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Author Topic: Tech Crew training/user guide documents  (Read 4689 times)

Jared Koopman

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Tech Crew training/user guide documents
« on: April 27, 2011, 09:44:43 PM »

Hello,

I am working on putting together an A/V tech crew user guide and training manual for our volunteers and I was wondering if any of you would be willing to share or provide some input on what to include.

I am planning to have a reference section with the user manuals for all of the devices that we have in our system.

I also want to include a section that covers rules and general "best practices" for running the sound board and a/v system.

I want to keep it basic but thorough enough to be a useful resource. All of our crew are volunteers and most do not have any experience outside of the once a month they run the board. We have a simple system that has been "patched" together over many years (as often happens in smaller churches).

Thank you for any help or suggestions.

Jared
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Jim Le Gros

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Re: Tech Crew training/user guide documents
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2011, 08:07:08 AM »

There just seem to be so many people on here at present who seem to be struggling with little know-how and a basic PA system to operate, I am starting to wonder why we seem to have so little interest (world-wide) in helping to educate people in this noble but dedicated/demanding form of service to Church life, thank God for Forums like this!

One very similar post on this forum has some of your answers already see http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,1971.0.html I think I have a slightly out dated document written by a brit Church PA Tech, that I could email to you, if you would like it as a sample of suitable contents.

However as there is potentially so many areas of technology, electronics, instrumental and A/V needs which will always develop and evolve in a Church, it is very tricky to write more than a basic quick set-up and guide for your helpers with perhaps a couple of stage layout pictures and interconnect diagram; Regular hands on experience is almost always the the best best way to get helpers familiar with a system. Treasure the  guys who take extra interest and may be prepared to spend extra time in band practices (A great time to learn and experiment, with due consideration to your worship teams need to rehearse un-hindered). Additionally any one who is interested enough to ask sound related questions, get the Church to buy them some reading material or read online information like this; Feed the thirst for knowledge and reap the rewards!

There are so many variables to Sound and helpers with varying levels of knowledge that you will be trying to write the equivalent of a document on how to build (say) a car with info about the various uses it may have I.E. should it have Wirless mics, have monitors, Specific DI settings, How to identify and utalize Phantom power equipment, Recording settings & options, And then you could also the mounting options and merits of all of the available accessories you could own for it, A Long Complex Document (Possibly).
Personally I believe that if Churches want to evolve and improve their Worship and media experience's, they ought to nurture and encourage those who potentially may have a lot to give with some support.

I have to close and say that I appreciate that you Jared are trying to improve things with your technology, but a large part of it is the bigger picture of trying to nurture an interest with the Church leaders, Musicians and Worshippers, Some Churches see the PA system as a scary problem, others learn to use it as a creative and wonderful tool, and if it is a blessing to have a system then invest wisely in the people who will give their valuable time to operate it, i.e. get them them cared for as much as they appear to care for a senior worship leader, as mentioned to me recently: The PA system is probably the most complex and largest (or potentially destructive) part of a worship band & service enviroment.

PS. Keeping a library or PDF copies of any user manuals for learning reference is always good for interested readers, You-tube too can have some good clips of instructional information.

Just my Thoughts!

Jim.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2011, 07:24:21 AM by Jim Le Gros »
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Jonathan Johnson

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Re: Tech Crew training/user guide documents
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2011, 01:40:11 AM »

Writing up some kind of manual for your sound system is great, but remember this:

You aren't going to learn to play the guitar by reading a book the morning before your performance.

Same goes with sound systems. Your manual can be a great foundation, but it can only help the reader get sound out of the system; it can't guarantee great sound out of a great-sounding system. Expect to spend significant time in hands-on training with each of your sound techs. This isn't to say that books are bad, only that they are but one tool in the process.

That said, don't reinvent the wheel. I believe there are some other threads on here that discuss resources for training; may you have good luck searching for them. One of the best resource, in my opinion, is the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook. By now it's a probably a bit dated since it doesn't cover all the new digital gear, but the fundamentals it presents are based on physics and that will never change.

Soundcraft has a great YouTube series on learning your way around the mixer:
http://www.youtube.com/SoundcraftUK#g/c/4CF0FA9E71C443FE

Hope that helps you get started!
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Tech Crew training/user guide documents
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2011, 01:40:11 AM »


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