Drool

still drooling...

The Big Move - Part 5

The final part!

No more waiting, no more wondering!

Today was the first time that OG has met in the new hall. All of the elements that make us us were there, including a coffee machine in the hall to keep the setup team going!

We crammed in a large amount things though! Notices, annointing and blessing of the Savorys (not on the running order, oh dear...) music, preach, response/music, dedication and commissioning of our new youth worker!

The sound settled a lot with 218 people (!) in the room, but it's still nowhere near being good enough for me.

The kit really is good and the volume coverage is very even. I got the chance to push a bit of volume and the whole thing held out OK, but the acoustics really are bad. On that, NPS have taken responsibility for the poor acoustics and will be adding acoustic treatment to the hall. Hooray!! and Hallelujah!

No idea when or to what extent, but it should be quite noticable.

Lots of things happened that I have no idea about. Creche, junior church (CHIMPS) and ETC all met (somewhere,) catering did it's job, the 'admin desk' was running with the new info boards (which I need to look at) and the stewards did a great job stewarding.

All that said, I'm not really thinking about the sound and the rest of it. I think I will as the feedback from the rest of the church dribbles in, but for now I'm thinking more about the situation we are now in.

We had more people in that hall than we ever have had, or could fit, at the old chapel. We have taken a stand in the heart of the school for God. I feel integrated in to the surroundings, rather that just a visitor. God has delivered. 'We' did it. So, what's next?

(No photos, no camera!)

The Big Move - Part 4

This morning is the first time Oak Grove has met at the new hall. In fact it was about 5m from it! If it helps, the power supply was in the hall...

Meeting outside worked really well. The sun shone and the Son shone.

I really wish I knew how many people were there. From where I was mixing, all I could see was people, all seated 'in the round'. In preparation for the new school's new term, I think it was good to praise God and ask Him to bless all that happens on the site. There is a sense of community and shared ownership, that I really like.

The PA worked really, as I've come to expect it to, and it sounded exceptionally clear. The whole meeting was so not about the PA though, even for me. This does also mean that the pics are not very imaginative, but it does give some idea of what we got up to.

The Big Move - Part 2

Having loaded the gear in and set up (and had a few snacks! well, it wouldn't be OG without some food at some point) we got to make some noise. SO, would the kit work for me straight away?

What do you think?

YES! Even thought we'd had to make up a 32A cable to run the FOH position when we got there and that the multicore had only arrived that morning, it all worked.

I did have a bit of a shock when I saw the finished floor surface. It's an odd and fairly hard surface. I was hoping for something less reflective but never mind.

When empty, the hall has an incredibly long RT. We have a lot of work to do to get the sound right and it feels like a bit of a battle. That said, I did manage to get a reasonable vocal and a great kick drum sound.

I have plans for some remedial acoustic treatment and some FOH EQ to see what difference can be made, but the real difference will be seen (or heard) when the hall is full of people.

Ironically, even before we get the whole band on to IEM's, the stage seemed quite quiet. There was good separation between the instruments and the overall level was reduced compared to Oak Grove Chapel.

To do the whole round trip of collecting gear, transporting it, unloading it, setting up, eating snacks, playing lots of songs and tearing down in just three hours gives me great hope for the success of the sound design. One of the big features I have tried to include was a short setup and tear-down time and this system really seems to have that. I also think that the Logic CA10's controlled directivity will help to point the sound at the only absorbent things in the hall; the congregation!

The Big Move team:

Here's how cavernous the hall is and how big the stage is!

The Big Move - Part 1

It's finally time. We've made a start moving gear to the new hall; the first bit's of OG are already there!

I thought I'd see if I can make a diary of the move from my POV.

We met last night to load up and get moving. Using what cars we had (& a trailer) we managed to safely load up all of the new PA, the instruments and the band!

Oddly, it wasn't emotional leaving. I think the excitement carried us all along.

I so proud of the team, they worked so hard, and so well together. A clear experssion of church.

When we got there, it started to dawn on me just how mad what we were doing was...

Preparation

I've just got home from our second band practice using our new kit. I will of course do a techie review of the system, but I'm basking in the glory of my own wonderfulness.

Ok, so I'm kidding. What I'm actually doing is seeing the fruits of many hours of labour. Hol will confirm that 'many' is an understatement.

For the second time, we rigged a stack of the new PA with the new desk. This time putting about half the band through it (the other half are at Soul Survivour.) For the second time, everything worked, from the off. All of this preparation has really paid off. From my custom cable work, to the desk config, it all works. I can't quite work out if I'm surprised.

I am pleased though. Having taken the responsibility for advising on what is quite a lot of monies worth of system, to have got a system that I allready have so much confidence in. I'm really looking forward to setting it up in the new hall (whenever we get in there) but the more we use it, and the more often it works, the less scary it becomes.

God is good. That is all there is to it.

(Only another 120 solder connections to go!)

Here's a couple of sneak peaks!!