Simple, repeatable monitoring setup for touring worship band
SOUTH BARRINGTON, IL, November 18, 2008 – Brandon Grissom, singer/songwriter and worship leader at Willow Creek Community Church, is solving his group’s complicated monitoring situations with Aviom’s Personal Mixers.
The popularity of Grissom’s worship band has grown in the last five years, and with that growth has come new audio needs. With the experience gained from playing at various houses of worship, Grissom decided upon the use of the Aviom monitor mixing system as part of his band’s monitoring setup. The Aviom system allows Grissom to move from location to location, enjoying simple setup and repeatable monitoring settings.
“While the group initially handled services at Willow Creek, we now play a variety of Christian concerts, youth group events and church services all over the country,” explains Grissom. “The problem with moving around so much is achieving sonic consistency with our front of house and monitoring mix. The Aviom system allows the five of us to walk into a variety of acoustic situations and recall the same in-ear mix as we had the night before within minutes. This is a huge help.”
The Aviom setup for Grissom includes A-16II Personal Mixers for each musician, an A-16D Pro A-Net Distributor and an AN-16/i-M Mic Input Module. With the A-16II, users not only have control of their monitor mix, they can also save and recall up to 16 custom mixes as presets, helping to minimize setup time. The A-16D Pro accepts one Pro16 A-Net input signal and provides nine parallel outputs, using rugged EtherCon connectors and standard Cat-5e cables.
The source signals for the band’s monitors plug into the AN-16/i-M, a 3U-high rack-mounted mic/line level input device with 16 high-quality microphone preamps and 24-bit A/D converters. Each channel contains a three-segment level meter, a continuously variable gain knob, a phase reverse switch, 48-volt phantom power, and a rumble filter with an 85Hz rolloff. In addition, each pair of channels can be stereo linked for stereo operation in a Pro16 monitor mixing system.
One of the main goals of performing in a worship situation is to ensure the sound is clear for the congregation or audience. The use of floor monitors on stage often conflicts with the sound directed toward the audience area, especially within large, high-ceiling churches and venues. As the sound level increases, the monitor mix becomes inaudible. The engineer increases the monitor system levels, usually reaching the feedback threshold and further muddying the overall venue audio quality. This very common situation is no longer an issue with the use of an Aviom system, regardless of whether performers listen to their mix via wired or wireless in-ear monitors, headphones, or monitor speakers.
“It is very frustrating to have a bad mix,” explains Grissom. “With the Aviom system, sound check is achieved by simply recalling our stored mixes. You don’t have to spend hours ‘getting it right.’ Just make a few tweaks depending on the room and you’re ready to go. The Personal Mixers have completely solved this problem. The system is easy to set up, easy to use and delivers excellent sound quality.”
Aviom pioneered personal mixing with its Pro16® Monitor Mixing System and continues to break new ground with the revolutionary Pro64® Series of audio networking products. With tens of thousands of products in the field today, Aviom has set the standard for high performance, scalable digital solutions. All Aviom systems harness the power of A-Net®, Aviom’s innovative digital audio technology that simplifies system design while enhancing flexibility and fidelity. All Aviom products are designed, tested, and manufactured in the USA.
