Sorry, blogging is so last year! But I have started twittering and plan on doing that a lot. My twitter name is: papastack
See you around the twitter bend!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
No more blog....
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
WC PA tuning
Well the week finally came! Last night we started the processing of tuning our PA. We ran into some issues though. First, we had to figure out how the system was currently configured, and why. That took a while. There were a lot of wrong labels (GRRR!). Then we had to figure out what we thought was the best way to run the system. Then we had to do that. Then we reset all of the processors (all 7 of them) inputs/output EQs. By this time we were several hours into it. We took some delay calculation measurements, and put those in as well.
So right now the system is running "raw". Signal from the M7, to the processors (which is just routing, crossover, limiting), then to the boxes. On Thursday night we'll tackle the second half of the process. We will begin by going through each invidual box, running pink noise, and making individual box EQ adjustments to make the boxes response as flat as possible. Then once each box is done, we'll listen to the system in general - then use EQ to take care of any problem acoustic frequencies, and then shape the entire system response to our liking. once that's done, we'll run some sweeps & refrence music through, and hopefully be done!
I know for a fact that there will be a significant difference once it's all done. We changed some cross-over settings and the low-mid to bass frequency range is already much more defined and even. The challenge will be getting the system to respond nicely in the 2k-10k range - since that's where most of our acoustical issues are.
Thanks to Tom (the guy who actually knows what he's talking about.. I don't...) and CJ. This has been a fun, interesting process and everyone is going to benefit from this! I can't wait for Thursday night!
MicroNet 2.5TB Hard Drive Array!
It's finally here!!! I ordere'd this bad boy a few weeks ago but it was on back order. 2.5TB with expansion up to 3.5TB of Raid 5 protection! This is going to be our main storage array for Video capture, production, and storage! It was fairly easy to setup, especially with the web-interface... wow! That is cool!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
FOH This Weekend
I got to mix FOH this weekend with the new Team 3! What an amazing team. When I first heard about this new team, I knew it was gonna be good. But I had no idea. Talk about hitting it out of the park there first time playing together!!! I was smiling from ear to ear all weekend, and so were a LOT of other people.
The music was fresh, dynamic, relevant, creative, surprising, loud, soft, in your face, and a mile away all at the same time.
I took a picture of the desk during one of the songs. I just like seeing everything light up like a Christmas tree!!!
This weekend was great overall. I had Cody & Jaycob on lighting (which I never have to worry when Jaycob's on the Hog), CJ was directing video, and John, Warren, Zach, and Laura did an amazing job! Perfect weekend!!
We also had a guest Camera Operator... Sam! I was short a camera op Sat night and Sam stepped in! He did great, thanks Sam!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
WOW - it's been a long time!
Wow. It's been a long time. I havn't really done much blogging the last few months, even the posts I've done have been more out of obligation then passion, and I'm sure you have noticed that. This summer has been a long one for me. I have kind of been in a light "funk" all summer, just all the way around.
I'm a trench guy. I like being in the trenches. Sitting in my office all day typing, talking, and planning - just isn't my cup of tea. Sure, it's berrible... but I'd much rather be sitting behind our M7, or our Hog, or roasting it up in our Video Control Sauna!
Fall is definetly around the corner! I saw a couple brown leaves in my lush green backyard. The church is starting to get busier and louder. The buzz around the staff office area has definetly picked up, and meetings are much more intense.
The past few weeks have seen a lot of projects, tasks, and changes. Due to some staffing changes, CJ has agreed to take on some more responsibilities and I am very happy that he's done that. He will do a great job. He's also completed the installation of our new Alpha Numeric paging system.
The last few weeks I've spent a lot of time on several projects, many of which have me excited for there potential.
1) Our DTV upgrade/monitor console addition. Last week I laid out the preliminary design of our new audio configuration in teh worship center with new DTV 09 compatable wireless systems and a dedicated M7CL for monitors. The musicians have been very flexible and understanding the past year as our team sizes have grown and our stage wedges have been eliminated completely, but IEM requirements for teams our size were just too much for our FOH M7. We have been long awaiting the ability to offer every musician there own mix, and for the most part, there own stereo IEM mix (which makes a huge difference). Also our stage is an RF nightmare (LOTS of steel!) so the addition of antenna combiners & directional paddle antenna's should help with our all too common drop out issues. More to come on this project, including documentation :-).
2)Student Ministries Venue Upgrade - with the addition of our new Student Ministries Pastor, Brian MacSwan - comes a new vision & dream - and part of this dream is to convert our secondary venue dubbed: "The Meeting Place" into an environment culturally relevant to the youth of Whatcom County - a big part of that is the use of technology in the youth gatherings. Brian's dream is big, and it involves a lot of people and a lot of things, but I am 100% behind him in a BIG way and am going to do all I can to make it a reality - which right now means pretty much an entire overhaul/complete systems upgrade of that room's production technology. I just finish putting together a rough "block estimate" of what it would cost to do each upgrade (lighting, video, audio, infastructure, etc.). More to come on this project for sure; pictures & documentation!
3) Continuing the transition to using Planning Center Online for production scheduling. We (Sam, Hieid, and I) are still learning how to effectively use this program, and how to equip those within our teams to use it. At first glance some people LOVED PCO, however others are not so quick to jump on the "WE LOVE IT" bandwagon. Heidi and I have also made some mistakes in how we configured and setup PCO, so this has added to some frustration. However, with every significant change always comes resistance and that's okay. BUT we have decided that PCO is a positive change for our ministry teams, even if it takes a while to iron out all the wrinkles. Plus it hasn't helped that it's summer time and trying to cover all those last minute vacation requests has let so an abnormal amount of scheduling confusion. Once again, I can't wait for fall & regular schedules!!!:-)
4) Creation & Execution of CTK's first "Weekend Service Recordings - Retention Policy". We had no rhyme or reason for why/who/how/when/with what when it came to recording & archiving weekend services (also included are special events, child dedications, and baptisms for which we provide complimentary DVDs of each). For years (since before I came on staff), there was no clarity to what was expected of this resource from the leadership of the church. Well, I'm happy to report that the question have been asked to the leadership, awnsered, and now the vision for why we keep these recordings has been set. This vision then determines how & what do we/use to make it happen. This vision also helps us have healthy boundaries when it comes to congregational/staff A/V requests. I should post on this!
5) New Worship Teams & FIRMWARE! New worship teams meant some additional work for me this past week. Each worship team has a "Stage Setup Sheet". This excel document has the default input list (including info like channel #s, artist names, and mic selection), default monitor setup sheet (channel & pack assignments) and a stage plot. Each week I print off the default setup sheet and make any "custom" changes for this week and hand it off to CJ or use it myself to setup the stage and the M7. New teams meant new setup sheets! Also, I updated the firmware on the M7. Last weekend we had some digital distortion issues with the M7 that were quite... mysterious. After some research on Tuesday I discovered that you can't use OLD show files with the new firmware. I had used an old BLANK template file to create a default M7 setup (that is identical to the stage setup sheet) for each worship team. After discovering the issue I had to reset the M7 to factory condition, do all the firmware updates, and create a new BLANK template file using the new firmware. Then re-create each worship team file (all 6 of them!).
I've also moved my laptop and important documents/books backstage and have been working from there. I can't tell you how much more productive I am backstage where I'm away from the urgency and distractions of the office complex. Backstage it's quite, non-disruptive, and it's my "element". I just enjoy being there!!!
I just finished reading a book called "Mixing With Your Mind". It's an awesome book by a guy named Stav who worked in AIR studios during the 80s/90s. ALthough this book is primarily about studio recordings, audio is audio right? The principals are the same, just a different application for the most part. This book has been very insightful. Hopefully I'll post about this too!
The last few weekends have been great, and I'm particularly excited about this one for some reason. I'm not really sure why - but I'll take it!
That's all for now, gotta get my beauty sleep :-)
I'm a trench guy. I like being in the trenches. Sitting in my office all day typing, talking, and planning - just isn't my cup of tea. Sure, it's berrible... but I'd much rather be sitting behind our M7, or our Hog, or roasting it up in our Video Control Sauna!
Fall is definetly around the corner! I saw a couple brown leaves in my lush green backyard. The church is starting to get busier and louder. The buzz around the staff office area has definetly picked up, and meetings are much more intense.
The past few weeks have seen a lot of projects, tasks, and changes. Due to some staffing changes, CJ has agreed to take on some more responsibilities and I am very happy that he's done that. He will do a great job. He's also completed the installation of our new Alpha Numeric paging system.
The last few weeks I've spent a lot of time on several projects, many of which have me excited for there potential.
1) Our DTV upgrade/monitor console addition. Last week I laid out the preliminary design of our new audio configuration in teh worship center with new DTV 09 compatable wireless systems and a dedicated M7CL for monitors. The musicians have been very flexible and understanding the past year as our team sizes have grown and our stage wedges have been eliminated completely, but IEM requirements for teams our size were just too much for our FOH M7. We have been long awaiting the ability to offer every musician there own mix, and for the most part, there own stereo IEM mix (which makes a huge difference). Also our stage is an RF nightmare (LOTS of steel!) so the addition of antenna combiners & directional paddle antenna's should help with our all too common drop out issues. More to come on this project, including documentation :-).
2)Student Ministries Venue Upgrade - with the addition of our new Student Ministries Pastor, Brian MacSwan - comes a new vision & dream - and part of this dream is to convert our secondary venue dubbed: "The Meeting Place" into an environment culturally relevant to the youth of Whatcom County - a big part of that is the use of technology in the youth gatherings. Brian's dream is big, and it involves a lot of people and a lot of things, but I am 100% behind him in a BIG way and am going to do all I can to make it a reality - which right now means pretty much an entire overhaul/complete systems upgrade of that room's production technology. I just finish putting together a rough "block estimate" of what it would cost to do each upgrade (lighting, video, audio, infastructure, etc.). More to come on this project for sure; pictures & documentation!
3) Continuing the transition to using Planning Center Online for production scheduling. We (Sam, Hieid, and I) are still learning how to effectively use this program, and how to equip those within our teams to use it. At first glance some people LOVED PCO, however others are not so quick to jump on the "WE LOVE IT" bandwagon. Heidi and I have also made some mistakes in how we configured and setup PCO, so this has added to some frustration. However, with every significant change always comes resistance and that's okay. BUT we have decided that PCO is a positive change for our ministry teams, even if it takes a while to iron out all the wrinkles. Plus it hasn't helped that it's summer time and trying to cover all those last minute vacation requests has let so an abnormal amount of scheduling confusion. Once again, I can't wait for fall & regular schedules!!!:-)
4) Creation & Execution of CTK's first "Weekend Service Recordings - Retention Policy". We had no rhyme or reason for why/who/how/when/with what when it came to recording & archiving weekend services (also included are special events, child dedications, and baptisms for which we provide complimentary DVDs of each). For years (since before I came on staff), there was no clarity to what was expected of this resource from the leadership of the church. Well, I'm happy to report that the question have been asked to the leadership, awnsered, and now the vision for why we keep these recordings has been set. This vision then determines how & what do we/use to make it happen. This vision also helps us have healthy boundaries when it comes to congregational/staff A/V requests. I should post on this!
5) New Worship Teams & FIRMWARE! New worship teams meant some additional work for me this past week. Each worship team has a "Stage Setup Sheet". This excel document has the default input list (including info like channel #s, artist names, and mic selection), default monitor setup sheet (channel & pack assignments) and a stage plot. Each week I print off the default setup sheet and make any "custom" changes for this week and hand it off to CJ or use it myself to setup the stage and the M7. New teams meant new setup sheets! Also, I updated the firmware on the M7. Last weekend we had some digital distortion issues with the M7 that were quite... mysterious. After some research on Tuesday I discovered that you can't use OLD show files with the new firmware. I had used an old BLANK template file to create a default M7 setup (that is identical to the stage setup sheet) for each worship team. After discovering the issue I had to reset the M7 to factory condition, do all the firmware updates, and create a new BLANK template file using the new firmware. Then re-create each worship team file (all 6 of them!).
I've also moved my laptop and important documents/books backstage and have been working from there. I can't tell you how much more productive I am backstage where I'm away from the urgency and distractions of the office complex. Backstage it's quite, non-disruptive, and it's my "element". I just enjoy being there!!!
I just finished reading a book called "Mixing With Your Mind". It's an awesome book by a guy named Stav who worked in AIR studios during the 80s/90s. ALthough this book is primarily about studio recordings, audio is audio right? The principals are the same, just a different application for the most part. This book has been very insightful. Hopefully I'll post about this too!
The last few weekends have been great, and I'm particularly excited about this one for some reason. I'm not really sure why - but I'll take it!
That's all for now, gotta get my beauty sleep :-)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
THE PLATE
Here's what's going on in the CTK Event Tech world...
- Summer Trainings! For the next three Saturdays in a row we are having our big yearly training. The dates are broken down by teams: audio, lighting/stage crew, video. This is a big deal. For some of the team members, almost everything will be repeated information. But for some people, this will be mostly new information for them. The goal of this time is get everyone on the same page! We will also eat together, laugh, have fun, look at the year behind us, and also look forward to the year ahead of us (which is coming very fast)!
- Set Lighting Change - the creative team has decided that the set needs to change to reflect a change in the types of sermons during this series. Instead of a black curtain background, we'll be opening up the CYC and trying to create a "forest brush" background. This has proved to become a very challanging task. With the angles, sheer volume of CYC, and desired look, I've had to bring in 14 additional 50 degree Source4 ellispoidals; and also aquire several sheets of several shades of greens & light yellow gels; along with a nice assortment of foliage breakup & forest gobos. Below is a picture of a foliage design from a couple years ago that I've kind of used to help guide me.
Drop Your Fig Leaf series stage set - CJ installed the Extron IPLINK control box on the commons digital signage displays so we no longer have to worry about turning them on or off! Yea for automation! This is the sixth Extron control box we've put in during the past year. These things are a valuable tool! I should probably write a post about them soon...
Extron IPLink T S1 serial control device - The new Alpha Numeric paging system for our worship center, family room, and mothers room showed up this week. We have had to replace our numeric pager with the alpha numeric due to CTK changing databases and implementing a new child check-in system. We have to have them installed in 2 weeks, so we're working on this as well. I'll will be posting a blog on this new system once it's up, including pictures!
- I've been thinking a lot about fall, Christmas 08 and Easter 09. This times have been the topic of conversation in our Service Production/Creative meetings. Yes, we are actually that far ahead! SCARY!
- The Weekend Tech Team ministry along with Sam and the Worship Arts ministry has started using Planning Center Online for all of our scheduling (rehersals, meetings, trainings, weekend services, special events, weekend services, etc.). This will be a good thing very soon, but it's been a challange figuring out how to do things RIGHT. But we're making it. Definetly a post coming soon on our Planning Center Online implementation.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Dimmer labels!
So this post is pretty self explanatory! I finally went through and labeled all the individual dimmer channels with there corresponding Hog numbers (not DMX, but the Hog # that all the ops know the fixtures by). Also, I noted what each dimmer was rated at, so at a glance we know our load restrictions. I hope this helps guys!
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