Acoustic treatments are used to alter the sound dynamics in a room. Acoustic treatment might be necessary because of dead spots in a room (areas with little volume), too much reverberation in a room, or uneven frequency distribution in a room. There are three types of acoustic treat. These are ... Read More
Recording On A Shoestring Budget
Recording a church sermon (or the entire service) is part of our job. Recording hardware is no longer limited to cassette tapes...and isn't always cheap. Check out how recording can be done with a budget in mind. a. Reel-to-Reel. This is a technology we don't see ... Read More
A Myth of the Microphone
A question commonly asked when picking microphones is "Which microphone has the best reach?" The problem is that a microphone doesn't reach for anything. A microphone responds to sound waves that travel to its location. The microphone measures variations in air pressure and ... Read More
Wired vs. Wireless Microphones
In the last newsletter, I discussed the quality of sound produced by wired and wireless microphones. I quoted Shure regarding how technology makes the two very similiar in quality, especially in the live environment. Harry F. (a newsletter subscriber) email me with this: "One thought on ... Read More
Tools For Your Gear Bag
Recently, a visitor asked for a list of things for their gear bag. I've listed what I use as well as what I found others using as seem to best fit the church environment. Here you go; Tools: Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman multi-tool. You just need something you can quickly put out of your ... Read More
Metronomicon: Piping in a Metronome
Give me the beat boys and free my soul I want to get lost in your rock and roll and drift away. When the band drifts away from song tempo, one of two things happen; the song slows down or speeds up. Most noticeable is the rushing during choruses and lagging during verses. This ... Read More
New Microphone Database and Review Site
Matt McGlynn sent me this email today: I'm writing to tell you about my mic database. I see you link to the Rycote site, so I figure I have decent odds you'll appreciate what I've built -- a searchable database of over 650 mics, with specs, reviews, photos, and whenever possible, ... Read More
Djembe Microphone Techniques
The djembe (a type of drum) is a great musical instrument that blends well into the church worship setting. However, microphone placement for the djembe is not a hard and fast rule. Here are the guidelines you can use for providing the best amplification.Djembes are either mic'd with a ... Read More
