#DECADE Production Systems

I’m in the middle of a series documenting the process for DECADE, New Life Church’s tenth anniversary service we recently completed.  If you missed the first two parts, make sure and catch it in the archives.

It was really important to us to maintain the look and feel of New Life Church even though we were doing an event in a potentially larger than life venue.  So we very intentionally selected a level of production system that would be the right fit for the space, especially in regards to the audio system, while not being so over the top that it would overshadow the content of the service itself.  The service was really just a longer version of our normal weekend and we wanted the production to match.  So no LED walls, a modest lighting rig that could provide beauty and wow, again without being over the top.  The most striking part of the entire set was the huge 22ft x 6ft letters that spelled out DECADE.  There will be a whole separate post on that from our set designer, Angie Brown, at a later date.  We went the direction of these letters to give the whole stage a NLC feel by creating something stunning in a “non-tech” way.  Often times those of us in production think the only way to create wow is through the latest and greatest technology…LEDs, versa tubes, Chroma Q, you name it.  Our creative team was 100% correct with this one that often times the best and most impactful design maintains simplicity and achieves the wow in the most low-tech way possible.

For those of you who are interested in the nuts and bolts of the systems you will see in the event video, here’s the overview.

Audio

(64) D&B J-Series Loudspeakers & Subwoofers in the air
(14) D&B B2 Subwoofers on the ground
(47) D&B D12 Amplifiers
56,400 Watts of amplifier power
46 input channels
FOH – Avid D-Show Profile w/Protools HD system
Monitors – Yamaha PM5D
26 Channels of Shure UHF-R Wireless Mics & Sennheiser G3 Wireless In-Ears
56 Channel Whirlwind Snake with 3-Way Transformer Splitter
(4) 16 Channel Whirlwind Sub-Snakes

Lighting

(32) Martin Mac 2000 Profile/Wash, Martin Mac 600 Moving Lights
(28) Martin Stagebar 54S LED Wash fixtures
(12) Arri 2k 10” Fresnels
(12) ETC Source 4
(6) Thomas Crowd Abuse Lights
Whole Hog III Console
ETC SmartFade 1248 Console
DF-50 Hazer with Fan

Video

(2) Barco SLM R12+ Projectors (12,000 ANSI Lumens)
(2) Draper 12ft x 21ft Projection Screens
(4) Panasonic 58”/42” Plasma TVs
(5) Panasonic HPX-370 Cameras
Panasonic HS450N 16 Input HD Switcher

Stage

#DECADE Crew

One of the most important values we had in organizing the crew for DECADE was to utilize as many of our volunteers as possible.  We knew there would be many areas of load-in and load-out where we would need to rely on the Majestic crew and local hired hands, as no one on our team has experience in rigging or large builds of this scope.  However, once we got to the service execution portion, the ultimate goal was to give our core leaders the chance to raise the bar, work with some of the best of the best in the Majestic team, and hopefully be challenged to take what they learn back to our regular services.

With this in mind, we created the crew roster with lots of redundancy in roles – partly to involve as many people as we could and partly to ensure many hands make light work.  Looking back, I think the staffing level was just about right.  I’m not sure I would have changed anything.

Here’s the overview of the positions we filled with our team…

- Service Producer & 3 Assistants – lead the service elements, content, and overall direction of the service, call service cues

- Production Manager & 2 Assistants – lead the production of the event by interfacing with the production vendor & crew, venue, local union stagehands, and NLC Wired team

- Stage Manager & 2 Assistants – manage the event production script, maintain the schedule for rehearsals, manage stage transitions and people to/from stage

- A1, A2, A3 – positioned at FOH…A1 mixes the event audio for the room, A2 is the script manager – calling music cues to the A1, A3 is on com with Service Producer for video cues and countdowns

- M1, M2, M3 – positioned in monitor world…M1 mixes monitors and was from Majestic, M2 is wireless wrangler, M3 manages the stage from an audio perspective – communicating monitor changes, making sure everything goes as planned

- Audio Assistants x2 – all things audio…stage setup, runners, cabling, band setup, you name it.

- LD – lighting designers and operators came from Majestic.  I didn’t think we had anyone on our team who was ready for this challenge so we leaned heavily on Majestic in this area.  This was definitely the right call as evidenced by the LD walking out of the venue on Saturday night before I did with a completely programmed, gorgeous lighting show.

- Video Director – from Majestic

- Video Assistants x2 – script management, calling shots and keeping up with what is coming next, knowing names for our people on stage, maintaining the NLC look and feel.

- ProPresenter x2 – we set out to use two ProPresenter machines…one for anything lower third and one for full screen playback.  We ended up only using one machine but we were prepared for two.

- Shader – operating the camera CCUs

- Camera Operators x5 – camera positions were two center, two handheld (one stage left and one stage right with tripods to land in during the message), and the 30ft Cam Mate Jib (operated by Majestic)

- Each camera had a grip assistant assigned.  This person’s function differed based on the camera.  For handhelds, they fed cable, kept the op’s path clear, and so on.  For stationary cams, it gave us a backup in case anyone needed relief or couldn’t come through for some reason.  We tried to get as many of these people seat time behind the camera as we could.

- Stage Crew x2 – these guys handled any moves needed on stage during transitions.  Mic stands, table and stool on and off, communion elements to the pastor, etc.

So if you are keeping track, that equals 9 team members from Majestic:  production manager, 3 audio, 3 lighting, 2 video and 30 staff and volunteers from NLC actually operating the event.  Add an additional 10 or 12 stagehands helping with the DECADE letters load-in and other projects around the arena and you get a sense of the scope we’re talking about.

In wrapping up this part, I have to brag on these people a bit.  I’ve been doing this production thing professionally for over 10 years now.  In that time, I’ve worked in large and small churches, arenas and theaters with lots and lots of different people – union/non-union, staff/volunteer, you name it.  I’m convinced I’ve never been more proud of a team than our Wired team serving at DECADE and what God allowed us to experience and accomplish for Him and for NLC – the way everyone stepped up, gave this event everything they’ve got, rolled through the changes and challenges, dealt with the nerves and uncertainty of producing something so epic, and served so gracefully through it all.  DECADE would have never happened without every one of this team serving and giving of themselves to something that is far bigger than any of us and worth our entire life!

From New Life Church:  Neil Greathouse, Nathan Pruzaniec, Bryan Barnard, Drew Spurgers, Kyle Basham, Jenna Wilson, Jason Hollis, Mindy Corder, Jade Gay, Emily Stockdale, Seth Jeffrey, Ken Barnes, Jack Benson, Nick Keith, Everett Ellis, Markus Turkia, Shelly Weir, Pamela Floyd, John Sketoe, Brent Hill, Robert Floyd, Derek Lewis, George Perkins, Bill Cunningham, Jim Rice, Doug Avra, Braeden Gregg, Gary Morrison, Brett Brownderville.

From Majestic Productions:  Ryan Bates, Jeremy Dodd, Derek Seal, Christian Hahn, Joey Davis, Ethan Frazier, Kyle Shepherd, Jeremy Seawell, Chris Ferrari

Thank you everyone!!

#DECADE, part 1

If you’ve been following my twitter for the past few months, you’ve seen me refer to the most challenging project I’ve ever been involved with or led, New Life Church’s tenth anniversary service called DECADE.  My role for this event was to lead the execution of the production at Verizon Arena in Little Rock, with 9 contracted production staff, 21 local union stagehands, riggers, and electricians, and 41 volunteers from the New Life Church Wired team.  I’m going to take a few posts to detail much of the process that went into this event in hopes it will be helpful to other churches considering undertaking a similar type of event.

To celebrate ten years as a church, I first learned of the vision last summer to host a service where we could have everyone from our 5 campuses together under one roof.  In Arkansas, there are only several venues that could hold that size of a crowd so we quickly knew we were headed to Verizon.  The arena has an in-the-round capacity of just over 16,000 or just over 13,000 in an end-stage configuration.

The most important decision was the production company we would partner with for audio, video, and lighting systems.  I knew all along we would need to hire someone – there was no way we had the kind of inventory, resources, or expertise necessary to even consider doing the event ourselves.  In early fall I interviewed 6 different options, both local and national.  From the document presented to our executive team when we made our final choice, my criteria in selecting a provider included:

- Single point of contact production company to be solely responsible for entire event (audio/video/lighting)

- Large worship team (including ensemble) = 48 channel audio system with separate monitor desk, large scale arena PA system (d&b, Meyer, etc)

- Lighting system to deliver similar experience to what we create at the GLR campus (modest moving lights, bright colorful stage, excellent lighting for video)

- 2 large screens on each side of stage for video playback & IMAG (21’ x 12’, 12k lumens minimum).  Lyrics to be keyed at the bottom of the screen over live video during worship.

- Multi-camera IMAG system with Jib for side screens & capture

- Multi-track audio recording and video capture capability so we can capture the event for potential future release (worship CD recording, highlight reel to web, etc)

In the end, we hired Majestic Productions based in Summitville, IN and this was by far the best decision we’ve ever made.  During the interview and bidding process it was clear that Ryan Bates and his team “got” our event in ways others missed.  Their bid was the most complete, including things not even on my radar that I would need such as a 4 channel com system, confidence monitoring, video distribution gear to the building, etc.  Ryan and Majestic acted as our single point of contact and him and I spent much time on the phone from October until the event in February.

Even if you’ve never heard of Majestic, I promise you that you are familiar with their work.  Since 1997, the Majestic team has provided production for events such as Passion, Catalyst conferences and Catalyst West , Orange, Youth Specialties, Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, Gaither Homecoming, Hillsong United, and on and on.  For an event like DECADE, it was important to me that our partner be completely comfortable with what we were trying to accomplish as I knew the timeframe for rehearsal would be tight, we hoped to utilize as many of our Wired volunteers as possible, and expertise was everything in getting it right the first time.  It was comforting to our whole team that while this event was a huge deal to us, it was just another service to the Majestic team.

Over this series we’re going to first talk about production systems, then crew, the documentation we created, and finally some media samples from the service.  Come back tomorrow for the next post…

Breaking in…

Long time, no see…

Life has once again gotten in the way of regularly contributing to this blog and I sure do miss it! Hopefully I’m only days away from being able to share more about the journey of the past few months.

Until then, I ran across a blog post from Dave Rat, who I’ve shared from in the past, about breaking into the industry and building a career in professional production. It is great insight from a great engineer and well known company owner.

If you aren’t following him already, you can find Dave’s blog here…

“Rat gets about 2 to 3 inquiries a day from humans looking to work for Rat. That equates to about a 1000 a year. I must say it is one of the most difficult things I deal with and though I try to respond to all the ones that come to me personally, I must admit that when I get busy and I have 20 or so backed up in my in box, more than a few get lost in the mix, for that I apologize. I am truly honored and appreciate the interest in working for Rat. I also fully support the concept of following your dream and doing all you can to get there. So it is really tough to respond to these requests. While I do not want to disregard the inquiries, Rat rarely hires new people except if we meet them and are impressed by their work ethic, skills and we also are in need of adding someone and the person comes highly recommended by someone that already works with us.”

“So I have been pondering the answer to the question “How do I get in to the pro sound business and get to work for a company such as Rat?” And what I am realizing is that if your plan is to try and get hired by a sound company supplying systems to highly desirable bands and tours, you will first need a stellar skill set, reputation, work ethic and have some highly respected people that are willing to recommend you.”

“But the quandary is “How do I develop that skill set if I cannot get hired to prove myself?” Excellent point and one that I face myself over and over with each new level not only as a tech and an engineer but also as a sound rental business as well. I did not get here by walking into a killer gig. I did not reach this point by expecting someone to hire me based on my potential. I did not look for ‘getting lucky’ and in general I avoid the whole lottery success concept.”

“While those rolling the dice for a shortcut to happiness are plentiful, it is the ones willing to build their happiness that are desirable.”

“I chose to work very hard for a very long time and definitely grueling beyond anything I would ever expect from someone else. So the answer is simple. “Do your time, earn your credibility, establish yourself as one of the best at what you decide to do.” Whether that means digging the trenches in audio boot camp of misery or studying software and specifications and mastering the mental side of in this highly competitive industry, it is those that are most willing to push the hardest that are most likely to come out on top. And by pushing the hardest I am talking about pushing to the point of obsession, borderline insanity and when everyone else throws in the towel for the day, you just getting warmed up. Being willing to forgo the luxuries like nights off and sleep and all the other stuff that so many normal people enjoy. Most people will not gravitate to the top, most people will settle for mediocrity and that’s why it is called mediocrity, because that is the realm that the majority reach, and there is nothing wrong with that, it just is not the path that will most likely get to traveling the world with rock bands as a successful sound human.”

“So when you can answer the questions with confidence and credibility: “what makes you exceptional?” “What have you done that is above and beyond to develop your skills?” “Can you truly say that no matter how bad it gets, that you’ve already voluntarily been through worse?” It is then that you are at the point where you should be able to pull the gigs that you dream of pulling. Until then, get in those trenches and have a blast kicking ass on the most grueling gigs you can get your hands on. Trust me, it builds character and if nothing else it will make for some great road stories when reach the next level.”

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…

Divide & Conquer

Murphy’s Audio Law #10: “The probability of having sound system failure is inversely proportional to the amount of time remaining until the performance.”

We’ve all experienced it: there were problems with load in or set-up, time is short, the system is set-up with only a few minutes to spare and of course, something works improperly or not at all. Although the first instinct might be to take a “shotgun” approach and start checking plugs, connections, cables, etc. in a random fashion (i.e. “panic”), a tried-and-true troubleshooting method will almost always find the problem with less effort and in a shorter amount of time.

The most basic troubleshooting technique (after “is it plugged in?”) is the “Divide and Conquer” method. This involves identifying the good parts of the system as well as figuring out which parts have failed. Not only can these working sections be eliminated as the cause of the problem, but they can also be used to test other parts of the system.

Let’s consider an example: a mic channel at a mixer is dead while others are operating properly. The good news here is that you can use one of the working channels to isolate the problem.

First, unplug an input connector from a working channel on the console and plug it into the dead channel. If the bad channel on the console now works, the problem must exist before the console, back toward the mic.
If it’s still dead, the problem has to be after that channel’s input (bad channel, dirty insert jack, wrong assignment, etc.) Either way, about half of the system is eliminated.

Let’s assume the first condition above – the console is OK. The remaining part of the system can be divided in half again by doing same thing at the stage end of the snake. That is, after switching the cables back to where they were on the console, plug a cable from a known working mic into the offending channel on the stage box. If the channel stays dead, the problem has to be in the snake. But if the channel comes to life, the snake is eliminated and the problem must be between the stage box and the mic (the cable and/or the mic itself). In this case, substituting either the mic cable or the mic will identify the problem.

The same technique can be used after the the console too.

One amp not responding? Take the input cable from another amp that is working (AND handling the same frequency range if its a bi-amp or tri-amp situation – DON’T TAKE A BASS FREQUENCY line and plug it in to the offending amp that’s feeding horns!). If it starts working, put things back and move back toward the console – maybe to the crossover. Try reversing the left and right signals starting at the console and moving toward the amps. When the problem switches from one side to the other, you’ve found the problem point in the line.

As said before, the tendency, especially under pressure, is to start substituting cables or wiggling connections in a random manner. Although you might just get lucky and hit on the defective component, it’s very easy to put yourself into an endless circle, trying this and that, without really getting a handle on where the problem lies. This is especially true if a section has more than one defective component.

Practice an organized troubleshooting method and you’ll “Divide and Conquer” your problem every time.