In the evolving world of the praise and worship market, venues are not only upgrading to meet new digital standards but also raising the bar in terms of production value.
Travis Groat came to Essex Alliance Church (EAC) in Essex Junction, VT three years ago from Christ Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach, FL. He is bridging the technology gap at EAC with a migration strategy that both sounds better than their previous systems and maintains the ease of use for the technical team of volunteers.
Groat is responsible for all aspects of production at Essex Alliance Church, which hosts up to 1,500 people over any given three-service weekend. Today, EAC is seeing substantial growth in church attendance, and they believe at least part of that increase is due to the audible improvements brought about by their new sound systems.
“I was faced with the task of selecting the most appropriate balance of sound quality and user-friendly features to accommodate volunteer audio staff training,” recalls Groat. “Easing the learning curve for volunteers is one of the most common issues in worship production. With that in mind, we decided to replace our 13-year-old analog mixer with the Yamaha TF5 digital mixing console.”
According to Groat, “we chose the TF5 because, at only around 34 inches wide, it offers a dramatically smaller footprint than the older console. The appreciably lower price compared to other brands also allowed the church to add the latest video switcher hardware and ProPresenter workstation next to mix position — something that was not possible with the previous setup.”
The Monitor Setup
In addition to the TF5, Essex Alliance Church selected the Yamaha TF-RACK for monitor mixing duties. “We don’t have the extra space or manpower to run all of our mixers at every service,” says Groat.
“With the TF-RACK, each band member can handle their own mix from their iPhone or iPad using the StageMix app,” he adds. There are no stage wedges — the entire praise band is on in-ear monitors. “We now have 10 stereo IEM mixes from the TF-RACK, which is one of three TF Series mixers used during worship.”
On the IEM hardware front, EAC uses all Shure monitor transmitters — a combination of PSM 600 and PSM 900 units, with feeds to PreSonus HP2 compact personal headphone amplifiers for players on hardwired systems. Earpieces include custom-molded 64 Audio IEMs for some of the band members and some inexpensive universal models for guest soloists and casual players.
The church also opted for Shure ULXP wireless on vocals, using Beta 56 heads on the handheld transmitters and a Telefunken M-80 capsule for the lead vocal.
The User Experience
As the TF-RACK’s user experience is identical to the TF1 console except for the absence of the console’s faders, Groat simply imports his other TF scenes directly into the TF-RACK. Also, as some of the IEM systems use balanced 1/4-inch cabling, the TF-RACK can accommodate these cables without the use of adapters or conversion cables.
“We have two core worship teams,” Groat explains. “The first team was starting from scratch. The other teams can use the preset scenes and mixes, and simply adjust for themselves on the fly during the first song in rehearsal.
“For setup, the most complicated thing we had to do was mount it into the rack itself!” Groat jokes. “I only had to load my file from my TF1 and it was done — and I didn’t even have to change Dante patching,” he adds, referring to the uncompressed, multi-channel Dante digital-networking technology. “I was done.”
From the band’s point of view, “it was a seamless transition to the TF-RACK,” Groat continues. “This lets us teach our volunteer sound team what to listen for. Most of our team have no pro training. Musically and sonically, they can mix well and at an advanced level based on our ear training on each of our TF mixers.”
This approach helps Groat maintain more consistency for the worship band, regardless of who may be operating the mixer. “It’s more about fader levels than tone when they use these Yamaha consoles,” he says.
Like many houses of worship, EAC often has volunteers running sound at front-of-house. Groat says, “They are picking up the TF Series easily with its Virtual Soundcheck, and they’ve taken to it really well.”
With multiple worship leaders on lead vocals, the various TF Series mixers let the volunteers save song-by-song scenes and mix using a DCA workflow. This way, Groat can customize the faders with less effort and, he reports, achieve a better overall sound.
“Using Audinate’s Dante Virtual Sound Card, the effects plugins can be fed back to the mixer into another channel,” he adds. “This trick allows for both a ‘clean’ and a ‘dirty’ channel so the performers can hear their sound without any effects in their ears.”
Groat upgraded the TF5 with the NY64-D Dante expansion card and the TIO1608-D Dante-equipped I/O Rack onstage. From there, the monitor sends go directly to headphone amps for IEM’s.
Sound Quality
“Replacing our old snake with the Tio1608-D Dante I/O was a dramatic improvement in sound quality,” Groat says. “Increased gain and extension of the overall frequency response were also immediately noticeable,” he adds. “It’s a ‘safe’ environment to record as well, and we can use those recordings to train our team. It eases the volunteers’ nervousness, and greatly boosts their reliability and confidence.
“This is my second church to install a TF Series mixer, along with the Aviom A16-II analog IEM system via the Aviom 16o-y1 card,” recalls Groat. However, as he continues his upgrades, he notes that the TF Series offers the ability to go directly out to their combination of wireless and hard-wired in-ear monitoring systems as they transition away from traditional floor wedges.
Essex Alliance Church now employs three TF Series digital mixing consoles at any given time. And Groat continues to rely on Yamaha. “There were no other mixers even worth considering for the church’s expansion,” he says. “The TF digital mixing consoles deliver the pro features of far more high-end mixers at a much lower price.”
Groat uses Dante and runs Virtual Soundcheck every week, which lets EAC create live recordings from the tracking during every performance. He uses several types of recording software during worship, including Steinberg Nuendo Live, which ships with the console, to take full advantage of the TF-RACK sound capabilities.
“Every console here is a Yamaha TF Series mixer,” says Groat. “My training of our entire tech team, from children to adult ministry, follows the same thought process. The beauty is that when I go in to train somebody, or just to help, they are not putting their hands on anything different. It’s only fader count that might be different.” He further points out, “We plan to add an additional TF1 console for the youth ministry area as well.”
The Contois School of Music in Essex Junction, VT, which supplied the church with their TF systems, is a multifaceted business that offers a unique format of music education training and is a Yamaha dealer for both musical instruments and sound reinforcement products.
Dan Contois, the keyboard player at EAC, suggested that the music school work with the church for events and performance opportunities. The church became a venue to showcase both the students’ talents and the Yamaha gear. By using the included Steinberg Nuendo Live option, EAC and Contois can easily multi-track record every performance.
Contois also relies on the skills of Andrew Maquera, the chief engineer from West Street Digital, and Dan Emmons, sound engineer, to mix down their recordings. With the TF5, making the changeover between worship bands is very simple. Scenes are saved, and loading them onto the mixer takes only a second or two. The players use a mix of in-ears, powered Yamaha DSR monitor wedges and full headphones. They do everything with Yamaha and, with the TF5, can record everything live.
