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VIDEO SCRIPT Make a Joyful Noise: How to set up a sound board Davina Smalley FRIT 7230 Dr. Downs Fall 2012 Narrator: Davina Smalley Actor: Gilbert Williams

2: Narrator Introduction Hello, and welcome to Make A Joyful Noise, your instructional source for church audio and video technology!!! Im Davina Smalley. Today, were going to show you how to setup a soundboard. The sound board is an electronic device used to control the sound that comes out of different types of musical equipment such a microphones, speakers, and instruments! It is also called a mixing console because it can mix or combine the sound from various sources and change it into a completely different sound! But before we jump right in to how the sound board works and how to set it up for a typical church service, were going to need to touch on a few basic ideas about what sound really is and how sound waves work. This should help you gain a better understanding of how sound interacts with the sound board. 3: Objectives By the end of this segment, you will know: 1. What is a sound wave 2. What are the properties of sound waves 3. How a sound board works 4. How to turn the sound boardon/off 5. How to control sound for microphones and speakers connected to the sound board 4: How sound waves work Sound is a series of waves formed from pressure that spreads through compressible elements such as air or water. The vibration of an object, which causes the air surrounding it to vibrate, creates sound waves. The vibrating air then causes the human eardrum to vibrate, which the brain interprets as sound. Sound waves travel through air in much the same way as water waves travel through water. In fact, since water waves are easy to see and understand, they are often used as an analogy to illustrate how sound waves behave.

5: Properties of sound waves All sound waves have certain properties. The three most important properties are wavelength, amplitude, and frequency. Wavelength is the actual length of the sound wave. It represents the distance between any point on a sound wave and the equivalent point on the next phase of the sound wave. Amplitude is the actual height of the sound wave. It represents the strength or power of a wave signal. Higher amplitudes are interpreted as a higher volume, hence the name "amplifier" for a device that increases amplitude. Frequency is the number of times the wavelength occurs in one second and is measured in Hz, or cycles per second. The faster the sound source vibrates, the higher the frequency. Higher frequencies are interpreted as a higher pitch. For example, when you sing in a high-pitched voice you are forcing your vocal chords to vibrate quickly. Sound that is perceptible by humans has frequencies from about 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. To put this into perspective, consider that an average ambulance siren can be between 1,000 and 4,000 Hz. 6: How sound boards work Soundboards work by taking sound waves and converting them into electric currents. The sound board then manipulates the electric current as desired, and then converts it back into sound waves. 1. The process begins with a sound source (such as a human voice), which creates waves of sound. 2. These waves are detected by a transducer (microphone), which converts them to electrical energy. 3. The electrical signal from the microphone is very weak, and must be fed to an amplifier before anything serious can be done with it. 4. The speaker converts the electrical signal back into sound waves, which are heard by human ears.

7: Typical sound board This is a typical soundboard Section 1 - Output connectors for all output devices such as speakers and microphones Section 2 - Are the faders which control the volume for each connector

Section 3 - Synthesizers which conditions the sound and shapes the sound waves Section 4 - Decibel meter which displays the strength levels of the sound waves coming into the soundboard Section 5 - Master control - Controls the input power levels from amplifier 8: Setting up the sound board Now that we have a few of the basics out of the way, we can begin to setup the sound board. Please note that there can be many ways to set up a sound board for operation. The setup steps are specific to the particular organization or group and may depend on available hardware, sound equipment, location, and operating procedures. 9: Backup battery Step 1 Power on the battery backup The battery backup is what runs the systems in case of a power outage. It also protects the system from power surges. 10: Power on the auxiliary amplifiers Step 2 - Power on the auxiliary amplifiers 11: Close all output channels Step 3 Close all output channels on the sound board Closing the output channels on the sound board prevents loud cracking and popping electrostatic from occurring after the sound board is powered on. 12: Power on the sound board Step 4 Power on the sound board 13: Open output channel to house speaker Step 5 Open the output channel to the house speakers 14: Sound check wireless microphone Step 6 Perform a sound check using the wireless microphone

14: Open output channel to wired microphone Step 7 Open output channel to wired microphones

15: Sound check wired microphone Step 8 Perform a sound check using the wired microphones

16: Check decibel levels Step 9 - Check sanctuary decibel (dB) levels using a sound meter The decibel (abbreviated dB) is the unit used to measure the intensity of a sound. On the decibel scale, the smallest audible sound is 0 dB. This is sound that is near total silence. A sound 10 times more powerful than near total silence 10 dB. A sound 100 times more powerful than near total silence is 20 dB. A sound 1,000 times more powerful than near total silence is 30 dB. To put this in practical terms, consider that a soft whisper is about 15 dB, A car horn is about 110 dB, and a gunshot or firecracker is about 140 dB. The decibel levels are checked to measure the intensity of the sound output from the speakers. This helps to prevent sound blasting certain areas of the sanctuary. 17: Setup complete Success! Our sound board setup is complete! We are now ready to begin the worship service. 18: Narrator closing remarks Thank you for tuning in to this segment of Make A Joyful Noise, your instructional source for church audio and video technology!!!