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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 -
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Gary Zandstra 07/10/12 09:37 AM,Modern worship doesn’t always call for a choir, but there are still many worship services where a choir is involved. Choirs used to be the staple of the worship experience in most churches—I grew up in a church where they were located in the “choir loft” for the whole service, singing all of the hymns with the rest of us as well as doing a special number or two themselves. This choir consisted of 40-50 members, accompanied by acoustic piano,… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Consoles • Microphone • Mixer • Processor • Stage • Audio -
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Gary Zandstra 06/06/12 02:21 PM,At live events (church services, weddings, concerts and so on), it’s definitely not my favorite thing to tell sound operators how to fix their mixes. But when there is basic stuff happening like constant feedback, the monitors turned up louder than the mains, EQ that has taken the vocals out of the mix, and so on, I feel compelled to help, and also to spare the ears of those in the audience. When I go to the sound booth, I… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Training • Consoles • Engineer • Mixer • Sound Reinforcement -
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Gary Zandstra 05/30/12 11:14 AM,A drummer who also sings while playing can impact drum sound due to the presence of an additional microphone on or around the kit. Here are some ways I deal with this issue. Go for maximum isolation. A headset mic with a lot of rear rejection like the Crown Audio CM-311A headworn differoid (photo below). With maximum rear rejection, this headset really helps in keeping vocals separate from the drum kit. I’ve used the CM-311A numerous times and it does… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Study Hall • Microphone • Sound Reinforcement • Stage -
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Gary Zandstra 05/22/12 02:52 PM,Sometimes my first reaction to something isn’t always my best reaction. Recently I was mixing a group that I’d handled a few times before, and after about 30 minutes of rehearsal, the leader walked out in to the house to listen to the mix. What happened next is where I thankfully took time to process rather than react. After a few minutes, the leader shouted, in what I interpreted as a rather curt tone, “The kick drum is way too… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Consoles • Mixer • Signal • Sound Reinforcement -
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Gary Zandstra 05/10/12 05:51 PM,Producing great sound in a worship service can seem as elusive as finding a soloist who always sings on key. However, this doesn’t have to be so. Many factors influence the quality of sound: room acoustics, sound-system design and performance, operator experience, and quality of musical performance. Here are some practical tips on how to tie all of that together to get the best sound. Understand the Basics To get the most out of a sound system, you must first… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Poll • Analog • Digital Audio Workstations • Education • Engineer • Installation • Loudspeaker • Mixer • Signal • Sound Reinforcement • System • Audio -
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Gary Zandstra 04/26/12 07:25 AM,Several years ago, I was invited to be a presenter at an audio industry trade show, and while there, I greatly enjoyed meeting some fellow presenters. In fact, after the convention center hall closed, eight of us audio “geeks” went to enjoy dinner together, and it turned out to be a fun—and instructive—evening on many levels. At one point, as we were seated around the table, someone in the group posed this hypothetical question: “If you got a call to… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Poll • Microphone • Sound Reinforcement • Stage -
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Gary Zandstra 04/17/12 07:07 AM,A number of years ago, a guy ostensibly working in “professional audio” told me that the reason he mixed the events he did (they were generally smaller local events) was so he could turn up the bass as loud as he could and/or as loud as was possible. Personally, I’m glad I didn’t attend any of these events. It’s not that I don’t like bass, it’s more that he was more concerned about how it sounded to him rather that… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Blog • Engineer • Mixer • Technician -
Monday, April 09, 2012
Gary Zandstra 04/09/12 10:47 AM,The emotional attachment to music that we humans have amazes me. I can hear a song that I listened to in junior high school, and boom—my mind goes back there. I can remember where I was, see who was with me, and sometimes even relive the emotion that I experienced almost 30 years ago. Recently I interview Gary Matthews, Pastor of Worship at Christ Memorial Church in Holland, MI, and we talked about this attachment to music. Gary made some… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Poll • Video • Engineer • Sound Reinforcement • Technician -
Monday, April 02, 2012
Gary Zandstra 04/02/12 04:35 PM,About once a month, I get to mix for what I call an “extravaganza” of musical performance. Our worship leader refers to it as “sound by the pound.” The event can consist of a brass section with 10-12 players (trumpet, trombone, saxophone, and tuba), as well as a string section of a few players sprinkled with a few woodwinds, and then a rhythm section that includes lead guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboard(s) bass, drums, aux percussion. Oh, l almost forgot the… View this story
Filed in: Church Sound • Feature • Poll • Study Hall • Concert • Sound Reinforcement • Stage
Articles Tagged Gary Zandstra
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