Post Tagged with: "church AV systems"

Once again, the Presonus StudioLive 24 has proved how great a digital mixer it is for Live Sound Mixing.  I just got back from setting up a portable system for a long time friend who is a church music director.  I recommended the Presonus Studiolive 24 to him as a great choice for the new multi-site service location at the Edmonds Conference Center. 

Building on the Presonus StudioLive 16, which has been one of the most popular digital mixers in history, the Studiolive 24.4.2 not only adds an additional eight channels, but it also adds lots of additional processing and flexibility.  One of the first features I found really useful were the 3 extra dual 31-band graphic EQ’s.  The Studiolive 16 has one dual 31-band graphic EQ which is on the main outs only.  The Studiolive 24 has four dual channel 31-band EQ’s which can be assigned to the mains or aux busses!

It was easy to assign the first EQ to the mains and then the other three dual channel EQ’s to the aux busses for wedge EQ.  Once assigned, ringing out the house system was quick and easy.  The house system came with the building and had a few problems with peaks at several frequency bands.  20 minutes with the dual band EQ’s and we had a flat system to start working with. 

On stage wedge monitors always need some low frequency tapering.  We could have easily done most of that with the standard 4-band parametric EQ’s that are included with the Studiolive 24 on each aux output.  The addition of the 31-band EQ’s allowed us to provide even more precise tuning since a pair of wedges was being used for the choir.

The Studiolive 24 also provides more aux buses to work with than the Studiolive 16.  The Studiolive 16 has 6 buses and the Studiolive 24 has a total of 10 aux buses.  It’s easy to imagine stereo in-ears being used with the Studiolive 24 due to the number of busses AND the full 4-band parametric EQ on each of those busses.

Quickly adjusting EQ, compression and limiting on each input channel was easy with the FatChannel.  Same for setting up the aux mixes since a simple press of one of the buttons assigns all 24 encoder buttons as aux sends for each channel.  Levels are indicated on the LED ladders directly above each encoder.

All said, it’s pretty easy for someone who has mixed on an analog mixer for years to make the transition to a digital mixer with either the Presonus Studiolive 16 or Studiolive 24.  If you can afford the extra $1400, the Studiolive 24 is clearly the choice for larger worship teams due to the increased number of aux sends plus the extra assignable 31-band EQ’s.  And, don’t forget full laptop computer operation with Presonus VSL software that also gives you the ability to add iPad control!

To find our more about using the Presonus Studiolive 24 in live sound mixing, simply visit www.ccisolutions.com or call one of the worship technology experts at CCI Solutions!

CCI Solutions has the Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 available for sale for the extremely low price of $1,649.00!  This is a very limited time offer on special “restock” merchandise that we exhibited at the Christian Musician Summit.  The product was displayed in our booths, but not used at the event.  If you have ever considered purchasing a PreSonus StudioLive 16.4.2 for recording or Live Sound use, now is the time to take advantage of this incredible deal!  You can get more info on our website page here or call one of our Sound and Visual Technology Experts at 800-562-6006

Live worship can really shine when the drums sound great. A tight kick, snappy snare and musical toms help bring people off their seats and clapping. That’s a perfect result for many Contemporary Christian worship services. Of course if the drum sound is piercing, muddy or boomy the chance of the performance positively engaging the audience is next to none.

Modern Drum Recordings
Let’s face it, we’re all used to listening to recordings that include awesome sounding drums. After all, drums are the foundation of most contemporary music. The engineers that produce commercial recordings have the right gear and expertise to create a drum sound that is consistently balanced and fits perfectly with the musical message that the producer is attempting to communicate. It’s no wonder that we all have such high expectations for the sound of drums in our own live performances.

The good news is that it is definitely possible to get a professional, impactful, and consistently balanced drum sound in your space. Based on the common expectations of your congregation and visitors, it’s nearly critical to do your best on this front.

CCI Solutions Worship Tools – Drum Miking Edition
In this edition of CCI’s Worship Tools, we’ll share some great resources you can use to improve the sound of your acoustic drum set. You’ll learn some valuable techniques that will make a huge difference in the sound of your drums in a live worship setting. By the way, if you are not the person that deals directly with the sound or worship music in your facility, please forward this email to those that are. We’re confident they’ll be glad you did.

Resource One: Seven Part Drum Miking Video Tutorial
In this seven part video series from Audix Microphones, Mike K and professional live performer/studio recording musician Mike Snyder walk us through the complete process of miking a drum kit. After the introduction chapter they include 6 individual videos that cover miking the kick drum, snare drum, overhead mics, rack and floor toms, high hat cymbals and finally the full drum kit showing how all the elements work together. In this series they reference Audix mics, but the techniques relate to most quality microphones designed for the same applications you will see in this series. See the Videos here.

Don’t forget, your CCI Solutions Sound and Visual Technology Experts are only a phone call away to answer any drum miking questions you may have! 800.562.6006
Drum Microphone Packs Start as Low as $99!

Resource Two: Drum Mic Techniques and Tips from 11 Superstar Drummers
You’ll find some useful how-to gems in this educational publication from Shure. The content is definitely about miking drums but they start out covering some general microphone techniques and principles that are very useful. A noteworthy inclusion is the description of the Inverse Square Law which describes the scientific relationship between the microphone and the sound source. You also get tips from some of the greatest professional drummers around like Kenny Arnoff, Simon Phillips, Russ Miller, John JR Robinson and more. You can download the Drum Mic Techniques and Pro-Tips here.

Resource Three: Studio Drum Miking 101
Here’s an article from AKG that is based on recording drums in a studio environment. Even though the focus is on the aspects of studio recording, the mic placement and choice of mics applies to live sound applications. We like the explanation of all the different pieces that make up the drum kit. It’s basic, but sometimes basic is a good place to start. The use of easy to follow line drawings to illustrate mic placement is very helpful. Learn more about miking drums here.