Today started out just like any other day… the alarm went off at 6am, I got up, got clean, and was out the door by 6:40 and headed for the church.. I arrive at the church, unload all the sound gear (I have to set it up every Sunday, because we are renting a building that has a really poor sound system) start setting things up.. no biggie, pretty simple system to set up.. 2 mains, 2 monitors (all powered) run the snake to the back of the room (about 70 feet back) plug it all in, then run mic and guitar chords to the snake, and presto, it all works.. right… wrong.
Once I started running the sound check, I knew that God had something big planned today for someone.. why you ask.. because NOTHING went right.. sure, the system set up went smoothly, but, that was as far as it went.. I started by setting up my Line 6 POD X3 Live.. Live sits on the floor, mic goes into the mic in, wireless system goes into the guitar in, then from the 2 outs, into the snake, channels 2 and 3.. unmute them at the board.. nothing.. very confused.. so, I trace back all my cables, to make sure its all good.. sure enough, it was (after all, I’ve set it up 100 times before) so.. I think, “ditch the Live for the mic feed.. just run the mic direct into the snake” so I did that.. boom, the mic works.. as it should.. so, back the the pedal, to see whats going on.. snake input – left output.. thats all good.. check the pod settings.. yup, guitar (Tone 1) is set to left output, so, that should work.. look at the wireless system.. maybe thats the issue.. transmitter output, to volume pedal input, volume pedal output to line 6 input.. yip, all set up right.. same way I used it the day before at my house.. so, I check the wireless pack.. battery is full, everything is plugged in securely.. but, nothing.. no sound, not even a blip on the meter.. well then I though.. lets ditch the line 6.. see if thats the issue.. so now its XLR input from the snake, to XLR output on the wireless transmitter.. POP, theres some sound… and now its working… (FYI.. I’m still trying to figure out what the heck is going on with the Line 6.. its becoming to be a royal pain in the ass)
So, now my sound is working.. I’ve got guitar, I’ve got vox.. over to the piano player.. piano works fine..after all, its just a grand piano, no mics, no cables, just pop the lid, and play.. piano players vox.. crap.. they just sounded hollow.. We bought 4 Peavey PVM 22 mics a year back, and 3 of the 4 have this problem.. sometimes they sound great, sometimes they sound like crap.. the guys at the music store say they are fine.. mainly, I’m sure, because they know they have to replace them if there is something wrong (yay for warranty’s.. NOTE TO TECH PEOPLE.. NEVER buy those mics.. they SUCK) So, we scramble around, and find a new mic for the piano player.. Over to the drummer.. yay.. everything works..
Now we do the mix.. check the monitors, everything is great.. practice a bit, then, take a breather, pray with the group.. move along.
I go to the back of the church, to make sure the video camera is all set up and working (I’m still training people on how to set this stuff all up) camera is on the tripod, firewire in the mac, open quicktime, video feed works.. but wait.. wheres the audio? I look at the M-Audio Fast Track lights are green, which means its getting sound from the mixer.. but, nothing going to the computer.. 5 mins later, I figure it out, was human error, not computer.. fix that.. Look over to the lyrics guy, he’s got everything set up, but wait.. the picture looks really foggy on the screen.. I go down.. the cap is on the lens.. take it off.. wait.. still foggy.. lens was all fogged up from coming in the building from the outside.. switch the projector over to the other one, which has been climatized.. its now 5 mins late.. and we are suppose to be up playing the first song.. pastor looks at me and says “any time now would be great” so, I run up to the stage, pick up my guitar, the power light on my monitor isn’t on.. odd, I know I left it on.. flick the switch.. nothing.. look at my pedal board, nothing.. we blew a fuse.. CRAP.. now I gotta scramble around to find an extension chord to move everything.. found one.. time to rock.
As you can see, it was a very exciting morning.. I was pretty stressed out.. but, in the end, everything worked out and God was glorified…
Now.. on to the Sunday Set List:
1. Everlasting God (B) new song introduction.. it went great.. the people seemed to enjoy it. I played through the song, then read Isaiah 40:28-end (which is where the song comes from) while the band continued to play.. then back into the chorus.
2. Oh For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (G – David Crowder Version)
3. Hosanna (G)
4. Great Is Thy Faithfulness (C – Just acoustic guitar)
5. Here I Am To Worship (E – this was during offering)
6. In Christ Alone (D)
Sermon – Guide for How to be a Christ Like Husband – Part 1 (Watch it here)
Communion
7. How Great is Our God (G)
Closing Prayer/Get the heck out!
Heres the Flow Sheet from the Planning Center for those curious..
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You can read more posts like this over at Fred’s blog
Chris, Sounds like a challenging Sunday, but it's good to hear all worked out in the end and everyone was able to praise God together. That's what it is all about! With the songs you chose, it shouldn't have been hard. In Christ Alone is one of our favorites and we did it this Sunday too. Hope next Sunday goes smoother.
even in a church with everything completely set up, I still have sundays where NOTHING works. I feel for you man because I have worked in both settings and its horrible when you have the perfect storm of everything going wrong. I hope next week goes better!