Transcript
Sound of Worship Sound Advice For Today’s House of Worship
Spring 2011
610-626-7600 • www.clearsoundinc.com
In This Issue updating a record deck—what are your options... Page 1 Recording directly to a computer... Page 2 Your microphone isn’t working—step-bystep troubleshooting you can do yourself... Page 3
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546 Penn Street Yeadon, PennSYlvania 19050-3107
Phone: 610.626.7600 Fax: 610.626.2800 Website: www.clearsoundinc.com
Choosing a Record Deck
N
ot too many years ago, there was only one primary method to record a service. The cassette deck was king. However, that has changed radically in the “digital age”. Now the choices include a CD-R recorder, a Flash Drive recorder or even direct to a computer. That old cassette deck is collecting dust at many churches. What is the best process for your church? Let’s survey the current methods and look at their pros and cons. But first, a quick look back. Why did the cassette lose its top-of-the-hill status? The cassette had become the standard medium for speech and music recordings. The cassette format came in a small package, was relatively inexpensive, and very easy to duplicate. Telex and others had inexpensive duplicators that created quick copies from the master. But the cassette format also had some inherent issues. Since it was a tape, it was a fragile medium. The tape often jammed and became wrinkled. It could be worn out after a lot of use. There was no way to fix a bad piece of tape. There was also no quick way to cue the tape to a desired start point in the music or speech recording. And the cassette could have too much background hiss (noise) on the playback unless recorded
well. Making a copy from the master only made the hiss worse.
CD-R When the recordable CD-R first became available, the early adopters could see the great advantages of this new recording medium. It reproduced much better sound quality with very low noise. Track markers could be placed so exact cueing was quick and easy. If treated reasonably well, the CD-R would not wear out or jam in the record deck. As the CD-R media matured, the cost for a blank disc dramatically decreased. In fact, the CD-R now costs much less than a cassette. The CD has also become the dominate music player in the car or truck. Most portable music players have included a CD deck for many years and it is now hard to find a “boom box” with both a CD and cassette deck. As the CD-R started to dominate the cassette, the CD duplicator quickly appeared on the market. It was easy to build a threeto ten-copy duplicator in a smaller footprint than the cassette duplicator. And better yet, the copy was exactly the same quality as the master and it could be created in less time. Continued on page 2
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Sound of Worship Continued from page 1
Robotic duplicators saved even more time as a stack of blanks could be put into the machine, a button pushed, and the CDs automatically loaded and copied. Label printing machines can print high-quality full color labels directly on the CD-R for a professional look. In fact, there are now robotic duplicators that both duplicate a stack of CD-Rs and print the label without any human help except loading the stack and designing the label. There are several methods of first capturing the audio for the CD. The primary method until recently has been the CD-R or CD-RW recorder. These recording decks are available from many venders. There are a number of features and options that affect the price of the deck. The user can select between analog balanced and unbalanced input and output connections. Many decks also offer an additional digital SPD/F or AES input and output feature. The quality of the CD transport also affects the price of the deck. The traditional tray load transport has been expanded with the slot load transport which is considered more reliable. Other features would include wired or wireless remotes, the ease of editing, automatic track marker options and adding text for titles.
of stereo audio if the WAV format is used. Recording in MP3, the record time is an incredible 56 hours at the highest quality setting (320 kpps).
Flash Drive Recorder
The Flash recorder is also easy to operate. There are the standard play, record and stop buttons to control the recording. There are some recording format decisions that need to be chosen, but once made, almost anyone can operate the recorder with confidence. After the recording, the audio data can be quickly imported into a computer and edited for content. Intro music and voice could be added. Processing could be applied to the audio to further compress the speech if desired. Then track markers can be precisely added to allow for quick cueing. Finally, a CD master could be burned for CD duplication. Or the digital file could be sent to the church’s web site
CD Recorder
Flash Drive
for audio streaming or download to an iPod™ or MP3.
Along with the movement towards iPod™ and MP3 players, the flash drive recorder is becoming another good method to capture a recording. There are a lot of benefits to this method. The available record time is basically dependent on the size of the actual flash drive. Most units use the standard Compact Flash format which is available for purchase almost anywhere. An 8 GB card can hold over twelve hours
Computer Recorder
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the digital audio to the audio recording program and to the computer’s hard drive. A good external input device offers a balanced input which should eliminate
Recording directly to the computer is another method that is gaining popularity. The audio from the sound system mixer is sent to line input on the computer’s audio board. A better quality method is to use an outboard audio input device that converts the analog audio to digital. A USB or Firewire (1394) cable is used to route
any hums and buzzes that are common with the typical unbalanced input on the computer audio card. Like the Flash Drive, the digital audio can then be edited and processed for distribution with a CD, streaming or podcast. The downside with using a computer as the recorder is the added complexity. It will take a bit more training to achieve reliable recordings. Almost any newer computer is easily up to the task. The recording capacity is dependent on the hard drive. A consistent file naming structure should be implemented to organize the recordings from week to week. If the recordings are for archival purposes, then regular backups should be standard procedures, whether to an external hard drive or to an internet based backup. The best method for your church will likely be determined by your volunteers, their computer skills and their time. The simplest method is certainly the CD. Simply insert the CD in the deck and push record. After the service, the CD can be immediately duplicated with another button push and then the finished CDs can be distributed. Recording on a Flash drive or a computer will take more computer skills and perhaps a lot more time before the copied CD can be handed out. But the professionalism and quality of the recording may be worth the extra effort. Please call us for help in selecting the right equipment for your church. We can help connect the equipment and train your volunteers for a quality recording that properly reflects your church. n By Ron Huisinga
Spring 2011
Troubleshooting–You Can Do It!
I
t’s going to be a great presentation with a panel discussion. You decide to get to the church early to make sure everything is perfectly working. After turning the sound system on, you step up to the lectern and talk into the microphone. Nothing. No sound. PANIC starts. A drop of sweat appears on your forehead. STOP. Take a long deep breath. You often CAN find the problem yourself. Don’t forget that most problems are caused by a bad cable, poor connections, or simply human error. All you need to do is systematically and logically troubleshoot your system in order to determine where the fault lies. Then you can correct it if possible, or work around the problem. First of all, stop and collect your thoughts. Now is the time to check for three basic possibilities. One– make sure the sound system power switch is on. If the microphone requires phantom power, make sure the phantom power switch on the mixer is turned on. Two– check to see if the microphone switch is on (if it has one.) And three– determine if the correct channel volume control is turned up. Also, make sure the master volume control is at the normal position. OK, so these settings are fine and you still don’t have any sound. Now it’s time to find out if other microphones work. After a quick check, the panel discussion microphones are confirmed to be working. You now can breathe easier because the main system is working. But, what is causing the problem with the lectern microphone? It could be the microphone, the portable cable, the installed permanent microphone cable or connectors, or the input channel on the mixer. Figure 1 shows a simple flow chart where connection problems could occur. The problem can be isolated by substituting a suspected
bad component with a known, good component. Plug the suspected lectern microphone into the known good microphone cable from the previously tested panel discussion microphone. If the lectern microphone still doesn’t work, it is probably bad. If it does work, you have eliminated the lectern microphone as the source of the problem.
“You CAN often find the problem yourself.” Let’s assume the lectern microphone worked. Now try the portable cable that was first connected to the lectern microphone. Cables are always the greatest source of problems, so taking care of the cables will help keep problems to a minimum. Again, substitute the suspected cable with a known good cable. If you now hear sound, EUREKA! Problem solved. Gently move and Connector (potential problem spots) Microphone
Portable Microphone Cable
Permanently Installed Microphone Cable
Figure 1 Connector Problem Spots
twist the cable and connectors to make sure there are no intermittent connections. Perhaps the problem was a poor connection caused by contact oxidation or some dirt. Just plugging and unplugging can help clean the connector contacts. What if there is still no audio from the lectern microphone? It could be the microphone jack on the platform. It may be broken or have corroded contacts. This probably cannot be fixed immediately, so plug the lectern cable into another mic jack and use a different input channel on the mixer. What if everything appears good all the way back to the mixer? Try plugging the suspected bad cable into a known good input on the mixer. If it works, then it appears that the mixer has a bad input channel. Time to call us for service. What happens if you don’t get sound from any microphone? Again, make sure that all the sound system equipment is plugged into power and turned on. Are all the power indicator lights on? Check to make sure all the connectors are completely plugged in. Check the controls and switches—are they in the proper positions? If you still do not have any sound, it may be possible that you have faulty equipment. That is a great reason to call us for help. Share with the service person the trouble-shooting you did, and that will help the service person to know how to prepare. By going through these steps, you may eliminate unnecessary repair service and expense. (It can also be embarrassing to have the service person plug in the amplifier!) This step-by-step process can often get that lectern microphone working again by yourself and avoid a sound disaster. Good troubleshooting! n By Ron Huisinga
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Sound of Worship Sound Advice For Today’s House of Worship
Spring 2011 PO Box 53 Willmar, MN 56201-0053
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