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Articles by Mike Sessler
The Cost Of Getting It Wrong: The Benefits Of Doing Systems & Gear Right – The First Time
Several years ago, Tim Cool from Visioneering posted a thought-provoking post of the same name (The Cost Of Getting It Wrong). It’s very good, and I suggest you go read the whole thing. He asks several questions related to staffing, building and designing. As I thought about what he wrote, one particular question resonated with me: What will it cost to have the wrong audio and acoustics in your worship center?
Beyond Mere Hearing: The Numerous Benefits Of Really Listening To Music
Since you’re reading the Church Sound section of ProSoundWeb, I think it’s reasonable to assume that you’re involved in the audio side of church production. Whether on staff, a volunteer leader or the one who shows up when the faders need pushed, you are an audio tech/engineer. With that established, let me ask a question: How much time do you spend simply listening to music? Let me share an experience I recently had.
Overly Complicated Complexity: Preparing For Success With Modern AV Systems
Recently, Church Facilities Expo released a survey indicating that 44 percent of churches say that AV system complexity is a significant operational challenge. That’s up from 24 percent just two years ago. This got me thinking about the systems I’ve designed and installed over the years. Now, I’ll admit, I’m somewhat of a complication junkie. Well, not really; what I like to do is wring every last drop of performance out of any system I’m working with.
Worth The Effort: The Benefits Of Line Checks & Methods For Getting Them Done Efficiently
The line check. It’s one of those things that most sound techs know they should do, or at least would like to have time to do, but often fail to get around to actually doing. Getting a line check done before the band arrives has saved us on several occasions. Not getting it done has cost us time (and when I say us, I mean the tech team, the band, the producer and everyone else in the room). So, what is a line check?
To Mono Or Not To Mono? Examining Coverage Delivered By Stereo & Mono System Designs
In my previous article, I examined the pitfalls of trying to create a stereo mix in a large room with multiple sources of sound. This time around, I’m going to attempt to illustrate why I generally prefer mono sound systems for most venues. Note that these are general principles and preferences and not letter of the law rules for PA design. There are many ways to accomplish something, and many of them will work.
Moving In Stereo: What Works Well In Smaller Spaces May Not Be Optimum In Larger Ones
Life’s the same, I’m moving in stereo Life’s the same, except for my shoes. – Ric Ocasek, The Cars I’m not sure what that lyric has to do with anything, but whenever I think of mixing in stereo, I think of that song. What can I say, I grew up in the 1980s. After publishing the 2-30 Challenge, a savvy reader wrote in and suggested that in addition to turning off all the plugins, EQ and other toys we use as cheat codes for mixing that we also mono out the PA.
The Dilemma: It Takes More Than A Quality System Design & Install To Get The Desired Result
Several years ago I installed a new main system at a church. The previous system was a disaster; low-quality loudspeakers that were entirely wrong for the shape of the room, installed in the wrong place, and what could charitably be described as “tuned” by a volunteer. Meanwhile, the new system, while not top-shelf, was of good quality and actually designed and deployed properly for the space.
A Different Lane: Microphone & Mix Considerations For Conference Audio
If you hang out in a church tech booth long enough, you’ll eventually find yourself mixing some type of conference. It might be internal, regional or open to the world. Conferences have very unique challenges, most of which can be solved by careful planning. Like any other event, it’s important to gather the information about who will be on stage, what their requirements are, and then to plan accordingly. The earlier and more thoroughly the planning, the more successful you’re going to be.
Ear Of The Beholder? The Subjective Nature Of Sound
A while back, I was pursuing one of the many online sound groups and came across a question from someone who I believe to be a volunteer tech at a church. He was asking if sound was subjective. He had been dealing with various other leaders in the church and was struggling to come up with a consensus on whether there was “good” sound or if it’s all in the ear of the beholder. As someone who has been party to many of these discussions, I’m going to throw my thoughts out here about this topic.
#6: The 2-30 Challenge: A Process That Can Help Transform (And Improve) Live Mixes
Having spent the last two decades as a production director and now an integrator, I’ve heard a lot of audio mixes – both inside and outside the church. I wish I could say I’ve heard a lot of great mixes, but that wouldn’t be accurate.
The 2-30 Challenge: A Process That Can Help Transform (And Improve) Live Mixes
Having spent the last two decades as a production director and now an integrator, I’ve heard a lot of audio mixes – both inside and outside the church. I wish I could say I’ve heard a lot of great mixes, but that wouldn’t be accurate.
Lessons From A “Seasoned” Church Production Tech
For some time now, I’ve been hearing from younger techs looking for advice as they join this wonderful, wacky world of church tech. I’ve now spent more years doing live production professionally than most of them have been alive, so it seemed good to share a few things that I’ve learned in that time. When you’re young you think you know everything. How many teenagers have you heard say, “My parents just don’t get this!” Perhaps you’ve said it yourself.
Right From The Start: 2.5 Ways To Set Up Input Gain
When it comes to live sound, input gain is one of those things we have to get right. If the gain structure is wrong, no amount of EQ, compression or fancy plugins will fix it. Over the years, I’ve seen my share of gain disasters, and have found many who simply don’t know how to properly gain-stage their console. I’m going to offer two ways to set up gain, plus a hybrid approach (the .5).
More Than It Seems: Challenging Digital Technology Myths
How many times have you heard this phrase: “If we had a digital console, we could save so much time on sound checks and it would sound the same every week.” Or this one: “We have a digital board, so why does my monitor mix change every week?” Or my personal favorite: “Are the sound techs not saving the settings each week, because it’s so different every weekend…” These questions and comments have one thing in common—they all assume sound is an electrical process that, once converted to bits...
Asking The Wrong Question: The Importance Of Context In The Quest For Useful Information
As someone who has been rather publicly in this game for a few years, I get a lot of questions. Most center on the “how.” How do you mic a snare? How do you mic a guitar? How do you handle a vocalist whose range is all over the place? How do your program the board so we can just turn it on every week and have it be right? (Good luck on that last one!). At the risk of demeaning my question-asking friends, I would like to submit that you’re asking the wrong question.
Thorough Evaluation: Getting The Most Out Of Loudspeaker Demonstrations
Last fall, I had the opportunity to be part of the Live Sound Loudspeaker Demo at the CFX conference in Chattanooga, TN. The event was done the way I always thought loudspeaker demos should be done – the systems were all level-matched prior to each session, and the same track was played through each in succession. A variety of tracks were used, and these highlighted different characteristics of the loudspeakers under consideration. It was a rather good demo.
Back To Basics: Despite The Countless Tools Available, Sometimes Simpler Is Better
While I can’t prove it, I believe we’re living in the golden age of live audio, with loudspeakers, consoles and processing that’s better than ever. Never before have we had such ability to accurately reinforce live music, and moreover, it’s never been easier to alter, shape and tone said music. What used to require racks and racks of expensive gear can now live on a laptop or rack-mounted server and can be had for a few thousand dollars.
Dialing In Vocal Effects: Making It Sound Better In A Quick, Efficient Manner
I love reverb on vocals. It stands to reason; I grew up in the 1970s and 80s, when there were many records made with tons of reverb on vocals. Today, the pendulum has swung the other way and vocal reverb has become more minimalist. I’m not necessarily against minimal reverb on vocals, but I do often think that reverb covers a multitude of sins. And when we’re mixing audio in churches, having a little extra “awesome sauce” can really help vocals sound better.
The First 80 Percent: Straightforward Steps To Getting Mixes Moving In The Right Direction
Previously (here), I presented four techniques that I’ve developed to help put the “finishing touches” on mixes, and at the request of readers, I’m going to provide further details on those techniques in the near future. However, it also raises the question: how do we get the mix in the right place to then apply those techniques? We live in the golden age of live audio. Loudspeaker, DSP and amplification technology are certainly near their peak, which means our systems sound better than ever.
In Memoriam: A Tribute To Bob Heil
Some people have an innate ability to leave indelible marks on others. Whether due to their personality, brilliance or the way they care for people, they’re people you don’t forget meeting. Such was the case with Bob Heil. He left this mortal coil in late February, but not before leaving a legacy that changed several industries and more than a few people. I met Bob for the first time back in 2011 or so.
The Final 20 Percent: Four Techniques To Put The "Finishing Touches" On The Mix
If you’ve been mixing for a while, and working hard to improve your craft, it’s likely you can put up a pretty good mix in short order. Having mastered gain structure, microphone selection and placement, the use of EQ, compression and finding space for everything in the mix, you might be wondering where to go from here. That’s where I found myself the last few years of full-time mixing. I had long advanced the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 principle.
#6: One Mic Fits All? Working Toward An Optimum Result For Vocals
What’s the best vocal microphone? It’s a question I get a lot, and while I have my favorites, the answer is usually, “it depends.” Over my career in live sound, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a large number of microphones, from the ubiquitous $100 “ball” vocal mic to models costing thousands of dollars. Surprisingly, it’s often the less expensive mics that are the “best” for a given source.
Honorable Mention: Simply Logical: A Straightforward Approach To Mixing Console Layout
Somewhere back in the paleolithic era of live sound, mixing consoles were noisy. That’s because they were made of stuff. Look inside a modern digital console and what you’ll find is a few ribbon cable connecting the fader/encoder banks to a small motherboard. All that computerized digital magic has made audio mixers very, very quiet.
One Mic Fits All? Working Toward An Optimum Result For Vocals
What’s the best vocal microphone? It’s a question I get a lot, and while I have my favorites, the answer is usually, “it depends.” Over my career in live sound, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a large number of microphones, from the ubiquitous $100 “ball” vocal mic to models costing thousands of dollars. Surprisingly, it’s often the less expensive mics that are the “best” for a given source.
'Tis The Season: Strategies To Make It Work With Christmas Programs
Christmas: it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Unless of course you happen to be a church sound person. Statistics show Christmas and Easter are the highest attended weekends of the year, and most churches pull out all the stops to make those weekends great. And that tends to make a lot more work for the sound and production teams.
Introverts and Leadership
One of the biggest challenges technical leaders face is that most of us are introverts in a culture that favors extroverts. As more churches call on their technicians to move from being simply doers to leaders and developers of teams, we have a big, steep hill to climb. But there is good news; we are in good company. In fact, I would suggest (and I'm not the only one to do so) that Moses himself was an introvert. Consider this; he spent most of his adult life wandering around the desert by himself.
Simply Logical: A Straightforward Approach To Mixing Console Layout
I’m a big fan of standardization. It makes it a lot easier to move between venues and host different sound techs if everything is ...read more → Maybe death metal engineers can get away with the constant drone of metallic hash noise, but for everyone else, please continue to read on...
Victory Kamado Grill Review
SmokedBBQSource is supported by its readers. We may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you if you buy through a link on this page. Learn more. Kamado style grills have an exceptional reputation as both grills and smokers thanks to their ability to retain and circulate heat. The main models from leading brands like Kamado Joe and Big Green Egg can run into the thousands of dollars, so I was excited to try out the Victory Grills Kamado which is priced a little more competitively.
Level Up: Methods For Enhancing Vocals With The Application Of Reverb
The trend today is to keep vocals as dry as Lake Meade in 2022, but if you’d like to upgrade from the dry toast ...read more → A checklist of key elements as well as a range of approaches and recommendations to effectively evaluate and improve the quality of streaming mixes. Where might we go wrong as pro audio industry marketers? Have I caused you all moral harm for decades and not even realized it?
Weber Traveler Review: Collapsible Gas Grill to Take On the Road
SmokedBBQSource is supported by its readers. We may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you if you buy through a link on this page. Learn more. Have you ever been outside in your backyard cooking on your Weber grill (or any gas grill for that matter) and thought, man I wish I could take this anywhere with me? Or maybe you’re in the market for a new grill to take camping or tailgating. The new “Weber on Wheels”, looks like it ticks a lot of boxes so I was excited to test it out.
Previously (here), we considered two ways to deliver a better online audio mix for our at-home congregation. To recap, we don’t want to use the main mix because the levels and mix will be sub-optimal, so instead let’s use either an aux mix or a group/matrix mix. The aux mix is basically a monitor mix for the broadcast feed, while the group/matrix mix is a different thing altogether. Let’s dig into using one or the other.
The Broadcast Mix, Part 1: Methods For Attaining Quaility Streaming Audio For Worship Services
The concept of online church seems here to stay. When I first started writing about this over 10 years ago, few churches were streaming their services live. Some would post the sermon, either in video or just audio, but for the most part it was the larger churches with larger budgets and staffs that were streaming their services live. The year 2020 changed all that and even small churches today are streaming live for people who would rather stay home.
Everything To Gain: The Keys To An Often Underrated Aspect Of Proper Operation
Gain structure is one of the very important yet highly underrated topics in audio. It’s not nearly as glamorous as EQ, plugins or parallel compression, but if gain structure is out of whack, no amount of EQ, plugins or compression will fix it. Here I’m going to focus primarily on input channel gain structure (overall system gain structure is another article entirely).
A Matter Of Time, Or "How To Fit All That Stuff Into The Mix"
My friend Dave says one of the most important things we can do as audio engineers is to listen to music. Lots of music. Many different styles of music. And don’t just listen, break it down. How is it mixed? How is it arranged? Where did they put things, and how did they make it sound good (or fail at making it sound good)? I subscribe to this practice, though not as much as I would like. The other day, I was watching a Classic Albums show on Netflix.
Church Sound: Things To Do (And Not Do) In The Equipment Demo Process
I’m often asked how I used to go about setting up demos of equipment. Several people noticed that when I was a tech director at a large church in California, I regularly tested gear, and I know that many churches have a need to do the same. So, I thought an explanation might be appreciated. Now before I get into the how’s and why’s, here are a few disclaimers. Larger churches have significant advantages in comparison to smaller churches.
Lessons From A "Seasoned" Church Production Tech
. For some time now, I’ve been getting letters from younger techs. The exact topics vary, but the general theme seems to be looking for advice as they join this wonderful, wacky world of church tech. God has also brought a bunch of younger folks into my direct sphere of influence, so there seems to be a common theme here.
The Mighty HPF: Getting Up To Speed On This Absolutely Essential Mixing Tool
I was watching something on TV recently, and after hearing multiple “plosives” (P’s and B’s and T’s) just booming away through my speakers, I quipped, “Can we please get a high pass on that mic!” Then I realized there still may be a number of less-experienced sound techs out there who are not yet acquainted with the high-pass filter (HPF). Allow me to make the introduction.
Church Sound: Defining Mixing Console Auxes, Groups, VCAs & Matrixes
For the novice sound engineer, it can be pretty intimidating to walk up to a large analog or digital console and try to figure out the routing of audio signals. It wouldn’t be so bad if the only place the sound had to go was to the main loudspeakers in the room. Occasionally that’s the case, but most of the time, we’re also sending different mixes to monitors for musicians, to lobby and cry room speakers, and to various recordings.
Church Sound: Ear Of The Beholder? The Subjective Nature Of Sound
A while back, I was pursuing one of the many online sound groups and came across a question from someone who I believe to be a volunteer tech at a church. He was asking if sound was subjective. He had been dealing with various other leaders in the church and was struggling to come up with a consensus on whether there was “good” sound or if it’s all in the ear of the beholder. As someone who has been party to many of these discussions, I’m going to throw my thoughts out here about this topic.
New York’s Redeemer Church Upgrades With Martin Audio WPM
Velocity Pro Systems recently installed and designed a new audio system with a Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Mini (WPM) array in Manhattan’s Upper West Side campus of the Redeemer Church. Describing the installation, Velocity Pro Systems’ Scott Carman explains: “The project actually started back in 2016 because Redeemer is not just used as a church, but also as a seven day a week space for a lot of outside events such as concerts and meetings.
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