Moderator: Thanks for the plug!

Keith: Same thoughts here and I think churches are learning to use these resources. Maybe we can keep pointing them that direction.

Curt: Absolutely. We're constantly amazed at the range of backgrounds in people who are regular contributors to our discussion group. We learn from anyone. There are folks who have been doing this for years. Folks who have probably forgot more about audio than I may ever know, like Jim Brown, Ray Rayburn, and others.

Curt (continued): And there are folks whose only mistake in life was to walk too close by the sound booth last week and got pulled into service - literally. They may not have much to offer about tech stuff, but they have lots of great common sense.

gary: Do you have a preferred approach to choir mic'ing?

Curt: I'm one of "those guys" who prefer large diaphragm mics in general. I have this possibly false impression that they provide a fuller sound. I simply follow the 3:1 Rule to minimize phase cancellations. And carefully watch where they're aimed. After that, it's up to the choir director to give me a good, loud, full sound. It's God's laws of physics, and there's only so much those little mics can do.

Moderator: We'll go about 10 more minutes. Please submit final questions.

bill troutman: When teaching new recruits, how important is mixing FOH as serving the need of the members of the Worship team on the stage?

Curt: My old friend, Bill. How are you sir!? You probably know the answer to that question as well as I. But I'll take a stab at it. You would hand me the hard one! Aren't they both critical to the "success" of a worship service?

Curt (continued): After the soundcheck and rehearsal is done, the FOH has to come first. Whether you have 200 or 2000 in your congregation, they're there to worship the God of the Universe. Obviously, the worship team needs to have what they need in their monitors to lead others into worship. As professionals, they need to be committed to spend the time to get that right in rehearsals and soundchecks.

Curt (continued): At the downbeat of the service, the house mix needs to capture that music and deliver it to the congregation. That comes back to the "focus" issue that was mentioned earlier. The FOH mixer has to stay focused on all elements at once. You can't mix with your eyes on the console.

Curt (continued): You have to know the console as well as the pianist or guitarist knows their instrument. Within reason, if you can grab the right fader without looking, do so.
That allows you to keep your focus on the stage as well as what you're hearing.

jon: Even in terms of a veteran tech staff, what do you need to keep re-emphasizing at regular intervals and through yearly training?

Curt: The Heart of technical excellence. Look at the group as a small group. Your focus is on bringing people to Christ. That's why you're there. Your service is to God, through your service of the technical needs for the worship team and congregations.

Curt (continued): I'd first make sure that the relationships are on track. Make sure that you're lifting each other up. Show you care for your team. Once they're all on the same page technically, take them to the next level. Build to greater complexity. Also, cross train!!!!

Curt (continued): The audio guys should at least know how to get the stage lights working. And the stage lighting guys - or video projection team - should know how to get sound over the house system. They don't need to know every detail. Just basically how to get things working. To which many of you are saying, wait a minute, I am the sound person, and the lighting person, and the video person, and ...*(

Moderator: Final question, and an open one: Over the past five years or so, what's been the most exciting development with regard to church sound? (Doesn't necessarily have to be technology - whatever comes to mind.)

Curt: Lowering of denominational lines. Teaching workshops is a great opportunity for us because we get to bring together people from all sorts of denominations, and from all over the world. It's not long before they realize that they all have the same problems with finance committees not understanding why this stuff costs so much, and so on. The fact that they're not in this alone, that they're not the first person to ever go through this is especially comforting.

Curt (continued): Technically - the quality of loudspeakers, especially arrayable loudspeakers. And loudspeaker processors that offer everything on the planet one could want.

Moderator: Curt, thank you for sharing your time and information with us. We very much appreciate it.

Curt: We're blessed as well. Many thanks for the opportunity! - Curt & Jeanna

Mike Van Tubergen: Yes, Thank you Curt!!! For tonight, and for the churchsoundcheck list. I have learned soooo much.

Keith: Thanks Curt and ProSoundWeb.

Moderator: A transcript of tonight's chat with Curt will be posted on PSW tomorrow.
Upcoming chats: Neil Muncy live from INFOCOMM on June 14, Ray Rayburn on June 19 and Buford Jones on June 20. Feel free to continue chat in PSW's live chat rooms.