The bar is raised

I normally don't do this but today I will. Prepare yourself for what I think may be the single best piece of production I've ever seen done in a church. If you have read me for long you know that is bold statement from me, especially given the quality of work the team from LP puts together regularly. The guys at Fellowship put this together. You can read all about it here.


Trans Siberian in Service from FC Post on Vimeo.

I've not had a chance to get over and hang with the guys at Fellowship, but hopefully soon enough I can.

Sennheiser comes to visit

A few days ago, Sennheiser came to visit Lake Pointe. We use a large number of their products and have a good relationship with them. The will be using Lake Pointe for some promotional material. They left us with some new toys...


... a full set of e900 series mics. This weekend I had a chance to work with the new drum mics and guitar amp mics as I was mixing in our broadcast studio. We have been using a combination of Sennheiser and Shure mics on drums and amps. Here are my thoughts on the e900 series vs what we had used before.

The e905 on snare is simply amazing. This is the best sounding snare mic I have ever used. It sounds much closer to what I hear when I am sitting behind the snare playing it. I am very impressed. We had been using a Beta57.
The e902 is a better sounding mic than the e602 we had been using. There was considerable EQ on the 602 that I was able to dial back to a more reasonable place both on the top end, around 3k, and on the low end, about 90hz. The mic seems more responsive to the dynamics of the kick. Less EQ and get a better sound = win. I definitely like the 902 way better than the AKG D112 or the Beta52. I have been a HUGE fan of the Audix D6 for several years, the 902 approaches the standard set by the D6.
The e904 has a more natural tone than the SM98 on toms. I found a more round sounding mic with less attack, which I like on toms. The 904 gave me what I want when it comes to dynamics. For some reason I don't like the way most of the small condenser drum mics sound. I would love to try Dave's method with the Shure KSM44, but for the price the 904 is hard to beat.
The e914s replaced a set of SM81's for overheads. The 914 continues the theme with the other 900 series in having a smoother response particularly in the extended high end. They can't match AKG 414 for sheer "wow" for overheads but I do like them better than the SM81 we have been using.
Last up, the e906 for guitar amps. We have used SM57's, Beta57's, e609, and 414's on amp cabinets. The 906 is significantly better than all of those except the 414. It has the punch and clear tone you expect from a guitar amp. Our guitarist this weekend noticed the difference and was very happy. I was able to have nearly flat EQ on his channel and got the best guitar sound since I've been at LP. No doubt its worth the money if you are in the market for one.

Joe

This is Joe.



Joe works for me at Lake Pointe part-time.
Joe is a college student studying geology.
Joe was baptised today.



Joe has heard God's calling on his life and wants to be in full time ministry.
Joe is my friend and my brother in Christ.
I couldn't be happier.

Rock on Joe.

Bent Tree Bible Fellowship

Today I had the privilege of hanging out with Ryan Howell, (please start blogging Ryan) the Tech Director at Watermark Church and Greg Atkinson from Bent Tree Bible Fellowship. I have written about Watermark before and continue to see great things they are doing there. It was great to be able to talk with guys who are so passionate about what they do and so like minded. Its fun to see how God is working thru all these churches. One thing that sticks out to me, and I have noticed as I study churches across the country, is a similar philosophy and strategy for reaching people for Jesus. While there are always differences, there do seem to be a number of approaches that line up. My belief is God is influencing a great number of church leaders to reach this world by giving them similar vision. I'm glad I am a part of it too.

Greg gave us a tour of Bent Tree's new place and it was amazing. They made a great space to worship and gather.


They are using a Venue console at FOH and a Yamaha LS9 for monitors as well as some Aviom mixes from FOH. The speakers are all Meyer boxes and lighting is controlled via a GrandMA. The same gear we use at our new Firewheel camnpus. Watermark also uses a Venue and GrandMa. Hmm... seems like we all agree on lots of things. Bent Tree also used Clark Pro Media for their system design and install. Clark was busy over the past few months going back and forth between Bent Tree and our Firewheel campus. I'm impressed they got it all done in a timely manner.

I hope you are able to meet up with some local tech guys from other churches in your area. Its a great way for me to get refreshed and always fun. Let me know if you are nearby and want to meet sometime. I would love to get to know more people in the area.

You Tube Prank

My April Fools prank from yesterday scurries into the corner and cries in embarrasment compared to You Tube. Yesterday, You Tube Rickrolled the whole planet, by linking every video on the front page of You Tube to the Rick Ashley video, "Never Gonna Give You Up." My hat is off to them, well played.

Is HD-DVD really dead?

Being the geek that I am, I often find geeky things and sometimes like to share. Just about the time we think HD-DVD is dead I find this product.



Who came up with this great idea? A Betamax to HD-DVD recorder, nice.

Here is a video of how it works.
[RSS Readers flash video here]