Moving an amp offstage into an isolation booth can help reducing stage noise, increasing room on the stage, and improving the sound of the amp through the house speakers.  Leave it to Radial to help electric guitarists work with isolation booths.  read more »

A sound tech posed the question "what you think of guitarists putting reverb and delay on, rather than us doing the processing?"

I don't have a problem when a guitarist uses reverb or delay for a particular service or song as long as it sounds good.  That being said, there are several factors to consider;  read more »

I've been talking with some worship guitarists recently and asked them questions as it relates to the sound tech / worship team relationship.  Below, I've listed each question and some responses.  I've edited them only to shorten their length.  I'm not really sure if I need to expound on what they are saying.  Read their responses and apply to your situation.  read more »

I know you are an uber-geek when it comes to sound.  You know all about harmonics and the Inverse Square Law of acoustics.  You know it all.  There you stand on a Sunday morning, in your parapet, making all the proper adjustments to each and every audio channel on the mixer.  And there, across the sanctuary, standing with his $4000 axe, $2000 amp, and an array of pricey effects pedals, is the guitarist.  He is a tone fanatic.  He knows the exact tone of his guitar that's perfect for each and every song.  The effects of fuzz, distortion, crunch, and others  read more »

Reverberation and delay are two methods of signal processing that are often incorrectly equated.  The confusion comes from the fact that they are so closely related.  read more »

Karl Verkade is a music director for Life Church in Southern California.  You can find him on his web site Guitar For Worship posting up great articles like "Chorus Pedal Shootout" and "Amp Tone: Styles of Power Tubes."  I've hit him with some hard questions like explaining the rift between the sound tech and worship leader.  You'll love his answers!   read more »

Gerry Leslie runs a great web site called Worship Guitar Guy: Random Thoughts From A Worship Guitar Perspective.  He covers everything from effects to tone to his own thoughts on worship.  He recently started a blog series called Worship Chords Exposed.  I asked Gerry a few questions about acoustic guitars, sound systems, and sound operators...  read more »

The acoustic guitar can produce a range of beautiful sounds.  This article covers how equalization can be used to bring out the tone, clarity, and depth of the acoustic guitar.

We also cover how the equalizer can be used to distinguish one instrument from another when they share a common frequency range such as between the acoustic guitar and a piano.

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An acoustic guitar produces a wonderful range of sounds from warm bass tones to crisp high notes; a range of 70hz to 700hz.  Because guitars are made out of different types of wood, they can produce different overall sounds.  Some guitars have an overall warm sound, others are bright, and others might accentuate the midrange sounds.  How can you capture those sounds and amplify them?  read more »

A DI unit, DI box, Direct Box or simply DI is an electronic device that connects a high impedance line level signal that has an unbalanced output (a.ka. a piece of equipment) to a low impedance mic level balanced input, usually via XLR connector. DIs are frequently used to connect an electric guitar, electronic piano, or electric bass to a mixing console's microphone input.

The DI performs level matching, balancing, and either active buffering or passive impedance bridging to minimize noise, distortion, and ground loops. DIs do not perform impedance matching.  read more »