a simple note of “ Solo – Ally ” prevents many problems . Arrows , highlighter marks , circles , and underlines are a mix engineer ’ s best friends for they convey the details of a great mix . As an aside , writing down any problems via shorthand will prove valuable when the inevitable debriefing meeting takes place in Tuesday morning ’ s staff meeting . Conversely , writing down the patch path of important channels such as the worship leader and speaking pastor is a wise move since finding it on the screen in the heat of battle is challenging and prone to errors .
If the problem is thread related , meaning something in the signal path is disrupting the flow , finding its source can be either vital or urgent . Vital , as an example , is when the pastor ’ s mic doesn ’ t cue up as anticipated in the headphones . Signal may show on Wireless Workbench , but no audio is present on the channel in the headphones . In this case , there must be enough presence of mind to check the hard mute on Workbench and release it , after entering the written down password , knowing it can ’ t be the bodypack ’ s mute or there wouldn ’ t be signal in Workbench . Urgent is when an unknown person walks toward the platform with an intent to speak and no mic has been prepared . It makes all the difference to have a written plan for such scenarios with the worship leader ’ s understanding their role is to hand their mic to the person for a seamless transition .
Finally , the key to staying ahead of problems is to take each one seriously , regardless of its nature . A slight ring is only a short step away from full borne feedback . Catching it when it ’ s small prevents an embarrassing moment . Likewise , noticing the kick drum isn ’ t quite as tight as normal during rehearsal should be followed up with a visit to the drum kit and an eyes-on scanning of the mic and stand position . Something has probably been moved inadvertently and will cause sonic degradation during the service . And it ’ s always smart to read battery and signal levels on wireless five minutes before start of service when there is still enough time to swap things out .
Kent Morris Kent Morris is a 45-year veteran of the AVL arena driven by passion for excellence tempered by the knowledge all technology is in a temporal state .
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