it and make any necessary changes, but the final product will be rolled out sometime over the next month. I thought this was a really cool part of my internship because I’ve always liked doing graphic design on the side and didn’t really think I would have a chance for that to play into this internship. 

Overall, I had an amazing time over the past couple of months and learned SO MUCH. I’ve also  developed a lot of relationships that I can already see will definitely be beneficial down the road. Working in this environment while being exposed to concepts I’ve learned and things that were entirely new to me definitely confirmed that I love this industry, and I’m excited for what’s to come after graduation!

The past week has been full of a lot of unexpected firsts. To begin with, I helped put together a cat 6 cable. We were using it for a connection to be able to monitor wireless microphones from a laptop. So, we took a cat 6 cable and cut off the end, and then uncoiled all of the colored wires inside and aligned them in the correct order.  After that, we fed the coiled wires into an RJ45 connector. This was kind of cool to actually physically put together something before we even got to the tech part of the project. It was a quick process, and the hardest part ended up being able to cut through the wires with the wire cutter we had. 

Another interesting thing I learned was about cameras and video switching. I learned all of the proper angles that things should be displayed from stage, and to be mindful to always keep the lower third of the image plain because the lyrics are always displayed there. Camera switching was a lot easier than I expected it to be. There’s one screen that shows you what you’re currently airing, and then another screen that has all of the other camera shots you can switch to. In order to switch, all you have to do is enter the number on the keyboard and press enter, and the image automatically fades to the new camera angle. I actually got to control this during a worship night we had on Tuesday. Even though it was really easy, I was still a little stressed I would somehow mess it up. Thankfully I didn’t!

The coolest part about this week happened out of nowhere. The band was rehearsing for the worship night, and our lighting guy noticed that some of the spotlights weren’t working correctly. They were on, but needed to be refocused manually. So, he had to go up in the catwalk to mess with them. He knows that I had been asking for weeks for a reason to go up there, and I finally had the chance! It was actually a lot scarier than I anticipated. The only way up is by a straight 90 degree ladder that just fades into pitch black darkness as you climb up. Literally, if the spotlights weren’t on to cast a slight shadow in the corner where the ladder was, I never would have found the ground of the catwalk. After gripping EXTREMELY tightly to each step, I finally made it up and had a pretty awesome view. We refocused the lights (which was literally just gently moving them) and I saw that this is also where we keep the projectors for our screens too. After watching rehearsal from a different perspective, we headed back down. It definitely took me awhile to hit real ground again, but when I finally did, I have to admit I was pretty relieved. Although it was a little scary climbing up and down the ladder, going up in the catwalk was totally an amazing experience. 

So, I know it’s only been a few weeks but I think this past week has been my favorite part of my internship so far. On Friday, we had a kid’s event in the Adventureland Theater and I got to run sound all by myself. It was super simple though because we were basically just playing tracks and using two microphones, so it was pretty much just fader up/down and mute/unmute the whole time. However, on Tuesday I did get to help set up for a concert that we were having a few days later in the same room. We transformed the room from a simple stage set up to a stage ready for a full band. I helped extend the stage, put together a drum kit (for the first time ever, actually), set up mic stands and XLR cables for the mics, and watched one of my coworkers program lights for the set list.

The part that I really loved happened over the weekend. We had another middle school service, and this time the band was doing an acoustic set. Instead of a full band (vocals, keys, drums, acoustic guitar, bass, electric guitar, and tracks), we just had vocals, two acoustic guitars, keys, ambient tracks, and a cajon. One of my supervisors is actually the worship leader for the middle school service, but he’s been out of commission lately because he fractured his knee. He’s been one of the main people teaching me the ins and outs of the Student Center, but this week he was out of town and left things in my hands. His girlfriend, Bri, also happens to be a worship leader, so she’s been filling in for him on stage. So this weekend she was basically my only lifeline if things got a little sticky from the sound end. We were both nervous because she’s still new to the church and isn’t entirely familiar with the room, and of course neither am I. Plus, there’s only so much she can help troubleshoot and guide me with once she’s onstage. Thankfully, we were both able to work together and everything went relatively smoothly. The only problem we encountered was that the acoustic guitar player’s guitar signal was super patchy and we couldn’t get it to cooperate. After some trouble shooting and testing different guitars, we realized it was his guitar and not the connection. Since it was an acoustic and relatively intimate set, we just let him play rhythm guitar unplugged alongside the band. 

I was really stressed when I first found out that I would be running sound essentially on my own, but to my surprise (and honestly, probably everyone else’s too), things went great! Bri was able to help me set up everything, and once we were up and running I was able to slowly but surely adjust everyone’s in-ear mix and find a good house mix that suited the acoustic vibe. I had been extremely nervous as soon as I found out I was on my own, but it turned out to be an awesome weekend!

Okay so anyone who knows me knows that as far as the AVL world goes, I specialize in audio and only audio. Sure, I can do some graphic design and snap a few quality photographs like the next person, but as far as lighting….. it’s a no from me. I’ve never really paid attention to the lighting aspect of this business, because honestly I just never really cared. I guess I just didn’t think it was as important. This week, my entire mindset was catapulted out of the window. 

One of my coworkers is kind of a lighting genius, and he let me get my hands on Vista this week. He started out with showing me a lighting program he set up for the song “The Greatest Show” from The Greatest Showman. I don’t say this often but, I was SHOOK. The theater lit up with bold reds and blues and it literally transformed the entire vibe and feeling of the theater. The flashing of the lights synced up with the colossal beats at the beginning of the song, and it was honestly so breathtaking. I’m pretty sure my jaw actually dropped while I was watching it. The crazy thing is, we were just in a giant empty room with a song playing! There were no people, nothing was going on onstage, it was just the song blasting and the lights doing their thing. I don’t think my coworker realized this when he was showing me, but this setting was exactly what I needed to realize the power and effect that lighting can have. That song is already catchy and commands attention, but synced up to a room full of colorful lights takes it to a whole new level. The layout of the theater definitely helps as well, because there’s a ton of light fixtures scattered between the ceiling and stage area. 

There’s an additional aspect of lighting that I really didn’t consider until this week: haze. We always use haze machines during on stage performances, but I never really gave it any thought. I just thought it made the room a little foggy and dramatic, and that was the point. To put it briefly: I was wrong. Yeah, haze adds a nice foggy effect but I never realized what it does for lighting. Without haze, most lights are just shining bright and pretty, but they don’t really travel. Adding a layer of haze in a room allows the lights to cut through it with colorful strobes and rays, and the haze just swirls in the spotlight. It. Is. Gorgeous. I can’t believe I never noticed that the haze is really what makes that all possible.

A couple days later I actually got to play around with Vista in the main auditorium, and honestly it’s really cool. It’s a super user friendly program and everything is visualized, which I love. I can clearly see which light is doing what, and when it’s doing it. I learned how to make patterns, gradients, and how to gradually turn on certain lights to make different effects. Later, I got to help set up the lighting for an event we were having, which needed to be different shades of green. I loved that I finally understood the method of how lighting works, and it’s definitely something I’ll pay more attention to in the future. 

I’ve got to say, this has been a wild past few days. I started my internship at Journey Christian Church as a tech intern, and it’s honestly been kind of amazing. There’s a large auditorium where the main services are, a kid’s theater called the Adventureland Theater, and a Student Center that all have their own unique tech set up. One of my supervisors gave me a quick run down on all of the different systems, and I definitely got a little overwhelmed at first. There’s so much to learn! We use Vista for our lighting, ProPresenter for all of our visual projections, and we have 2 DiGiCo sound boards and an Avid Venue Profile. 

This week I started in the Student Center. The middle schoolers were having their own weekend service and I was able to help run sound for the band. I got familiarized with the DiGiCo board (which is awesome, by the way) and learned a lot of the basic set up routine for the room. I set up mic stands, learned how to check and change batteries in the microphones and packs, and learned how to mix everyone’s in-ears. During rehearsal, I got to experiment with the board a little bit and learned how to EQ each channel and eventually find a good mix that suited the room. I definitely had a few hiccups and missed some cues with making sure everyone’s mic was on and unmuted, but I think for my first try it went well. My favorite part was learning to adjust everyone’s in-ear mix, and also learning how to solo each channel in my own headphones to be able to hear a specific instrument. 

During the actual service I ran the TelePrompter, which displayed all of the lyrics and chords for the band to follow along to on a tv against the back wall. This was done through ProPresenter, and it’s definitely one the easier features of the program. This required pretty much no training, as it’s just pressing left and right arrows to advance to the next or previous slide. The only hard part about this was making sure I was following along with the band and not getting distracted. Interestingly enough, it’s harder than it sounds! 

For my first week, I think things went pretty well. I get along well with everyone on the team and I really like what I’m doing so far. I’ve learned so much already and already feel so much more comfortable with a lot of the equipment than I did when I first walked in. I’m excited for what’s to come!