John Cooper

I first observed John Cooper’s work a little over 10 years ago when he was mixing Wynonna and the company I was working for at the time provided production for an acoustic show on a military base. I was impressed with his mix, but equally impressed with his demeanor and approach to the day. It’s always stuck out with me, so I was especially interested in this video I ran across recently on the Waves site profiling John’s techniques and tools mixing the Ringo Starr All Star Band. It’s definitely worth a watch.

Values to achieve the NLC “Sound”

One of the most appealing parts of my transition to New Life Church last summer was inheriting a blank canvas of sorts when it comes to values and execution.  The talent here, both on and off the stage, is first class.  However, we’d never spent any time defining our “sound” and some strategies to be more consistent in arriving at it.  So a few months ago I committed these ideas to paper and we’ve been living inside of them ever since.  The inspiration for this discussion on the blog came from a common question I heard at Gurus a few weeks ago regarding getting a group of volunteer engineers to think alike and begin to move the same direction in crafting a mix.

Last time we discussed overall team mission and values.  I think this has to be defined first before going any further. Transitioning to more specific mix values, here’s what we’ve been living with…first some general concepts…

Accurate Tones:  We value getting it right on stage.  Great input makes great output, so it ALWAYS must start on stage.  This includes drum tuning, keys patch selection, mic placement on guitar amps, etc.

Classic:  There is a timeless quality to some records and overall music approaches that have stood the test of time.  Classic, good tones that don’t stray too far one direction or the other, trying to avoid super dated verbs/choruses/delays.  It is our goal to make timeless mixes that translate well both inside and outside our rooms.

Dynamic:  A worship set should be a journey.  Again, starting on stage and then translating through the engineer, it’s important that we take our audience on the most incredible journey.

Active:  Mixes should be active, always looking for the most interesting thing and highlighting it.  Many engineers have a tendency to be level managers and always mix a measure behind – one measure behind on pushing the solo, one measure behind on the transition, and on and on.

Now to specifics of our “sound”…

Drums/Bass and Vocals are both foundational.  Of course in worship music there is nothing more important than the lyric.  However, there’s a fine line we balance here between the vocal sitting just right in the mix or being too far out front (what I call a “churchy” mix).  Drum sounds that are dynamic, engaging, natural, and just sound great are the foundation the rest of the mix is built on.

Electric Driven.  The reality of the most common style of music we play is that it is electric guitar driven.  The hook of most songs is somehow connected to electrics, so it is important to mix like they are important to us.  This is one of those other ways to avoid a “churchy” mix…keep them out front.  As an extreme generalization, the only times the electric shouldn’t be driving the mix is when he’s not playing.  Ha!  Seriously, when the band drops out its important to find something else to fill the space such as acoustic or piano, but most of the stuff we do is driven by electric.

Keys and Acoustics provide texture and interest.  A mix that is 100% drums/bass/electric can certainly become boring, so keys and acoustics provide the flavor to add musical interest.  Mix them that way.  It is RARE that the acoustic should be further out front than the electric if both are playing.  Sometimes keys or acoustics share focus with electric, such as in the intro hook to “Greatness of our God”.

Lead Vocal relationship to BGV, Male to Female vocals.  We have a lot of people on stage on a given weekend.  A lot.  There is a coolness and hipness to this that just works at New Life Church.  I was really skeptical of it coming in but it’s really engaging in the room and works really well for us.  However, there are few songs we do that should be mixed as a huge group vocal.  There are several, but most have a clear lead vocal/BGV thing going on and its important to honor that in order to maintain relevance musically.  The same goes for the relationship of male to female singers.  More often not there are 2:1 more women on stage than men, but there’s no faster way to make a mix “churchy” than too much female vocal sitting on top of the whole thing.  We accomplish this a couple ways – first in the arrangement and making use of lower harmonies so the ladies will naturally sit in the middle of the mix rather than on top, second through actively managing the level relationship in the group and keeping lead vocal out front with the BGV group tucked nicely behind it.

I’d welcome discussion about this topic either here in the comments or via Twitter.

Audio Team Values

One of the most surprising revelations I received during Gurus from so many people I talked to was how few teams have clearly defined mission and values, as well as value statements to define the target for mixing success.  I thought it might be cool to outline our team’s mission and values with some thoughts…

The mission of our audio team is to create moments for people to engage with God.  We try to do this with excellence since I believe that excellence honors God and reflects His perfect character, and through Christ-driven ideals.  Our serving should come out of the overflow of our personal relationship with Jesus.  Our team values include many areas I’ve written about over the years…

• The Table is Set:  it is extremely important for us to be prepared for the artists’ arrival with everything tested and ready to go so the people on stage can focus on creating music and moments with as little distraction from us as possible.
• Accountable:  doing what we say we will do, not making problems mysterious, taking accountability when we make a mistake and learning from it so it doesn’t happen again
• It’s All in the Details:  audio is a game of a million itty bitty steps.  There is no single smoking gun that will equal a great mix.  It’s all in the incremental tiny moves that equal audio amazingness.
• Change Happens:  it is so important to stay flexible and prepared to adjust to requested changes.  Most times strong preparation makes it possible to adjust to change more easily.
• Are You Being Served? It is our privilege to serve the musicians, vocalists, pastors, and ultimately our church in engaging with God.  Everything we say and do should come from the perspective of doing whatever possible to facilitate an unforgettable experience for the people on stage.  The result will most often translate directly to the people in the seats.
• Push the Envelope:  It is important to keep looking for ways to improve what we do and never become satisfied with the status quo.  There is always a way to be better in our craft.  Mixing is a skill and requires constant refinement.
• Rest in the Call:  it is the call of God on our lives that allows us to be successful mixing audio.  Mixing can be especially stressful and a high pressure position.  It’s important to keep perspective regardless of how good or bad things go that we are honoring God by serving Him with our talents and resting in that call.

I started out putting this whole thing in one post but it’s too much, so I’m splitting into two.  Next time we’ll dive into specific mix values.  If you haven’t defined your mission or values – both in general or directly related to the mix – I challenge you to do so.  I think you will find the exercise beneficial for your team.  Only time will tell how impactful these thoughts really become to our team.  But ever since committing to them, I make it a practice to use them in conversation or in coaching, all the while looking to make them part of who we are.

Until next time…

Gurus of Tech wrap-up

Gurus of Tech was an awesome experience last week in Chicago.  It was really great to visit with so many old friends, as well as meet face to face many new ones from Twitter and this blog.  The content was as great as you would expect…especially Scott Ragsdale’s interview with Robert Scovill.  I’m planning to unpack a few of statements from his interview over the next few weeks because there’s so much wisdom here, especially in the world of church production.  If you haven’t seen it yet, regardless of if you’re an audio guy or not, go here, watch, and take notes.  His is session #4.

http://www.willowproduction.org/gurus-chicago-2011/

The magic to me of Gurus is the organic-ness of it all.  In a world where there is seemingly at least one conference or trade show a month, Gurus still maintains an innocence just by the whole premise behind it – technical artists gathering together to teach each other, be inspired, and share community.  I’m definitely a convert and will be doing everything I can to take a group from New Life to the gathering this summer in Louisville.

I was especially honored to be able to join a panel with some great friends this time around to talk about the art of mixing.  If you were not able to make it and would like to download “bootleg” audio from our session, my friend Dave has it posted on his blog.  You can find it here… http://goingto11.com/?p=1032

Pensado’s Place

I mentioned this on Twitter a few weeks ago but figured it was worth a full blog post. A little while back I happened on a weekly video podcast led by Dave Pensado called Pensado’s Place that has quickly proven it should be required viewing for anyone serious about mixing. If you don’t recognize the name, I promise you that you know Dave’s work. Dave has mixed hits for bands like The Black Eyed Peas to Justin Timberlake, Elton John, Jamiroquai, and Christina Aguilera. In 2002, Dave received a Grammy for his work on the hit single “Lady Marmalade,” featuring Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa, and Pink. Do I have your attention yet?

Every week Dave and his manager Herb Trawick host a roughly 45 minute program that is full of techniques, q & a, and interviews with well known current mix engineers. The content is really well done and it’s really important to me that we support Dave in this since it is highly unusual to find someone as successful as Dave creating this kind of resource.

One of my favorite episodes was #4 when he interviewed Tony Maserati. I’m linking to it here to get you hooked and then go check out Dave’s site to catch up on the rest of the back episodes already in the can.