Thirty-three acres, a school, two venues, a new 65,000-square-foot student center, 5,000 worshippers – and one sound guy who still finds time to feed his "musical monkey" on the side.
When I posted a request at ProAudioSpace for input on the volume control feature in this issue, I got one response that started like this: "My Name is Del Mize. I'm the audio systems director for Trinity Church International (TCI) in Lake Worth, Fla. I am also a professional audio engineer and musician. I work locally in the South Florida area doing sound gigs and performing when I'm not mixing at TCI or in my studio (Soundstream Studios).
"I'm responsible for anything related to audio on the TCI campus (33 acres with a K3 to K12 private Christian school and 5,000+ congregation), including equipment purchases, system design and integration, remote events, etc."
And I thought, "Wow, who better for our lead interview in a house of worship issue than someone at the helm of a large church production?" So, we made a scheduling change and did the e-mail exchange thing with Del. Interesting guy…
He's been busy on the CAD drawings for audio, lighting and video electrical design of TCI's new 65,000-square-foot student center, in addition to doing all the sound for their current services.
FOH: Tell us about the sound system at Trinity Church International.
Del Mize: The stage is approximately 30 feet by 40 feet with four tiers of choir risers. We run a mono system consisting of a JBL center cluster. The board is a Yamaha M2500 48 mono in with four stereo busses, 14 auxs and 6 matrixs. It's a great learner, but we've outgrown it.
The band is an eight-piece with eight singers using primarily Sennheiser e965s and e835s with a Beta 58 or two. We have an 80-piece choir that sings both services on Sunday morning. The choir mics are ceiling-hung (30 foot) Audio Technicas and a couple Shure condensers on stands. Needless to say, the S/N ratio for the choir is barely above the band before feedback.
We also run a live mix split to a video control room running a Mackie 8Bus that goes to a line amp for distro to the live Web feed, DVD burner and Mini DV. We broadcast live Web streaming every Sunday morning, and on cable TV twice weekly. Post editing is done in Avid and Final Cut Pro as well as post audio. I do that as well.
So, how did you get to your current gig? What was the journey?
I was born in Canastota Village, N.Y., moved to Ohio as an infant and spent my childhood from 3 to 12 in orphanages, foster homes, etc. I was a major problem child/runaway. My mother contacted me at 12 and I moved to Palatka, Fla., where I continued my life of petty crime and drugs. Many, many stories to tell. At age 9 I started playing guitar – my saving grace and crutch–and by age 21 I was playing professionally in local clubs and concert venues with a band called Anthem, opening shows for Edgar Winter, Steppenwolf, Johnny Winter, Jim Dandy and others. I worked through the 1980s on the road performing in hotel circuits all over through the U.S. This was my first real opening to live sound. I used to set the mix from side stage during sound check and away we went.
I moved to Atlanta and auditioned with Atlanta Rhythm Section as a bass player. They ended up using the bass tech from touring. I continued to work on the road in a few different Top 40 rock and funk bands. I started really focusing on identifying 1/3 octave frequencies and system tuning. We were running a couple double loaded OAP "sugar scoops" and long throw mids with JBL 2-inch horns (they'll rip yer head off!), Crown power and 16 channel Kelsey board. Still doing sound from side stage. Off the road, I built and opened Soundstream Studios and began recording local bands for demos and album projects.
I decided to get off the road when my kids started school, so I began working in electronics manufacturing and continued to perform and do sound in local bands on the weekends. That is what brought me to South Florida – a job with an electronics company as a quality manager – but they went out of business six months after I moved, so I started playing again.
The Trinity gig came through the drummer I was working with at the time. He was also the drummer for Trinity's Praise Band. He approached me one day and said, "The sound guy was leaving, would you be interested in the gig?" I said, "Sure," so I showed up and talked to the praise leader at the time. I stuck around and met the acting sound guy. The mix was really 200Hz heavy and completely dry. I immediately started tweaking. In about 5 to 10 minutes I had a fairly acceptable mix to my ears. I went home and didn't hear from them for about three weeks. I thought, "Well, my ears must not agree with theirs."
I was in the studio working on a jingle for the American Bartending Association when I got a call from Trinity. (Was that pre-ordained?) The guy asked if I was interested in running sound. I said, "Yeah, I'd love to." Thinking…steady gig…mmmm…cool!
I was still working full time, performing almost every weekend and doing sound three times a week at Trinity. After a year and a half, my girlfriend said, "You're gonna have to give something up," so I quit the church until we split up. Then Trinity offered me a great deal – on the payroll, with benefits I couldn't refuse – so I took it.
What is the biggest difference between secular and worship gigs?
The only real difference is the venue and the people. On a secular gig, you might be faced with real prima donnas who make it difficult to do a great job with a smile. Not that there aren't any in the HOW world, there are. People are people, same problems, same "more me" – but perhaps it seems not as abrasive on a HOW stage, or maybe there's just peace in the air. One thing that I have found is that most of the singers are not mic-savvy and tend to sing very lightly. I have to push the gain to 11, crank the gain on the comp, and tell them to stand in a special place so the mic doesn't feedback.
You have a more than full time gig at Trinity and still do side gigs. [Lead and harmony vocals, guitar, harmonica, for example, for the band Burnt Biscuit.] How do you keep all of the balls in the air?
How do I juggle other gigs outside Trinity? Well, the band is usually booked months in advance, so if there are any Trinity events going on that I'm not normally scheduled to be here for, I black out those dates with Burnt Biscuit and any sound gigs that come up. I'll get a call for every prospective booking from Burnt Biscuit. At that time, I'll double check that I'm not already booked at Trinity. That's how I do it. Bottom line…effective scheduling.
At Trinity we use a couple of planning Web sites – planningcenteronline.com and serviceU.com. Through the serviceU Web site, we schedule every event going on in the life of the church, down to table reservations. The planningcenteronline.com Web site is used for actual order of service, any special notes (such as wardrobe) and MP3s of the songs for musicians or sound guys to become familiar with. So the guesswork is taken out – just download the song, get a feel for the mix, and follow the Order of Service. That's how I keep up with the events and schedule people.
The equipment end of it is ongoing. I make sure the stage is clean and free of debris, cords, etc. I'm currently in the process of restructuring the outputs of our current configuration. I'll be running the mains thru a matrix and sending a live feed via the stereo bus for TV video recording. The subs will be assigned their own aux. Nothing most of us FOH guys aren't doing or haven't done already.
The audio, video, lighting design for the new Trinity Student center I'm working on is done when I'm there during the day and some late evenings at home. I sent electronic CADs of the 3,000-seat venue to engineer Rick Coleman (Meyer Sound's southeastern sales manager). Rick sent the M.A.P.P. predictions for the Meyer Sound line array system incorporating 10 M'elodies, four HD 700s and CQ-1 center. It should be pretty awesome! I still have the connector pin-out drawings for the I/O of the roll around mix booth and above-ground conduit to do, as well as the junction and stage box layout and purchase.
One of the biggest headaches in the HOW world is that most of the crew is volunteer. Do you have any strategies for dealing with that issue?
Aaaah yes, then there's volunteers! Let's start with recruitment.
To most guys interested in media, sound is at the bottom of the list. So getting volunteers to learn and do sound is very difficult. To run a camera, there's a few buttons for zoom and focus, the rest is sitting in the chair and following the pastor around. But when someone with little or no experience in sound sees the massive 48 channel console und all das blinken lights they conclude that das machine is nicht fur das finger-poken und mitten-grabben and it may be easy to snappen das springwerk mitt spitz-und-sparken and poppen-corken! Translated: It's intimidating. If they decide to get into it anyway, they soon realize it's a commitment with pressure. Mistakes can cause great embarrassment for all involved. (Just like doing a national act).
I am always recruiting. Run ads in the church bulletin or flyers on the seats. Put it on the screens. Have the pastor make announcements for special volunteering services. Get them paid for the services after training. After all, it is a key technical position.
Here are some tips on training volunteers:
Go easy with newbies. Try not to overwhelm with your knowledge, comp/gate and FX settings or the latest technology. Just the basics, if you please.
Give them time on the faders during rehearsals before moving to an actual service. There has to be levels of confidence in his/her own abilities and the speaker, in getting through the service without a hiccup.
Ask the church to offer incentives for the volunteers. We provide donuts every Sunday morning to our media volunteers and have parties for the department periodically. Not a big deal, but effective.
I've had guys come in all gung ho ready to learn everything there is or at least what I can teach them, stay for a week or two, and bolt! I'm starting to get a complex… As I said earlier, if they get past the intimidation of the board and the thought of screwing up during a service, then they might hang for bit.
When they leave me hanging, and I've got a gig the same night, I do have an ace in the hole. My trusty sidekick, John Doerr. I started teaching him at 15. He's in college now, and setting up rigs like nothing. He's the only one who survived everything I've mentioned and is still standing. So, if you only have one person to count on, it's better than none.
Where is the HOW production world heading?
As technical trends rise – the bit and sampling rates, etc. – most HOW ministries are gearing toward hi-def cameras, massive screens, huge projectors, computerized lighting rigs on synched winches, curve linear line arrays, live Web streaming… all the technology. The biggest lacking component in all this is the space we listen and worship to it in. Most sanctuaries would make awesome reverb chambers if not wrought with early reflections and standing axial waves. (Trinity has a standing 200Hz wave front/center stage).
Another huge drawback is the lack of professional technical expertise within the staff. Many times people say "Yeah, I've set up a sound system before." You learn quickly that the statement does not mean they know what they're doing, or they know how to qualify a prospective event site.
But, at the end of the day, I love my job! I was in electronic manufacturing as a quality manager for 15 years while I continued to feed my "Musical Monkey" on the side. I'm truly blessed to be able to work in a clean, positive, uplifting environment, around great people doing what I was called to do and what I love. All music, all the time! It's an awesome adventure.
