Mixing at Free Chapel

Here’s another excellent room I’ve been mixing in recently…Free Chapel in Gainesville, GA.  My friend Dustin Whitt has done an excellent job tuning this PA and overall giving the room some love.  It’s hard to go wrong with Meyer MSL4′s, CQ2′s, and 650P’s.  I cut my teeth professionally almost 10 years ago on rigs just like this one so this is kind of like coming home.  Enjoy the photos from a Night of Worship there last night.

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Shure Axient Wireless System

Check out this most excellent overview of the new Axient system from Shure and some other goodies along the way. If you’ve been wondering what makes Axient so special, case closed. I have mixed with it, spent time learning about the product, and soon will be certified in designing and installing it. Believe me, there is no other wireless system like this on the planet!

Gwinnett Church

One of the perks of my new position with Moyers Group in Atlanta is the ability to mix freelance on the weekends for some really cool churches around the greater Atlanta area.  This past weekend I spent the day with Dustin Whitt at Gwinnett Church mixing monitors.  For those of you who are not familiar, Gwinnett is North Point’s newest campus, launched just a few weeks ago.  At this point they do not have a permanent facility, so they meet weekly at the Gwinnett Center, a really cool arena & convention center complex in the area.

As you’ll see from the photos below, this is portable church like I would expect you’ve never seen before.  Two 53′ semi’s full of equipment, at least 16 fly points for the lighting grid, a big ol’ Meyer PA (8 MICA’s per side, HP700′s, Venue Profile at FOH & Monitors) add up to the best portable church experience I’ve ever seen.  When you combine that with the quality of artists and communicators in the North Point family of churches, the result is incredible.

It is an honor to serve with this team.  Check out these photos for more about my day.  If you’re in town, you really should come check this place out.  Sunday evenings at 6p.

NLC…before & after

Here is some youtube video I found from a few months before we arrived at New Life Church, along with some iPhone video I shot in the past few weeks to show the transformation.  I’m very proud of how far we’ve come as a production team in my time at New Life Church.

My iPad Workflow

Having been an early adopter to the iPad, and recently selling the first gen and upgrading to the second gen version on launch day, one question I’m often asked is regarding my preferred apps and workflow.  I thought it might be cool to give an overview of what I would consider my must-have apps and such.  I recently read an article that gave solid insight into the experience of living with an iPad.  Check that out here.

My iPad is my go with me everywhere computer.  I start out my day reading the newspaper, twitter, facebook, and RSS through it every morning before I get out of bed.  During the day I live and die by the combination of Pocket Informant, QuickOffice, and IA Writer.  It was especially interesting to go without it for a few days after 7 months of ownership during the overlap between selling the first gen and buying the second gen.  I didn’t realize how much I’ve grown to rely on it until it was gone.

For my first gen, I used the Apple iPad case.  This time around I considered one of the Apple Smart Covers but like many others, the lack of overall protection makes me nervous.  Because of how much I carry my iPad, I recently decided to order a simple Portenzo moleskine-style case.  I considered several of the other companies making similar product but decided the Portenzo had the most consistent reviews.  It is supposed to arrive in a few days and I can’t wait!

Here is the list of my preferred apps…

* QuickOffice HD – gives a native app front end for all of your docs in the cloud.  Google Docs, Dropbox, Box.net, etc.  Download a doc, edit it, and send it back to the cloud.  Works great.  Only weakness is you can’t do realtime collaboration with others since its a sync thing.  If someone changes the doc while you’re editing it, when you send it back to the cloud you’ll overwrite them.  For all of my personal docs, this isn’t an issue.

* Pocket Informant HD – calendar and tasks app.  Sync’s google cal for schedule, uses ToodleDo for tasks since Google’s API doesn’t allow syncing with third party apps for tasks.  I LOVE this app!

* IA Writer – best simple writer app I’ve used.  Syncs with Dropbox, simple text.  I use it when I just want to write content without being distracted by formatting or other stuff.  Keeps track of word count and time required to read the post.  Love it!

* GoodReader – file storage/reader app.  Basically most any document but media.  Turn on WiFi server and it will mount your iPad as a drive on your computer so you can drag and drop files back and forth with GoodReader.  I keep digital editions of magazines, documentation, catalogs, will do an offline sync of Dropbox folders so you always have the most current version of files with you when not on WiFi.  Another must have.

* Penultimate with the Targus Stylus.  Best writing app I’ve ever seen.  I held off on a stylus until very recently, never really understanding what was the big deal about them.  Then I tried writing with one using Penultimate.  It’s the first real notebook replacement, at least for me.  I take notes in meetings, sketch, and brainstorm just like I am carrying 5 or 6 different notebooks.  MUST HAVE!

* Evernote – self explanatory.  The latest update really improved the functionality of the app.  Geotagged notes, record meeting audio, etc.

* LifeForms – PDF form filler.  No need to print PDFs to sign and then send back to someone, things like that.

* AppShopper is great for keeping track of new apps, finding apps on sale or when they go from paid to free.  I’m sure I’ve saved quite a bit just by checking in with this app every week.

* Social Media: Friendly (native Facebook app), Twitter, IM+ (multi-platform IM client)

* News: Flipboard, USA Today, News360, Zite, CNN, Today, Reuters News Pro, Fluent News, ESPN ScoreCenterXL, The Weather Channel Max+

* Tech News: SkyGrid, Flud News, Mashable, Macworld

* RSS:  Reeder.  I’ve tried some of the others but Reeder is still my favorite.

* Photography:  Adobe Ideas, LIFE, Photoshop Express, Filterstorm, Wallpapers HD, Photo Delight

* Music:  Garageband, Pandora, Remote, Set List (really helpful for production notes – acts like a virtual stack of cards you can cycle through while doing a show), DJay (awesome for walk-in music or production cues)

* Video:  iMovie (it’s pretty sweet), ABC Player, PBS, Discovery, TV Guide, Netflix, Redbox, Flixster, TED, VLC Player (multi-format video player – I think its been pulled from the App store but I have it you can have), Fandango

* Travel:  Google Earth (awesome on iPad), Kayak HD for trip playing, Urbanspoon and Yelp

* Shopping:  Ebay, Amazon Windowshop (best Amazon shopping experience), Target, Epicurious & BigOven for recipes and such

What are your favorites?  Anything I’ve missed?