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Monday, November 05, 2012
Gary Zandstra 11/05/12 12:22 PM,A couple of weeks ago the sound operator and I were standing in the middle of the main sanctuary trying to decide if the overall level was too hot. We were also trying to understand why the stage volume seemed to be up significantly. As we were talking (actually almost shouting, so that we could hear each other), I asked, “Is that the acoustic snare I’m hearing, or the amplified one?” With the sound level meter showing peaks of nearly… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Analog • Digital • Measurement • Sound Reinforcement • Stage -
Monday, October 15, 2012
Gary Zandstra 10/15/12 12:22 PM,It’s always interesting when old technology becomes new again. We see it daily in our lives, but I’m referring to a specific type of old tech: hearing loops. The technology, which is correctly known by the name of inductive loops, has been in existence for decades. Based on Faraday’s law of induction, a magnetic field is created and individuals that have a Telecoil (t-coil) equipped hearing aid, can receive audio signals directly in their hearing aid. A “loop” is a… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Poll • Production • Audio • Digital • Monitoring • Signal • Sound Reinforcement • System • Wireless -
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Gary Zandstra 10/10/12 10:11 AM,According to worship leaders, what are the most important aspects of being a church sound operator? I’ve been doing an informal survey on this topic, asking worship leaders for their views. The answers have been surprising, at least to me. For example, to this point not one of them has mentioned that a sound operator should have musical talent. Nor have they brought up the value of having a critical ear when it comes to music. Maybe it’s my own… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Study Hall • Engineer • Mixer • Sound Reinforcement • System • Technician -
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Gary Zandstra 09/26/12 05:58 PM,Recently, I was at an industry conference and enjoyed dinner with a group of veteran sound people. One of the fascinating conversations around the table involved ways to get vocals to pop out of a mix. Many ideas we’ve all tried before where thrown around (play with phase on the vocal mic input, brighten the EQ in the 2 kHz range, use outboard gear like a harmonizer to thicken the vocal, etc.), but one of the better ideas was to… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Study Hall • Consoles • Engineer • Mixer • Sound Reinforcement -
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Gary Zandstra 09/11/12 11:18 AM,How to Prevent the Preventable… Sunday morning, 9:34 am: You’ve just made it through a solo vocalist performance - she was using a wireless microphone system. No problems yet, and you’ve just finished up the last “tricky part” of your sound work for the service. It should be all downhill from here… The congregational prayer is underway, and you’ve joined in. The pastor is readying to deliver his message, and he’s wearing one of the other wireless systems, this one… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Poll • Study Hall • Education • Engineer • Loudspeaker • Sound Reinforcement • System • Technician • Audio -
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
Gary Zandstra 09/04/12 03:48 PM,Micing an upright piano is definitely one of the more difficult tasks required of a sound tech/engineer. Over the years I’ve tried numerous different techniques trying to get that “big, warm” piano sound. On most of these occasions, it was in a live rock/pop situation, where the only choice is to get the mics as close to the piano as possible to keep stage bleed to a minimum. But recently I was asked to do front of house for a… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Study Hall • Microphone • Sound Reinforcement -
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Gary Zandstra 08/28/12 08:55 AM,Most of us who have been involved in church production have had at least one (I have many) mistake or failure during a service where you just want to disappear in the booth. One of my most egregious mistakes took place a number of years ago. It was so significant that I still wear the scars from it. Back in “the day” when video projection was almost nonexistent because of the huge cost of projectors I was serving on staff… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Gary Z's Church Sound • Poll • Education • Engineer • Mixer • Sound Reinforcement • Stage • System • Audio -
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Gary Zandstra 08/14/12 11:14 AM,Often times, it’s only through the critique of others that we are able to see the deficiencies in our systems, which is why I’m often called to visit clients services “in action.” In the hopes that you may find some of follows below is an excerpt from the recommendations I made to a church client following a visit to their Sunday morning service. The most prevalent issue throughout the sound check was that while the band sounded great, it took… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Study Hall • Engineer • Monitoring • Sound Reinforcement • Stage • Technician • Audio -
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Gary Zandstra 08/01/12 02:15 PM,This past Sunday I had the privilege to do something that I don’t get the opportunity to do enough: mix. Our volunteer front of house mixer had to miss services and couldn’t find a replacement, so he called me. I could hardly wait for Sunday to come—it had been at least six months since I had to opportunity to mix our worship band. (I usually serve as producer these days.) The anticipation only increased with I found out that a… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Engineer • Mixer • Technician -
Monday, July 30, 2012
Gary Zandstra 07/30/12 12:12 PM,Operating the sound system from the mix position during a recent Sunday worship service, it all began when the first note from our grand piano was distorted. Hmm… We’d checked the piano channel and sound prior to the service, and all was fine. My first reaction to the distortion being produced was to reduce the gain on that console channel, thinking perhaps the piano player was nailing the keys very hard. Yet the problem remained. Next, I did a pre-fade… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Study Hall • Education • Installation • Interconnect • Sound Reinforcement • Stage • System • Technician • Audio
Articles Tagged Gary Zandstra
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