Church Sound Podcast

In Episode 89, the co-hosts get back to the music. In a world with a million and one ways to shape, present, and experience music, how do we get out of our own way and be present in the moment? The Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by DiGiCo and Electro-Voice.They talk about ways to set up before an event and tips to make sure we don’t miss a beat during a live performance, and they also discuss reference tracks, how to know what to reference, how to use them to save time or prepare for any given service, and they wrap up the conversation with a daunting question: Where is worship music heading?Check out James Attaway’s new worship audio academy at www.attawayaudio.com/academy, and also visit our new Instagram page @churchsoundpodcast.Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Co-host Gary Zandstra has worked in church production, as an AV systems integrator and as a manufacturer’s rep for more than 35 years.

If you're wondering if we added another bass player to the podcast, we didn't -- he plays drums. Samantha and James welcome on another new co-host, Gary Zandstra, to bring in new perspectives and even more educational content for you listeners. Gary is a long-time contributor and author for Church Sound Magazine, and we couldn't be happier having him on board! Check out our new Instagram Page @churchsoundpodcastJames' brand new academy at www.attawayaudio.com/academyCo-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

James is out having some family bonding time while they welcome their new daughter into the world! While James is away, the networking comes out to play! On this episode, Samantha welcomes Kat Taub from Audinate to discuss Dante and all the technology that's coming onto the network. Additionally, they discuss how to approach learning networked audio and Dante, even if you're brand new.Kat Taub currently works at Audinate as a Product Marketing Manager for networked video technology. Kathryn joined Audinate in 2018 as a Technical Sales Engineer, providing pre-sales support and working to educate the AV industry on Dante AV-over-IP technology. While studying Film Scoring at Berklee College of Music, Kathryn fell in love with using advanced technology to help facilitate creative endeavors. Prior to joining Audinate, Kathryn spent many years working as a staff member at Berklee in a variety of roles supporting, training on, and designing AV systems for music production computer labs, classrooms, studios, and performance spaces.Check out James' brand new academy at www.attawayaudio.com/academyCo-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

James and Samantha welcome back Ben Ivey to talk all about mixing in houses of worship and beyond! Ben Ivey is a touring FOH Engineer, Production Manager and Consultant based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Ben serves a variety of clients ranging from national acts, corporate companies and churches. Within the last year his clients have included Priscilla Block, Lily Rose, Ludacris, Megan Moroney, Elle King, Trace Atkins, Jason Upton and Vineyard Worship to name a few.Check out James' brand new academy at www.attawayaudio.com/academyCo-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

Can there be a party if there's only 2 people? We say yes!Happy Winter Holidays! That's a Merry Christmas to the Christians, a Happy Hanukkah to the Jewish, and a Magnificent Kwanzaa to those who celebrate it! Merry Winter Solstice and a Happy New Year to all!This week, James and I have a quick check in and reminder to everyone: we appreciate you for listening for 4 seasons now! Don't worry, there's no end in sight, but we want to express our joy for this community. Stay strong, and try to have fun this holiday season! Check out James' brand new academy at www.attawayaudio.com/academyCo-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

You're frantically googling, trying to find out what the heck is so important about mixing even though there are seemingly 10,000 things to do! Have no fear, James and Samantha are here to help. This topic comes up constantly with new mixes and new volunteers always stepping up to the plate to help out. Let this episode shed a little light on what's most important when you first start mixing.Check out James' video on mixing for the first time!Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

Achieving consistency is one of the most important goals for mixing as soon as you graduate from newbie to intermediate mixer. Whether that's consistency between services, between weeks, or between engineers, if we have consistency it leaves space for meaningful worship, quality broadcasting, and more cohesive experiences all-around. Samantha and James dip into the topic this week offering tips on exactly how we can start making consistency a priority.Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

Crowd mics (and by extension, room mics) are an easy way to help out the musicians on stage, and everyone tuning in to the broadcast feed. James and Samantha dive into setting up crowd and room mics, what the difference is, how we process them, and when the best times to start using them are!Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

When you do what you love, or you give your heart to volunteering, it becomes hard to distinguish sacrifice and burnout. In this week's episode, Samantha and James dig into creating a balance between our work and the rest of our life. Take care of yourselves out there as the winter holiday season is upon us -- an often draining time contrasted with joy and reverence and reflection.Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

What tools should every FOH have? What tools do we carry in our bags? This week, Samantha and James tackle the tools that are good to have in arm's reach.There are specialty tools, and there are generic tools. We need a good mix of both in order to cover any reasonable amount of issues -- batteries, tape, volt meter, spare mics, and more!**Coherence value (not correlation) is what lets us know our data is "good" in system's such as Rational Acoustics' Smaart.Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

Stage noise has this thing where it's everywhere and contributes heavily to out-of-control sound systems. In an effort to create a world with as little unwanted noise as possible, Samantha and James arm wrestle with tactics and techniques on getting control of our stages and all the distortion coming off of it. Some sanctuaries or venues are built to not have amplification in them, and that can add even more variables and make it even harder to get control to -- but have no fear, there are always things to try!Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

How many bassists does it take to talk about live sound mixing?A lot, apparently, given that so many of us are bass players. In this week's episode, James and Samantha finally tackle the topic that could easily turn into a 3-part gear series: bass guitar. Bassists On Bassists -- what a world. Tune in to hear a whole lot of opinions, and some great starting points for nailing that persnickety bass.Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

That's right, "miking" not "micing".James and Samantha deep-dive into stereo miking techniques, why it's important, when we should do it, and why our lizard brains function the way they do. If you're curious about stereo miking, this episode is for you!Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

Eliminate variables, don't create them.In this week's episode, James and Samantha tackle every tech's most important and most feared skillset: troubleshooting. What happens when our wedges are feeding back? How come my iPad won't connect? How do I figure out what's happening? Join us as we wrestle with troubleshooting tips and tricksCo-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

What happens if you choose to believe the best in the people you serve with? How do you manage your leadership team? This week, Samantha and James discuss what it's like to work with leaders who are perhaps failing to lead, and what we can do to help drive our tech teams and our houses or worship to success.Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

This week, Brad Price from Audinate joins James and Samantha to discuss Dante Virtual Soundcard, when it's time to start implementing Dante, and if Dante is affecting sound quality, plus more! Networked audio -- it's time to get on board, folks! Audinate has some excellent training available, and we always highly suggest techs take at least the Level 1 Certification to familiarize themselves. Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

While Samantha and James are recovering from some hectic travel and personal losses, we wanted to bring you the second part of one of our most popular episodes: The Best of the Best, Part 2! Where we've condensed nuggets of info from some of our most-downloaded episodes.This episode features clips from Episodes 52 (Church Gear), 51 (Letting Go of a Volunteer), 61 (Virtual Soundcheck), 65 (Audio Protocols), and 54 (System Tuning).Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

Low frequencies are notoriously hard to control. They have a tendency to build up and get out of whack. Why is that and how can we mitigate those problems? What's low-end feedback? Why should we invest time into this at all? Samantha and James discuss low frequencies in our systems and how to tackle issues before someone notices!Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

Guitars (after vocals) are the most prominent instrument in modern worship services. Acoustic, electric, multiples of each, even! James and Samantha dive in to mixing guitars, miking them up, and how we approach guitars in mixes on Sundays.Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.

More of the artistry in mixing this week on Church Sound Podcast! But this time... it's all before it gets to the console. James and Samantha explore microphone techniques and how to start experimenting with mic choice and placement. With so many to choose from, the options are nearly endless!Co-host Samantha Potter is also co-lead instructor with Church Sound University — a training program tailored specifically for worship audio techs that’s now also available online. Reach her via LinkedIn, on IG @potteraudio, or contact her via email here email.Co-host James Attaway is the author of the Live Mixing Field Guide, a quick-start guide to EQ, compression and effects. Find more from James on the Attaway Audio YouTube Channel and at AttawayAudio.com. Reach him on IG @attawayaudio or contact him via email here.Church Sound Podcast is sponsored by Primacoustic, and DiGiCo, and Electro-Voice.