Welcome to the next installment of "Tech Talk." This monthly feature will hopefully help you understand about certain sound and musical gadgets that everyone sees but are just not sure how they operate in the real world.

This month we will be talking about Volume.

Volume is relative. No one person's volume of their cars' cd player is the same as the next persons. So, we need to be grown-up about it. If you go to a concert to see your favorite artist and there happens to be five other artists on the same stage, the volume of each artist is going to be a little different. Chances are the artist you went to see is never too loud but the others might be. Remember this, there will be other people there to hear their favorite artist just like you. So, be kind and don't chase down the sound guy and give him or her a hard time about your favorite not being loud enough and the others too loud. Enjoy your favorite artist and have a great night!

What To Do

First—If the sound is absolutely unbearable, go see the promoter. If you can't find him, go to one of the performers and tell them if the sound is too low or too loud. Please be kind and hold your anger(be a Christian). As a sound—man myself it is a real challenge to run sound for one group—not to mention more than two on the same night. Every group has certain needs as far as sound. Some have four singers and soundtracks. Some may have six singers and an eight—spiece band. And these days of modern technology, some artist are using video to enhance their performance. This all adds to the stress of the person running sound and being rude just compounds the problem.

Second—Try to determine what's too loud or low. Many times soundtracks can be loud enough but the vocals are not. If you hear the soundtrack and notice the singers volume being low don't think the music is "too loud". The vocals need to come up just over the music. If a group starts their set and this happens, don't judge that the rest of the set will be that way. It takes a song or two to get everything adjusted. By the way, most performers speak lower than they sing. Don't hunt down the sound folks because you can't hear them talk…Give the sound people a chance.

**NOTE (Be considerate of others around you and don't be carrying on a conversation about what you had for supper to your neighbor. This distracts from and overrides what the performers are saying. Wait until intermission.)

Cell Phones

Cell phones-you know what to do with them!

Where Are You Sitting?

Where you are sitting makes a difference. If you are on the first row to the far left or right you can expect the sound is going to be loud. Keep this in mind as you buy your tickets. Ask where your seats are. If you are on row 48 you may not here as clearly as row 10

A Tip On Setting Up In A Gymnasium

This is for anyone who ever has or will have to set up and run a sound system in a gymnasium. Don't drive as much low end on the system as you would normally. Also, boost the 5-8 HZ range on your graphic eq. You can't get rid of the bounce in a gym but you can clear up the sound.

The room makes a huge difference in the sound quality. A 200 seat church sounds very different than a 2000 seat gym.

Very Important Note

If The Sound Is Good: Go tell the sound people. That always makes us feel great!

And to all you sound people: Let's be kind back to the folks that pays their hard earned money to support what we do—It ain't a country show-it's THE GOSPEL! Treat it that way!

Til next time,

Roger

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