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Acoustic Treatment (stage vs room)

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Jeff Classen:
We are in desperate need of acoustic treatment in our sanctuary (multi purpose room)
The stage level is overpowering the main mix stage spl is only 85dB.
I have been looking at treating only the walls at the back of the stage and beside to help mitigate this.
I feel like this is a better move than switching to in ears since we have acoustic drums, and piano on stage.

Your thoughts?

Keith Broughton:
If you use "ears" you eliminate stage wedges and as a result, reduce stage volume quite a bit.
Treating the stage area, especially around the drums can help as well as having a baffle around the guitar amp.
If you are using a Hammond organ...good luck on that one. (LOL)
As for the room, it depends on what the problem is.
Most churches were never designed to have a live band and as a result, a lot of problems (and complaints)  will arise that will cost money to solve.

Dave Pluke:

--- Quote from: Jeff Classen on May 17, 2021, 10:24:19 AM ---Your thoughts?

--- End quote ---

There is no simple answer.

It's impossible to comment on acoustic treatments without room shape and dimensions. In very ballpark terms, the higher percentage plays, in order, might be to treat:

1) wall behind stage
2) ceiling (especially over the stage)
3) wall opposite stage
4) side walls

Read comments regarding drum set enclosures and rethink the acoustic piano. The more direct everyone plays, the easier to actually use the FOH system for its intended purpose.

Dave

John L Nobile:
I had good results putting up sheets of roxul behind a backdrop and a drumshield that only went up 1/2 way on the kit. Main thing was to block the snare. Drummer wasn't hard on the cymbals. Had the guitar amp pointed across the stage. It all helped but wasn't perfect. I'd go IEM's if I could.

Taylor Phillips:

--- Quote from: Jeff Classen on May 17, 2021, 10:24:19 AM ---We are in desperate need of acoustic treatment in our sanctuary (multi purpose room)
The stage level is overpowering the main mix stage spl is only 85dB.
I have been looking at treating only the walls at the back of the stage and beside to help mitigate this.
I feel like this is a better move than switching to in ears since we have acoustic drums, and piano on stage.

Your thoughts?

--- End quote ---
Is your aversion to in-ears in your situation is because you don't have mics on the drums & piano, or because you don't think they'll make a difference with the acoustic instruments on stage?  Unless you have one of the cheaper entry-level mixing consoles, you should be able to mic them for the in-ears without routing those mics to FOH, and removing the wedges will give you a cleaner sound even if they don't actually reduce the volume.     

Before you spend a lot of money trying to change things though, first consider what you've got.  Where are your acoustic instruments currently, and can they be moved away from walls?  Rearranging the stage can make a bigger difference than many people realize.

How does the room sound when you turn off the main speakers and only have the stage volume?  In some cases, it actually works well to use the FOH mix to supplement the stage sound rather than replace it.  If you can't get your stage to be quieter, focus on making it sound good.

What's currently in the wedge mixes?  The only things that should be in the wedges are things the musicians can't hear without them.  A quiet, well-mixed wedge is better than loud wedge with a poor mix, for both the musicians and FOH. 

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