Lesson Description
Set up and tear down – Mobile church essentials
10m 14s
A step-by-step look at how to setup a complete sound system for your service.
Video Transcript
Set up and tear down – Mobile church essentials
10m 14s
00:16
Hey there! In this video we are going to walk through the workflow of setting up and tearing down a portable PA system.
00:23
It is important to have a plan of action in order to increase your efficiency and make your setups
00:28
and tear downs run quickly and smoothly, as well as keep your setup and stage areas safe and clean.
00:35
In our example for this video, we are using two KS118 subwoofers, two K12.2 loudspeakers as our mains
00:44
and three CP8 loudspeakers for stage monitors with a TouchMix-30 Pro mixing console.
00:50
Your PA may use different equipment or your system may be larger, or smaller.
00:56
The workflow and principles we will show in this video are very flexible and can be applied to any sized PA system.
01:03
The first step is to find where the available power outlets are in the room and run power drops to the stage.
01:10
You’ll need power available for your main PA loudspeakers and subwoofers, stage monitors and mixer.
01:17
If your system uses passive loudspeakers, you’ll need to run power to your amplifiers and any outboard gear.
01:24
You’ll also need to make sure power is available for instruments on stage such as guitar amps, keyboards, etc.
01:32
Perhaps an electric drum set is being used. All of these things will require power
01:37
and should be considered at the start of your setup.
01:40
Now a good practice is to calculate how much power your various devices need and spread the supply of AC power evenly across the available
01:49
power outlets of the performance venue.
01:51
You don’t want to overload a circuit when you start turning things on.
01:55
The power consumption for most devices is listed on the device itself,
01:59
usually close to where the power cable is connected.
02:02
If this information is not found on the device itself, it will be listed in the user manual or specification sheet.
02:10
For instance the K.2 series loudspeakers draw 2.2 amps of power from an outlet.
02:16
The standard amperage of an electrical outlet differs from country to country.
02:20
In the U.S. produces 15 amps. So you can safely connect a total load of 15 amps to that outlet.
02:29
There are also outlets that can produce 20 or even 30 amps.
02:33
If you don’t know what the outlets are producing it’s best to error on the side of caution and assume that your local standard is the limit.
02:41
The K.2, taking only 2.2 amps is nowhere near that total limit for a single outlet.
02:48
So, as an example, if were to continue to connect additional K.2 loudspeakers to the same outlet,
02:55
we can multiply the amps that each loudspeaker draws until we reach 15 amps,
03:01
or as close as we can without exceeding 15 amps.
03:05
With that formula, we can deduce that up to 6 K.2 loudspeakers can be connected to a single 15 amps power outlet.
03:13
2.2 amps multiplied by 6 gives us 13.2 amps.
03:18
Great! If we add one more however we’ll end up with 15.4 amps on that circuit
03:25
and we’ve exceeded what the outlet can handle.
03:29
Of course this can be applied to any piece of equipment, not just K.2 loudspeakers.
03:34
Ok! I promise there will be no more math.
03:37
Know that available voltage also plays a role in the performance of your equipment.
03:43
All this to say: that a good power source is critical.
03:46
Once your power drops are in place, it’s time to setup the subwoofers.
03:51
It’s best to place the subwoofers in front of the stage or performance area to reduce feedback from the microphones.
03:57
In our setup, using two subwoofers, we’ll place them on either side of the stage or performance area
04:03
making sure that we have some distance from any nearby walls.
04:07
This will reduce reflections, which can lead to phasing issues and low frequency cancelation, which roughly translates to
04:15
“It won’t sound good”.
04:17
If your setup has only one subwoofer, simply place that sub on one side of the performance area.
04:23
Or if you can place it in the center, in front of the performance space,
04:27
or possibly just below the stage, without creating physical or visual obstructions,
04:32
this would be ideal for creating a more balanced sound.
04:36
If your setup does not utilize subwoofers, skip this step and move right on the step 3. Which is….
04:43
Mounting the top loudspeakers above the subwoofers.
04:47
In this example we are going to mount our K12.2 loudspeakers above our subwoofers using poles.
04:55
The poles screw into the receptacle on the sub and each K12.2 has pole cups underneath
05:02
so that they can easily be placed atop the poles.
05:06
In a single subwoofer setup, one loudspeaker will be placed on top of the sub
05:11
with the second being placed on a loudspeaker stand. Unless you’ve chosen to place the sub in the center.
05:18
This configuration requires both top loudspeakers to be placed on stands.
05:23
It doesn’t make much sense to have a loudspeaker right in the center of the stage .
05:27
Some setups may also require the loudspeakers to be angled down slightly. If the loudspeakers are up on the stage for instance,
05:35
or any situation where they are at an elevation where the loudspeakers are pointing over the top
05:40
of the audiences heads. To maximize the audiences listening experience, the loudspeakers should, in fact be pointed at the listener’s heads.
05:49
Or more specifically, their ears.
05:52
The reason for this is to keep directional high frequencies focusing to the listeners’ ears to optimize definition,
05:59
clarity and intelligibility.
06:01
With our Main PA loudspeakers setup,
06:04
let’s set up and position our stage monitors. In this example we are using 3 monitors.
06:10
The position will be dependent on how many performers there are and what their needs are.
06:16
If we have a full band setup, with electric guitar, bass, drums, keys and vocals, for example,
06:23
you’ll have to distribute these efficiently to support all of the performers in the best way.
06:29
Using 3 monitors in a setup like this, two of them could be placed in front of the stage to support guitar, bass and vocals,
06:36
with the third in the rear of the stage to support the drummer and keyboardist.
06:41
Or you could use in-ear monitoring systems for the drummer and keyboardist,
06:45
which would allow for the three stage monitors to serve the guitarist, bassist and singer.
06:51
Maybe you have a smaller ensemble and the 3 work out perfectly, or perhaps you don’t even need all 3. Maybe you need more!
07:00
Now that we have the main PA loudspeakers and monitors setup, let’s run power to these components.
07:06
We’ll connect the subwoofers and main top loudspeakers to the closest and most appropriate power drop that we installed in step 1.
07:14
Next we’ll plug in all of our stage monitors.
07:17
It is best practices to keep the power drops turned off at this stage.
07:23
We’ll turn the power on last, after everything is setup and connected.
07:27
When connecting all of your loudspeakers
07:29
make sure to keep your cabling towards the outside of the stage as much as possible
07:33
to reduce clutter on the stage or performance space and help keep people from tripping over them.
07:38
Once everything is setup we’ll go back over the cabling and tape it down to secure it further.
07:44
While we’re running power to the loudspeakers, we can also set up our mixer.
07:49
In this example we are using a TouchMix-30 Pro. This can be setup in a location that is most appropriate for the room you are in.
07:57
It could be on the side of the stage, or even the back of the stage.
08:01
It could be off in a corner, or perhaps you have a dedicated Front of House mix position and the mixer can be set up there.
08:08
This also may depend on who is going to be operating the mixer.
08:12
There could be a dedicated mix engineer or one of the performers may be running sound themselves from the stage.
08:19
In any scenario, the mixer location should be determined to best serve the performance and who will be operating it.
08:27
The great thing is, this mixer can be controlled 100 percent remotely using an iPad or Android tablet,
08:34
allowing for a great deal of flexibility in the physical placement of the mixer.
08:39
Alright. Now it’s time to run the audio connections.
08:43
We’ll start by running XLR cables from the main Left and Right outputs of the mixer
08:48
to our subwoofers on the right and left side.
08:51
Then we’ll run other XLR cables from the output of the subwoofer to the top loudspeakers above.
08:58
If a single sub is used, apply this step to the side with the subwoofer
09:02
and run the opposite side directly to the second loudspeaker.
09:07
If you are not using subs, run both mixer outputs to your loudspeakers directly.
09:12
In some cases, you may want independent control of your subwoofers.
09:17
In that case, you’ll run your subwoofers separately from an Aux on the mixer.
09:22
In this scenario, run an XLR from the chosen Aux output to one subwoofer and another XLR from the output of that sub to your second subwoofer.
09:33
Then connect the Right and Left outputs on the mixer to your right and left top loudspeakers.
09:39
Now we’ll connect our stage monitors using the Aux outputs,
09:43
making sure to be aware of what connections are running to what monitors on stage.
09:48
We’ll use Aux output 1 for our first stage monitor.
09:52
Followed by 2 and 3 for the second and third.
09:56
Once we turn everything on and begin sound check, we’ll label these in the mixer as well.
10:02
The final step is to connect all of your stage sources to the mixer.
10:06
We'll cover this in much more detail in the next section.
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Set up and tear down – Mobile church essentials
10m 14s