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Hired Gun for God

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When I think of worship sound, I generally put this end of the biz into two categories. First, there is the owner-operator guy like me, who installs systems in small churches and mixing services during the week or on the weekends. Then there is the large regional or national company that has the resources and ability to install large complex systems into any church or large venue.

Now, the big guys may not have any more knowledge than the smaller outfit, but they definitely have a larger network of clients. This is where I share some common ground with a mega sound company. I am always looking to increase my network of clients. And one of the most effective ways I have found to do this is to be able to mix at any location using whatever gear is present and having the ability to make it always sound great. I guess that is the definition of a hired gun. The only difference is that I am specifically looking at this from a worship sound prospective.

I think as we get into this topic you will see that developing an ability to mix anywhere at anytime will serve your business, whether you are bounc-ing from church to church, rock show to rock show or bar mitzvah to bar mitzvah.

So, if you will indulge me, I would like to tell you about my experiences as a hired gun for God.

Family Gear
Just last Sunday (as I am writing this piece), I mixed at the Crescenta Valley Community Church, which is located a short distance from my office in Pasadena, Calif. The church was having a special guest musician and his band. Since I had never mixed at this particular house of worship, I de-cided to visit the place before the event. I realize that, as hired guns, we don’t always have the opportunity to visit our next venue. However, this room was not far from me, and the pastor’s wife allowed me to look in.

When I got to the church, I saw that they were using a Midas Venice for their mixing needs. I have owned and used this console, so I didn’t have to familiarize myself with this piece of gear. The room had three JBL speaker bins hung in a cluster that were powered by three QSC amps and equal-ized by a Behringer Ultra Curve Pro. Five of the six Midas aux sends were used for a personal monitor system, and one was used for the effects send. I fired up the system, put in a familiar CD, and just listened.

I know the Ultra Curve, so I asked if I could make some small adjustments to the rooms EQ and save it as my own program. I was granted this re-quest and proceeded to conform the room to my personal taste, saved my work to a new program and set the room back to the previous program. I arrived early the day of the event, set up mics, direct boxes, etc., for the visiting band and ran a sound check with the band and the church choir. The two services went off flawlessly, and the pastor and staff were thrilled with my work.

This church is now a regular client. An outreach is planned that will incorporate my sound company services, and I may be installing a new digital board in the sanctuary. This is the ideal result I want and you should want as a hired gun.

New Tools

Last month, I was called to mix a Mexican Christian rock band at Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif. There was no chance for me to visit the venue, so I just inquired as to what console I would be mixing on. It was a Yamaha M7CL digital board. I have mixed with digital boards, but I had no previous experience with the Yamaha. So, I got online and checked out the board. I found a tutorial program and ran through it a half dozen times prior to the show. I also found out that Yamaha offers digital mixing classes in various cities, and I plan to take one in January 2008. I also went online and checked out the band’s YouTube site. The band hails from Durango, Mexico, and toured as a four-piece with back-up sequencing. I was fortunate that this was a simple outfit, which made my job much easier.

I showed up early at Magic Mountain for the band’s sound check and found that the Yamaha M7CL was very user friendly (thank God). The show went smoothly, and the band was well received by about three thousand fans. The only complaint I have about the Yamaha board is that there is only one screen for all functions — it would be nice if there were a separate screen just for the effects. But I was not at the gig for the purpose of reviewing the console. I just wanted to do a good job, and I did. The band was pleased and asked me if I wanted to go on the road with them, but I had to decline.

However, because of my success at Magic Mountain, I was called by another Hispanic Christian band to mix them at the Vault in Long Beach, Calif. I won’t go into the details of that particular show, but I think you can see that by developing the ability to work as a hired gun for worship sound or anything else, you can open an endless number of doors for your business. There is also no shortage of online material and information on any piece of gear you may find yourself working with. So, sharpen your skills, get out of your comfort zone and go mix for God or whomever.