Archive for Featured
VIDEOBLOG: The Making of Venue
It is no secret that I’m quite a fan of Digidesign’s Venue line of live audio consoles. There are certainly other tools out there but Digi has proven to be an excellent fit with the kind of art we create at Kensington and the way I am most effective mixing.
Check out a really cool video from Digidesign on the Making of the Venue platform. One of the best parts of partnering with Digi is the accessibility of the leadership team and this video is a great example. I’m not aware of another console manufacturer with a more public and accessible team.
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Total Production: U2
I ran across this feature article in downloadable form that is by far the most in depth information chronicling the U2 360 Tour. New details about the concept and creation, as well as each of the major systems of the tour. If you’re interested in mind-blowing production, this article is worth the read!
Download it here. (10 mb .pdf)
VIDEOBLOG: Kensington Production
In a break from some of the serious content of the past few weeks, I want to share a couple of what I think are really cool videos about the production team and music team at Kensington. These were prepared as part of a Fall push for more volunteers on our teams. Kensington can sometimes be criticized by outsiders for unorthodox methodology in reaching the community for Christ, but I think these videos really capture the heart and mission of why we do what we do. I’m very proud to serve on this team.
Watch the music one first for more on our mission and some stories about our incredible artist team, then check out my team’s profile.
A resource you need to know about!
If you work or serve in any level of production, I have a resource for you that has come through for me a number of times now and I want to share! I think I’ve written about them before, but regardless…
Audiovend is a wireless rental specialist – Shure & Sennheiser, Lectrosonics, wired & wireless IEM, Comm – if its wireless, they deal with it. They also have a very large inventory of specialized mics and wireless capsules. I first learned about Greg Stevens and Audiovend a few years ago when I needed to rent 12 string mics (DPA 4061s). One of my friends suggested talking to Greg due to a recommendation from DPA. They were very easy to work with and provided exactly what I needed for the weekend. On top of that, rental rates for such specialized mics were fair and reasonable. It was a win/win for everyone.
Since that time, we’ve done a couple of other similar rentals for special service elements. A few months ago, however, a unique opportunity came along for us to partner on a higher profile and that event’s success is the inspiration for this post.
Every summer, Kensington does an outdoor baptism event at a local park/beachfront. Hundreds of people participate to declare their love for Jesus, with several thousand spectators lining the beach to picnic, celebrate, and support. This event is always one of the highlights of the year. As a part of the production needs, we have utilized waterproof microphones in the water so that the pastors can make things more personal for each participant and lead everyone through the event. The concept is REALLY cool and the event hinges on these mics’ success, but for the past several years of attempting this, the execution has been marginal due to poor support from our previous vendor – a large national rental company.
After last year’s experience, I suggested that we seek out a new direction this year and approached Greg for his help. He designed a Lectrosonics 6 channel system with waterproof transmitters and headsets, helical antennas, and the needed distribution and cabling to remote the antennas 100 feet from the receivers. Everything was shipped to us to arrive the day before the event. It was sent in such a way I could unpack, make the necessary RF and audio connections, and be good to go. Greg did a frequency coordination plan prior to shipping so when the system arrived, it was ready to rock.
Below is an excerpt of the email I sent Greg following the successful evening…
“…Everything worked as it should for the entire event. This event hinges on these wireless working and your system delivered for the first time in several years of trying! The headsets sounded really good with little channel EQ, lithium batteries saved the day – we powered transmitters on at the beginning of event and made it all the way to the end with no battery swaps, helicals were great – no RF issues at all. It was so great to be able to turn the transmitters on and go because the frequencies were all taken care of from the start. In the past the team has always had to guess and tune with mixed results. Everyone on our team was very impressed.
You have a raving fan in Kensington – we’ll certainly be making this an annual thing
You made me look very good today but I know you and your team are the real heros. Thanks again for all you do!”
What is most ironic is that Audiovend provided a similar set of actual gear as our previous vendor – I think the biggest difference was their proper planning, implementation, and improved RF distribution. Greg and the team are obvious experts at the art form of wireless audio systems.
If you’re also placed in situations where you need to deliver wireless solutions for high-profile events, I HIGHLY recommend Greg Stevens and his team at Audiovend Wireless. His expertise is vast, his prices fair, and the service and support is excellent. He’ll make you look very good as well! Let him know I sent you…
OwnTheMix.com Followup
We’re a few weeks into the OwnTheMix.com experiment for audio team training. I thought it might be a good idea to provide some follow up since a few have asked offline about it. To read more about the background of OTM for Kensington, check this out.
I continue to be very impressed by the content of OTM. The video production is well done and the training materials are spot on for the church audio engineer. I’m especially excited about new content that will be coming online in the next few weeks with more focus on Digidesign D-Show consoles/software and the essential ProTools training for working with click tracks and virtual soundcheck.
As solid as the micing, mixing, and interview videos are, I continue to believe the biggest value of this content will be for our team to go through it as a group. While I may not agree with every specific suggested technique, I anticipate the discussion these topics will create among our team will be as valuable, if not more, than the video content itself.
Probably the biggest disappointment to me so far is the social networking side of the site. It is not the most intuitive to search for other members or groups that would be interesting to follow. There’s nothing the OTM guys can do about it, but the community side would also be more beneficial if more people actively participated in the forums and their personal profiles/groups. Perhaps some contests for SWAG to encourage increased participation would be beneficial or something else like that.
There is no such thing as perfect in anything, and the same holds true when you talk about a training resource like OwnTheMix. However, the content itself is so strong and unique that it overcomes any of the minor weaknesses regarding community participation. I still wholeheartedly recommend this for teams of any size who are mixing in churches. Thanks OTM guys for such a spot-on service!
