For Sale… (update!)

I am trying to sell a set of premium gear so that we can reinvest at KCC in other tech needs.  In order to accomplish it in a timely manner, I’m making a special offer to my blog readers.  I will give $500 to whoever either purchases the system or refers someone to me who purchases the system for asking price.  Consider it a finder’s incentive of sorts.  Let me know if you have any ideas of someone who might be interested!

10 Channel Sennheiser 3532/SKM5000/SK50UHF Complete Wireless Package with premium Neumann capsules!

Installed system has never toured, meticulously maintained, and in like new condition. Purchased new in 2005, worth $63,000. This is a great opportunity to own an amazing wireless system with magical audio quality at great savings.

This turn-key, ready to go package includes:

(2) Sennheiser SK-50UHF – All in 584-608 mHz band
(5) Sennheiser EM3532 Dual Channel Receiver – Two in 584-608 mHz band, Three in 506-530 mHz band
(1) Sennheiser SAS-216 Selective Antenna System
(8) SKM-5000 Handheld Transmitters – Six in 506-530 mHz band, Two in 584-608 mHz band
(5) Neumann KK-105S Microphone Heads
(3) Sennheiser MD5005 Microphone Heads
(2) Spare B5000-2 Battery Packs
(8) Sennheiser Mic Clips
(2) Sennheiser A2003-UHF Paddle Antennas -Wideband Passive Directional 450-960 mHz
(2) Sennheiser Microdot Adaptors
(1) Sennheiser Lav Mic with Clip

Package is being offered for $40,000. Sold by Kensington Community Church in Troy, MI (outside Detroit). Due to the amount of equipment, pickup is preferred, although system can be shipped at buyer’s expense. Email me for more information today!  It won’t last long…

tcorder at kensingtonchurch dot org

Yamaha DMP7

While my primary console to work on is the Yamaha PM1D system, all of our portable campuses utilize the magnificent Yamaha M7CL so I end up spending a fair amount of time with it by default. With this in mind, I read with great interest this interview with engineers who worked on designing the console and thought you might find it interesting as well.

Somewhere along the way there’s an interesting tidbit…

M7CL is a very clear concept and a professional tool based around the Centralogic™ idea. I wanted to paint a really straightforward design layout. Function and beauty come from the simple “cross” motif; a vertically laid out “Overview” and a horizontal “Selected Channel View”. Then when you look at the desk as a whole you can see thick side cheeks expressing warmth of sound and system stability while the sharp aluminum beams represent cutting-edge technology.

In fact my designs for the M7CL cosmetics took inspiration from the “DMP7” – which was Yamaha’s very first digital console back in 1987. In the very early days of digital mixing consoles, DMP7 made a big impact on the professional audio industry with its sophisticated user interface and lightweight / compact body. From a cosmetic viewpoint, it was really clean-cut and a functional beauty. I hope you feel the M7CL shares that same philosophy which Yamaha have been developing for over 18 years.

Yamaha DMP7 – 1987 vintage – original price $4,200

The DMP7 “Digital Mixing Processor” is a completely digital MIDI-controllable 8-channel 2-bus mixer with three sweepable bands of EQ per channel, three internal effects processors, and motorised faders. The channel levels, effects send/return levels and master level are all set up using the faders, which jump to the right place when the appropriate mode is selected. The other functions are programmed using a conventional 16×2 LCD interface and data entry slider (which is, of course, motorised). Each send can be switched between pre and postfade per channel. Each channel has its own phase switch. There is a compressor across the stereo output.

The desk can be totally automated: MIDI controllers and note values access all the parameters, and it takes program changes to select scenes (with a variable crossfade of up to 10 seconds). Moving the faders remotely from a MIDI fader box is a rather creepy experience.

The ergonomics of this desk are (in my opinion anyway) pretty superb, certainly for the major controls. It’s the right size and shape, the controls are in the right place, and it’s a breeze to use. When it comes to EQ settings (which could arguably be called “major controls”, depending on one’s taste), one is back to menus and data entry sliders, which is a bit of a shame.

The fader mechanism is rather cute. Each fader has a conventional miniature electric motor with a drive band to a larger nylon pulley, and the spindle of this drives a wire which is carried along the length of the fader, around another pulley at the top, and back through the fader knob itself via a couple of tiny tensioning springs. It’s very neat and relatively simple for what it does. The data entry slider is a completely different technology, and seems to use a plastic worm gear with some kind of clutch.

This console was so revolutionary for its time. Hitting just as the home studio craze really took off in the late 80′s, I remember seeing project studios with three of these units finally realizing automated 24 channel mixes. My dad’s project studio was only an 8 track 1/4″ reel to reel, so he would stripe SMPTE onto track 8 and then use an Atari computer running simple MIDI sequencer software to chase that sync and “record” the fader moves from the console. Extremely primitive but it worked great and provided a level of mix control never before possible outside of major studios.

I will never forget the first time I saw fader flip on that console – motorized faders performing multiple functions. To think that 20 years later I’m able to mix on Yamaha’s current flagship product every week is pretty cool.

Changes

Just a note about some organizational changes here at the blog. I was bored today after my daughter had some minor surgery, so I finally setup a personal website and moved the blog over to the new domain as well. Those of you who keep up with me via RSS should probably also update your links.

The new address is myblog.cordernotes.com and the main website is cordernotes.com. Also, my personal email has changed – you can find it on the website if you need it.

UPDATE:  Fixed the link to the blog.  Thanks Wayne!

Willow Creek Arts Conference

The Arts conference has come and gone and it was a great trip. I have lots of thoughts to process and lots of ideas to implement at KCC. I also had the opportunity to write a bunch of blog posts on the way home today as I translated my various notes into action steps and things I want to remember.

I’ll gradually post this stuff over the next week or two so that others on my team who weren’t able to attend can share in what I learned and experienced. The first three posts come tonight…check it out!

To check out a really cool production website that outlines all of Willow’s main auditorium systems, budget, production documents, etc…go HERE. Trust me, if you’re a gear head, this site is pretty cool. I’m definitely going to get something like this set up for us before our Arts Conference this fall.

For some cool photos of the conference, especially if you weren’t able to check it out in person, are available HERE and HERE from Willow. There are some great shots!

For the official conference blog with session summaries and other cool stuff, go HERE.

My Summer Projects…

Summer time means more projects to complete so I’m ready to hit the Fall running…

1. Build a 16 channel snake with stage box for more stage inputs. I currently have one 24 channel snake with box and it just isn’t enough.

2. Build a new snake for the piano. 4 channels for piano mics, 2 for a Motiff or Triton above the piano, and 2 returns for wired ears at the piano.

3. Strip and redo the connections on our existing 4 channel piano snake so it can be used elsewhere

4. Build amp stands so guitar amps can stay low to the ground but be easily tipped back at the ears of the player. I’ll post the design once its done because it will be home made and simple to build.

5. Build a portable wireless transmitters “rack” for the mics we’re using in a service. They need a home and an organized storage system. I have a great idea I picked up from Willow that will be simple to implement.

6. Come up with four nice looking table stands for amp heads so they don’t have to go on the ground or on black boxes. Our black boxes are too big and beat up to be the right thing for this task. At Willow, they have these cool little triangle truss pieces with a table top on one end and a base at the other. I want three for amp heads or keys modules and one for the drummer mixer so we can eliminate that black box as well. The result will look much more streamlined and professional.

10 things techs wish they could say to band leaders sometimes…

1. “I can’t break the laws of physics just so you can have more vocal in your monitor. I didn’t invent the laws, I just live by them. You might see if God will change them for you.
2. “If you had spent the last fifteen minutes tuning your guitar instead of fixing your hair, we wouldn’t be late starting soundcheck.”
3. “No, there isn’t a ‘muddy knob’ I can turn down to make it sound better.”
4. “Instead of using another mic for your voice, why don’t we use another voice for your mic?”
5. “Sure, I’ll run all the way down the stairs, across the auditorium and up to the stage to move your monitor three inches. After all, we wouldn’t want you to break a nail by doing it yourself.”
6. “Oh, never mind me. I didn’t want anything from Starbucks. I’ve only been here by myself for the last three hours setting all this up for you.”
7. “No, if you ask me to turn all the house lights down, I can’t make it so you can see the audience’s reaction during the songs.”
8. “No, the camera doesn’t add ten pounds to your face. You did that by yourself.”
9. “There is not a knob to make it sound more round, more blue, or any other shape or color.”
10. “Tell you what: you don’t tell me how to mix and I won’t tell you how to play – deal?”