Keyboard and Omnisphere multi track setup

by Jason Vandergrift

Dante has usual uses such as tracking from a console or routing between system processors. As Dante has really taken the stage for network audio transport, more and more uses are arising. One of the simplest ways to increase the quality of your sound is by eliminating D/A and D/A conversions. Tech Arts has experienced this in many ways from sound systems to recording splits. Simply taking a few conversions away adds clarity and phase coherency. So why not go further?

Keyboard players are increasingly using programs like Main Stage in their rigs, or as their only source of sound. Like using patches and Omnisphere out of a Macbook. So adding Dante is easy, right?Just run the network and route the output. But why not use multiple tracks out of Omnisphere? As an engineer I am always looking for ways to improve my mix. If I could have multiple tracks from the keyboard, why wouldn’t I? Whenever we use backing tracks for live music, more often than not, there are multiple keyboard stems. I would prefer to mix these tracks myself for my room and not the way the studio engineer mixed it down. So, rather then relying on the keyboard player to mix his patches, I prefer to blend them into my mix separately. So here is my setup:

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Skylark AV supplies SD8 console and SD-Mini Rack pair for media-savvy house of worship

NORTHchurch, a non-denominational contemporary church that uses the latest technology and media to communicate its message, recently installed a DiGiCo SD8 console and a pair of SD-Mini Racks interconnected by an Optocore fiber optic network. The front–of-house console system was part of a major audio system redesign at the church’s two-story location in a northern suburb of Oklahoma City together with an L-Acoustics loudspeaker system, acoustic treatment and other improvements, all provided by Skylark AV, a local audio, video and lighting equipment design, build and installation company.

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A Dream of Greater Kingdom Ministry

A Colorado pastor told us how he had become the pastor of a small church that had met in a school for five years without effective growth. “Members were tired of trying to push the boulder up a hill with only limited success in all areas,” he said. “They were definitely exhausted by setting up in a school every week for five years.” Elders in the congregation raised the topic of a potential merger, looking for the right circumstances. They found a growing, “unleashing” kind of church in Bear Valley Church and asked their pastor to approach its leaders.

By all counts, the merger went well. The pastor told us, “It was successful because both churches understood there is no such thing as an even-steven merger. One church must assume the other. We helped our folks see that what mattered most wasn’t “the church of us” but “the church of Jesus.” In other words, we rightfully portrayed this as a way to maximize our Kingdom impact—just the opposite of a corporate take-over. We further helped those in the joining church transition into the larger body by forming a large Sunday adult class, which helped maintain their close fellowship. Eventually most of the new people assimilated into the ministries of the lead church”.

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Why Mergers in the Past Often Failed

How are today’s mergers different from those of yesteryear? They represent two completely different paradigms that we might call “new math” and “old math” of church mergers. Old math mergers were more survival driven, whereas today’s mergers are more mission driven. Also old math mergers worked toward equality between the merging churches where today’s focus is on aligning with the stronger church culture.

First, the old math of mergers was too often 1 + 1 = 1. The combination rarely worked to produce a vibrant, healthy, larger, or growing church. As veteran church consultant Lyle Schaller explains, the newly merged church typically shrinks to the approximate size of the larger of the two former congregations because no one has made any effort to alter the congregational culture. Members were more comfortable in the smaller size environment they knew before the merger, so they keep dropping away until the culture goes back to what it was. As a result, the typical merger of two smaller no-growth churches “has had a spectacularly poor record in attracting new members,” he says. This situation commonly occurs, according to Schaller, even when there’s a good cultural fi t between the congregations.

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Live-Streaming: Encoding Without a Computer

by Paul Alan Clifford

Most churches think that you can encode your video for live-streaming using an older computer and free software. In this video, learn why that won’t work and a hardware alternative that might be a better value.

The problem with the old computer/free software idea is that live-encoding is a beefy process, meaning it either takes efficient software (which isn’t free) or a fast processor (which you don’t find in an old computer).

So, you can start with a $500-600 computer and add $500 software or you can start with $1000 computer and use free software. Either way, you’ll also need a capture card, raising the price further.

To watch a video and read more, please click here.