The most important component to
a sound system is the person running it.
A venue could have the best sound system in the world, but if no one knows how to operate it with skill, its potential is lost. It is like asking a brand new driver to win a Nascar race. That's where we come in. Our first and primary focus as a company is to teach your church's volunteers or staff to be fully fledged audio engineers, not just the people standing behind the sound board.
From the bottom to the top //
In our experience most church sound operators, even very good ones, have very large gaps in their knowledge of sound, most of whom don't even realize that these gaps exist. Many times this is because of how they are initially taught. Typically, there is a need in the church for a sound operator and they're taught bare minimum they need to know and then they head into more advanced content from there if at all. Because of this many sound operators are missing the actual foundation that all their knowledge should be standing on. While it may seem unrelated at first, physics and electrical engineering are two foundational parts to being an audio engineer. We teach the foundations of sound and build up from there so that our students have a full understanding of audio engineering.
\\ NOT TRAINING, BUT AN EDUCATION
Training days, conferences, and seminars are great, we often go to a few every year, but you wouldn't trust an airline pilot who had only had a few days of training, gone to a couple conferences, and only knows how to steer, brake, and accelerate. Understanding how to fully operate a sound system is much closer to the difficulty of an airline pilot than that of an Uber driver. Theres a reason "Engineer" is in the title. Our classes are a 12 month course taking our students through everything from plugging in a mic, to mixing for a 20 piece band. We take our students through every aspect of sound that they'll need to know to be a fantastic audio engineer.
Not just sound //
Audio Engineers in general have a bad stereotype of being rude and abrasive, which can often times be true. This is typically because people often make requests of them that are contrary to vast knowledge base, and unfortunately they don't do a good job of communicating that without being rude. Because of this we thought it very important to include social skills, team building, spiritual development to the classes as it pertains to being a Christ following audio engineer. Our students will learn how to communicate with a band effectively, how to communicate with a monitor engineer, how to work with a team, how to build a team, how to respond to congregants that want things their way, how to listen to their superior even when they disagree, developing a Christ centered sound and tech ministry and much more.
\\ Small class sizes
With small class sizes our students have more opportunities to ask questions and get help when they don't understand something. This also provides a great avenue for team building and inter-church connections as the class size will have those students working very closely with one another. Another benefit to small class sizes is that if a student has to miss a class, there is plenty of room for an extra person or two to jump into one of the other classes for a night.
Not your average education //
Our classes are centered around our students learning and understanding the material, not high test scores and grades. While accreditation can be a very good thing, it would mean putting several requirements on our students that not only do nothing to help their learning, but would actually hinder their learning of the material. When we provide a test it's for our students to test their knowledge, see what they understand well, see what they need to work on, and for us to see where we can better help them. If a student isn't understanding something, we want it to be because we haven't explained it in a way they can understand yet. Not because the class requirements demand so much of them that the material becomes confusing.
WHAT THE CLASS COVERS
COMPONENTS of A SOUND SYSTEM
Here we'll cover the main components that make up near all sound systems, what each piece does, and why it's used.
MIXING CONSOLES
The ins and outs of a mixing console. What each knob, button, fader, input, and output does and why each are used.
SIGNAL FLOW
The basic plumbing of how to get a signal from the sound source to it's desired location, the mechanics of how it works, and how to set a proper gain strugture.
Physics OF SOUND
The real world physics that govern how sound operates, how we perceive it, how it can work against us, and how we can get it to work in our favor.
BASIC
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
An under the hood look at how much of the equipment we use actually works, why we us some components and not others, basic soldering techniques, and why it's important to understand how things work.
ADVANCED
InterconnectION
The many different cables, connectors, external devices, and when, why, and how to use each one, as well as the proper way to wrap cable.
SPEAKEr Machanics
The different types of loud speakers, the mechanics of how each type works, placements and arrangements, speaker delays, and we'll build two types of speakers.
MICROPHONe Machanics
How each type of microphone works, how and when to use each type of microphone, the proximity effect, basic microphone techniques, and we'll build three different types of microphones.
SIGNAL PROCESSORS
What types there are, what they do, how they work, and how to use each one.
ANALOG & DIGITAL
What the differences are between them, how they work, and when one is better than the other.
ADVANCED EQUALIZATION
Why we use equalization, how and when to use an EQ, a frequency map for each instrument, EQing for different age groups, and ear training to recognize frequencies without the aid of external tools.
POWER MANAGEMENT
Real world application of how to manage all the power flowing to each piece of equipment while making sure it's not interfering with your audio signals.
STAGE SETUP & MANAGEMENT
Best practices for building and setting up a stage, creating different layouts, managing cables, and equipment placement.
ADVANCED WIRELESS
The mechanics of how many of the wireless devices we use work. Everything from professional wireless equipment to the cell phone in your pocket. We’ll show you how they effect each other and how to make them work together.
PRO SOUND CHECK
The differences between a sound check, line check, and gain check, how to get what you need out of the band, what to do when gain’s need to be adjusted after the fact, and virtual sound check.
WORKING WITH A WORSHIP TEAM
How to communicate with the band effectively. This includes everything from convincing a guitarist to turn their amp down, to telling the band that last run though sounded really bad. We’ll go though everything you’ll need to know to get the best communicate with you worship team and how both sides will benefit from it.
INSTRUMENTS
Basic mechanics of how each instrument works, what instruments fit in which frequency ranges, general EQ’s for each instrument, where and how each instrument fits into the mix, microphone placements on each instrument, how to manage amplifiers, common issues that come with each instrument, and how all of that changes with different genres.
People Skills
How to communicate with team members, band members, congregation members, leaders, pastors, and just about anyone else, as well as how to take criticism, the correct way to respond to someone who is wrong, letting go of pride, and how to listen to someone in charge of you when they’re wrong.
ADVANCED MIXIN TECHNIQUES
Everything from getting a basic mix to using snapshots, events, general work flows, and effects.
DIGITAL AUDIO NETWORKING
We’ll cover the main protocols such as AES/EBU, S/PDIF, ADAT, MADI, Dante, AVB, a few other proprietary protocols from specific companies, how to setup and manage each of them, converters, and how to get some to work together.
ADVANCED MONITORING
This includes everything from basic stage monitors, in ear monitors, and managing monitor volumes, to wireless monitoring, personal mixers, and how to mix monitors as a monitor engineer.
MIXER WORK FLOWS
Getting familiar with different popular digital mixers and work flows unique to each mixer.
EAR TRAINING
Learning to recognize frequencies and name them only using your ears, recognizing different sounds like hums and distortions and know what causes them, and listening to well mixed music from different genres to understand what a good mix sounds like.
LIVE RECORDING
Best practices for recording a live performance, the best programs to use on different operating systems, the setup and operation of those programs, basic post processing, and how to record using different mixers.
WORKING AS A TEAM
Best practices for building a sound or A/V team, managing a team, scheduling teams, recognizing personality differences, and resolving conflicts.
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
Expressing yourself in worship through sound, creating a worship environment through sound, and going through spiritual disciplines.