Category Archives: Gear
Since I posted some pictures of our new check in stations I have received lots of questions on them, so I thought I would write a quick post on what they are all about.
Recently South Hills Church switched from ACS to Fellowship One for, what I call “an inventory control system for our people”. The reasons for that I will leave for another post.
In that move our Children’s Pastor, Justyn Smith wanted to upgrade our checkin stations for kids and families.
After some concept discussions with him, I came up with this design for our Main Street Campus. Each station is comprised of the following components:
1- Global Truss 12″ square 2.0 meters high
1- Global Truss 16″ end plate
1- 24″ square 3/4″ plywood base, precut from Home Depot
2- MonoPrice Monitor Mounts, Mounted to a 4″x1/4″ custom steel plate
2- ACER T230H Touch Screen Monitors
2- ZOTAC N330 Mini Atom PC’s running Windows 7 Enterprise
2- Honeywell Metrologic MS 9520 Barcode Scanner
1- Godex EZ-DT4 Label Printer mounted on a custom build steel shelf. (These are Print shared between the two PCs on each station).
1- Power Strip.
All the mounting was custom built by me and assembled by my team of staff and volunteers.
This is part 4 of my 4 part revisit of some older posts. Part 1 can be found here, Part 2 here, and part 3 here.
THE PROGRAM MATERIAL
At most churches each musician brings their instrument of choice and the sound person is expected to mix and equalize all and any instruments into a glorious blend of celestial music. It is a true fact that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. In a later article I will address the need for the Music Pastor/Worship Leader to set and keep a standard for musical instruments that are onstage. As your congregation grows it is likely you will want the church to own the majority of key instruments you use on a regular basis such as drums and keyboards.
The other part of the program material that can make or break the sound of your service is the singers. I realize that I am walking on glass when talking about this but it must be addressed. Which is worse: seven singers who are flat and not in key or three singers who are flat and not in key? You would be surprised at the number worship teams where the singing was bad the decision was made to throw more singers at the problem, but the bad singers only threw the new singers off.
The last part of this element is the quality of musicianship ontage. This is more than just talent, the sound of your band or orchestra is also very dependent on the servant’s heart to submit to the Music Pastor/Worship Leader as they submit to the Senior Pastor.
These four elements are the foundations for sound in any venue and they need to be addressed and incorporated into your church vision. It is very important that you never stop trying to achieve perfection in all these areas even though it may seem impossible, pressing toward that goal will constantly improve the quality of all you do at your church.
Now that we have our FOUR Elements, we can talk about how to make them work in your favor. More to come…
This is part 3 of my 4 part revisit of some older posts. Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 here.
THE ROOM ACOUSTICS
This is an area that plagues most churches because little attention is given to it while the building is being built.
Not all, but many of the architects that I have worked with over the years do not really understand acoustics in relation to the literal structure of the room. Many only seem to care how if the building will pass code and how the design will look in their portfolio. Let me say that I have worked with some great architects that really “get it” but those seem to be in the minority. (Please finish the post and take a deep breath before you email me your strong disagreement with these statements.)
Like the sound system itself, room acoustics become a big concern when the first service comes around. Most “good” rooms are designed that way from the beginning. A room can be “fixed” to a certain extent, after the fact, with acoustic paneling, bass traps, and decorative wall treatments. Knowing how much treatment is enough for your room usually requires you to hire a qualified acoustical consultant to help you with type and placement. The room acoustics absolutely affect the ability to have good sound in a room. Remember you can’t “E.Q.” the room unless you physically change the room acoustics. Carpet, fabric covered chairs, and of course, people, can also dramatically change the way the room and the system will sound.
Note: A big sledgehammer can also help the acoustics of your building and although you might enjoy using it, it is not recommended as a long-term solution, so seek professional help on this one.
Next: The Program Material
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