CHURCH TECH
MIXING FOR THE FOH AND LIVE STREAM AT THE SAME TIME | Bill Gibson
Many churches went through culture shock in
the initial weeks of the Covid pandemic. The
majority of church sound operators had to
quickly figure out if, why, and how they could
possibly stream their church services.
A large church staff tends to be bigger than
the median church size, which is 75—median
means that half of the churches are larger
than that and half are smaller. It’s easier for
them to access volunteers, money, and gear,
and they probably decided a while ago that
streaming should be included in the services
they offer. But, for most churches who are
now three months into their streaming ministry,
it’s probably still a struggle to find one person
to set at the mixer during church, let alone a
skilled operator who is on fire for music and
technology.
The problem: How to continue providing
a custom audio mix for your new online
congregation that maintains the quality they’ve
grown to appreciate.
Truth: It is better to have two great sound
operators—one for the FOH and one for the
stream mix.
Reality: Many churches just don’t have two,
one…Umm… a great sound operator available
for every streamed service.
SIX SOLUTIONS
Here are six solutions to providing a respectable
mix for the FOH and the live stream at the same
time: three using the main FOH mixer only, one
that use the primary FOH operator and one
more operator with little or some experience,
one that depends on your in-ear system, and
one in case your most ardent tither wins the
Powerball Lottery next week.
1. POST-FADER AUX
This method really works quite well. I’ve used
it many times, primarily as a simple way to
capture a board recording that mirrors the
FOH mix; however, it works equally well for a
live stream, other broadcast mix, or for feeding
overflow areas and zones.
Connect a post-fader aux (stereo preferred) to
the stream’s audio input. The post-fader aux
typically gets it’s signal post-compression and
post-EQ, which is perfect because the sounds
are mix-ready.
When all of the aux levels are set at unity
gain, the mix at the stream will be identical
to a normal board mix that’s fed by the main
outputs. But, now there’s a way to compensate
for the differences in the acoustic level of the
sound sources simply by adjusting the aux
levels.
For example, acoustic drums and guitars with
amplifiers on stage are usually loud in the
house—meaning they don’t always need much
reinforcement from the sound system. Because
they aren’t turned up much in the FOH system,
they’re quieter than they should be in the
streamed audio. Just turn those channels up
a little in the post-fader aux that’s feeding the
stream.
On the other hand, instruments that run direct
like vocals, some guitars, and bass really need
the sound system to be heard at all in the
house. So, turn them down a little in the postfader
aux. It won’t take too many tests until
you find the relative change in the aux level that
makes the mix for all the instruments ‘just’ right
in the stream. And on top of everything, since
it’s a post-fader aux, all of your brilliant FOH
fader moves to guide the listener’s focus and
to keep the vocals in the perfect spot will be
reflected in the stream too!
118 July 2020
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