Achieving A Killer Online Mix From Your FOH Console
Meet Kendall Self. He’s the Production Director at New Life Church in Arkansas. He’s sharing his tips and tricks on how he produces an online mix from his FOH console.
If you are doing audio at a church in today’s online world, chances are you have a service you stream live or are planning to start streaming soon. At some point, typically after having been streaming for sometime, the question arises of how you get a killer mix for those listening online.
As with most things in the audio world, there is more than one way to enhance your online experience. I am here to voice not just my opinion, but information, on how I have had success in this area with different churches I have had the privilege to be a part of.
This really comes down to two rules of thought:
1) Invest the time and money to setup a completely different mix position (usually in a dedicated room) that receives a complete split of all inputs from the stage and FOH that is then mixed specifically for online use.
2) Invest time and some money into perfecting a feed straight off of your main FOH console.
As you might quickly assess, I favor the latter of these two options, so here is how I have had success giving our online audience here at New Life Church the same quality mix as if they were live in the room.
The biggest thing to know about your online mix actually has a lot to do with your main system setup and house mix rather than anything you do past the console out. Simply put, if you do not have a killer house mix then you’ll never have a killer online sound fed from your console.
Look At Your Source
First and foremost, let’s look at your source. Do the drums sound good at the drums or the guitar sound good at the amp? How about the worship team as a unit? If the answer to any of these is “no,” then we’ve identified a starting point. This holds true for your main house mix and any hope for a decent online mix. I will note here that you are a valuable part of the ministry you are serving and should work, with the correct attitude, to communicate needs or things you hear that would be detrimental to the overall sound to the worship team or leader.
Set Your System Up For Success
Now that we’ve developed a good source, how is your sound system setup? If you are having to do a lot of corrective EQ on your FOH console then those drastic EQ settings will translate to a horrible recording and ultimately horrible online mix. How do you fix it? That is a question that carries a lot of other questions. How well is your room treated? Does your sound system provide adequate coverage for your room? Is it tuned well and accurately giving you a frequency response that fits the type of music you are doing? Look at it this way: if your system and room are setup correctly, then EQ on the console is corrective for the person’s voice, the mic, or the instrument in question. This means they are not needing to be overly worked to correct issues with the sound system or room.
Work On The EQ
We now have a great source, your system and room sound great, and your house mix is that of legend and talked about. Now what? The EQ. Have you ever muted your subwoofer feed and listened to the band during rehearsal? This may seem like a crazy idea but you need to do things like this from time to time to realize that a lot of low end can actually come from your main system. I’ve been guilty of sending so much low end, from a bass guitar for instance, to the subs and worked on EQ that all but eliminated low end from getting to the main PA. In a recording or online mix that is fed from the Left and Right in this scenario, the mix will lack that same low end and translate as empty and having no bottom end.
Always Be Aware
This brings me to another biggie for getting a killer online feed. You must always be thoughtful of how what you do in the room will affect a feed to a recorder or stream. One example that always comes to mind is how you bring a speaking mic on. Live, in the room, you might be inclined to have the volume set or up to some degree and just unmute and mute. This is very noticeable in a feed out to another area as all the room noise that mic is picking up will be a sharp on or off with the press of the mute button. Instead, it is best practice to have that channel down, unmute then fade up or fade down, then mute. Likewise, do you ever have a person speaking onstage that throws to a video then speaks again? How does their mic remaining up during the video translate to the online mix? Keeping in the back of your mind that everything you do in the house mix has an affect on the online mix is key to a consistent and quality stream.
Ultimately, all of this is based on your setup and budget but can be applied in either setup. Take note of the keys I have mentioned here; have a good source, mix with the room and stream in mind, add audience mics and listen…listen…listen.
The best tools you have are on each side of your head and between, use them to make the adjustments necessary and you’ll be able to achieve a killer online mix fed from your FOH console.
Stream Monkey is an online video company focused on simplifying the way users share, connect, and engage with their audience.
