Posted by Bill Fright on 01/31/08 00:50

Richard Crowley wrote:
> "Rick M" wrote ...
>> We're looking to relocate our sound board in a church
>> from the back corner of the balcony to either the
>> middle of a wrap-around balcony or in a 'sound booth'
>> in the back.
>>
>> On argument is that the operator must be in the open
>> to judge the sound.
>>
>> The other argument is that all
>> audio and video and projection and recording folk
>> ought to be in there own secluded, secure,
>> non-distracting from the rest of the people location.
>>
>> I say that moving operators, screens, and fans are
>> a big distraction, plus they will use the space for
>> 18 or so people-in-pews.
>>
>> What's your view? What facts are needed?
>
> Is this the "FOH opeator"? That is the person who controls the
> mix and levels for the sound heard by the audience. (FOH =
> Front Of House") That person MUST be in a position to hear
> a representative sample of what the audience is hearing. If you
> employ professional engineers you might be able to get away
> with putting them in an isolated location, but even most pros
> will balk strongly at that. Putting amateur sound operators in
> an isolated location for running FOH sound is a guaranteed
> disaster. It is hard enough to get them to run things correctly
> when they CAN hear properly.
>
> If you are creating any mixes for other uses (recording,
> overflow, TV, etc. etc.), then you really need a separate
> operator with their own mixer creating this mix in an isolated
> environment so that they can also hear what they are doing.
> But they SHOULD NOT be able to hear what is going on
> in the main audience area because it will interfere with their
> ability to mix properly.
>
>
The above is all true and I'd add that the audio guy will much
appreciate having line of sight to the stage and wings.

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