How to Run Basic Sound Operations at Heart Of Junction

This Instructable is for whoever's job it is to run sound/computer operations at Heart of Junction in Grand Junction, CO when I, the main sound/techie guy, have to be gone for some reason or another. I apologize if it is long, but I'm going to try to cover everything in one shot. Bear with me, it's not too complicated, I promise.

Step 1 Turn on the power

Beneath the table is a bunch of wires and two power strips with lots of stuff plugged into them. To initiate everything, turn on the power on the smaller of the two strips. This should turn on the sound boards and the computer montior. You can tell if things are on if there are lights turned on.

This is also a great time to plug in your laptop you will be using. The outlet I use is highlighted in the picture.

Comments

[davidprosser]

ooo after seeing this i might make a lil' instructable on using a sound desk :P should i?...

[Speidumb]

I had to learn all the super basic stuff the hard way, by playing with the sound board... Most manuals expect you to know things like "Each slider runs one channel" and "Unless you have a good reason, don't play with the knobby things." Maybe my next Instructable will be "Sound Board operations for those who know nothing about sound board operating."... or something with an equally long title.

[stratcat]

Those who know nothing about sound board operating should be kept as far as possible from the board. No sound company wants to replace many
thousand in speakers/amps. It's supposed to be hard. That's why they call us 'engineers'. Leave it for the pros!
(or let 'em 'play' with the light board ;⁾

[n0ukf]

That's not the hard way, it's the fun way. :) I have one complaint about Lame (though I still use it). Exporting to mp3 from a 70+minute recording takes too long, about 30 minutes or so, while Cool Edit takes only a few minutes. Does anyone know of a faster mp3 encoder that Audacity can use? Or a fast wav-mp3 converter?

[573richard]

I think your lesson is vary helpful. I just bought a 26 channel mixer at the pawn shop to help my kids start a band. And picked up books on it (even a for dummy's book no help)and reading all of them made my feel dumb.Don't let people criticize you,for guys like me it is very helpful. Thank you.

[cry_wolf]

I have been doing this stuff for about 3 years, adn i started in the 7th grade =) Yea i had tutors, your soundboard is beast small though. i used one 3x that size. Have you used intelligent lights or a light board?

[0.775volts]

also, if any of this is your bag, I highly suggest picking up a copy of the Yama Sound Reinforcement Handbook (or "Bible" as it's called in pro sound). It'll usually run about $20-30, and you can always get it in a package deal at amazon.

[mikesty]

This actually kinda helps a bit. In a week, I'll be starting my senior year in HS. My first period class is a multimedia class where I'll help run the school's announcements (video and audio). I've worked in the tech lab for the past two years extensively, but to be frank, I tried to stay away from the audio equipment and stick to the back with my computers. Now I understand why that switchboard is so big - different lines! d'oh.