Want to learn to mix better?

This is something i know that many do want to do better. but it's hard to get as much practice time as we would like b/c we need the live band and such. So i thought we could try some training sessions of mixing via some old praise sets that we recorded onto 24 tracks. using some software you would be able to eq, add effect, solo, and mix a set. at first this would be through software.

if we get enough interest, we can setup our large mixer at NL and in a room somewhere and try to recreate a studio effect and use our firepods to play back the recordings and you can try a "live" mix.

so what i need to know from you guys is:
1. do you own a mac? what kind?
2. can you spend about a 1.5 hour session with me to install the software and learn to use it?
3. you will need at least 20 GB of free space or an external drive
Please comment.

couple caveats: this is not the same as live mixing. in fact, it's really different. but you can at least begin to learn some of the mechanics - soloing, eq'ing, mixing, listening for instruments, etc... this is reallly post-production but you can at least begin to learn some more...

Zellerbach Acoustics

While waiting for Sang's graduation to finish, I decided to check out the room's sound setup/acoustics. This is always a good practice when you enter a room like a theater or auditorium, etc... What observations can you make about Zellerbach from these pics?

General Power Understanding

ok, this is going to be a very rudimentary lesson on power.  but just want to help you understand and be aware of how much power you're drawing and using in a given situation. 

watt - describes how fast a circuit uses electricity

volt - basic unit of electrical pressure or EMF

amperes - basic unit of electrical current - flow of electrons

* courtesy of this dictionary

Standard US voltage is ~110.  

Most devices are measured in watts. 

Most outlets/circuits are measured in amperes or amps.  

Here's the formula --> amp = watt/volt

e.g. You have a 1000watt projector plugged into a US outlet that is measured to be 110v. You know the circuit you're plugged into is only 15A.  Will you be OK? 

1000watts/110v = 9.1A 

Yes, you will be ok.  but you could not plug two of these projectors into the same circuit or else you blow the fuse. 

Most wall circuits are 15-20A depending on when they were installed b/c older electrical work often only had 15A circuits/wiring installed. 

ok, but the big question is what does draw a lot of power?  here's a short list:

* projectors and lights (look at the bulb wattage)

* amplifiers - esp for the subwoofers.  at normal usage the actual power draw will be low but if you get a real thumping song then the amp is going to push more sound to the sub, which will require more power and the wattage/amperage will increase. 

* b/c these are in our environment - rice cookers or water boilers - basically anything that heats up something. 

* microwave, hot pans, etc...

* vacuum cleaners

***last note: something that may affect your power in international settings, is what Hz the current is alternating at 50/60.  in the US it's 60Hz.  Europe and Asia is 50Hz.  If you do not verify your equipment is running at the correct voltage or frequency, you could severely damage your equipment.  Yes, the equipment would run but it could also be burning out the wires internally.  ouch!  

Recording/Resampling audio

Just so we're all on the same page about what we use for recording and how we do recording...one caveat is that this is Mac-centric b/c most of us use macs.  

1. Recording Software - Audio Recorder (make sure you install lame mp3 library)

2. Resampling Software - iTunes LAME

3. Editing Software Free - Audacity for mp3

4. Multi-track recording and editing Free Ardour / Jack for Firepods

5. Multi-track recording and editing Paid - ProTools 

I mentioned this in a comment but I'll say it formally here as well...

"..we use a program called iTunes-LAME at the recommendation of Mosaic b/c of podcasting purposes. we use the following setting: -v -V 6 -m m -h --resample 44.1. their technicians recommended this setting for podcasting b/c it makes the playback better. the file ends up being about 1/2 the original size.""

Compressor Settings

Let's try out these settings that are suggested from Rane. I think Esther is at the board this Sunday.  let us know how it goes.  you're going to need to spend some time on going through each of the compressor settings during run through. 

Comment afterward to let us know how it went.  Maybe Dennis can try this up at Davis as well and let us know how it goes. 

What would you like to know?

if you're taking MYT, what's something you would really like to know/learn about sound? leave it in the comments. 

even if you're not taking myt, what would you like to learn about sound/pro audio? or our own sound/band setup? what would you like to see different?  

i'm just looking for specific feedback for myt, learning and also general feedback. 

GLIVE tech - part1

i wanted to do a background post on what we did for GLIVE.  it's both for archival and anecdotal reasons.  this'll be a several part series.  i'm going to start with some bkgd pics.  we had a work day 2 weeks prior to the actual performance.  we got volunteers from the junior brothers and some ssl lighting folks and we started by setting up the stage, then  SSL was working on lights and we were busy getting all our wireless units in order (16 units - some borrowed from waypoint). 

the crucial addition we had this year was a 2nd lift to help speed up the work with all the lights.  we actually rented fewer lights than the previous GLIVE.  in case you'd like to see, i'll link some of the pics of the performance. 



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Sound System at Willow Creek

Here's an article of what Willow uses for their sound system.

i remember talking to Chris Gille and his wife when they were discussing the plans for what kind of sound system they were going to implement in their new auditorium. Meyer uses some cool embedded technologies to capture the best sound no matter where you are in the auditorium. Their array speaker system has a controller that "speaks" to hundreds of nodes that are placed all around the auditorium during the install to ensure that the sound travels uniformly and at the best fidelity.

Willow also was using some pretty cool subharmonic subwoofers from Bag End.

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05.17.09 praise

Hello World

My first piece of code i learned was "hello world" so here i am again...  this is my first blog post for the Gracepoint Fellowship Sound Blog.  

The Purpose of this Blog: training, learning, resource sharing, linking, and informing. 

Goal: someone to fill my shoes one day...soon =)