 Last year brought a lot of change in how and where we work. I’m sure at some point or another we all took a turn working from home or had an increase in virtual meetings. Either way, we’ve already seen businesses using more remote options and relying on audiovisual equipment even more. We don’t see remote business options going away any time soon as people are finding them quick and convenient. So, how do you know if your meeting rooms or huddle spaces can keep up with your needs? The great news is that as the AV industry advances there are lots of easy-to-use, affordable options to give you the right components to create your ideal meeting space. We work with schools and businesses to make sure their specific needs are met.
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Compression on a vocalLast week we had an introduction to audio compression. Today let's take a look at why you might add compression to vocals!  For speaking vocals, I rarely use any compression. The main reason for this is that you will lose some of the dynamics and if you are not careful it can make them sound very unnatural. On the other hand, for singing vocals, I love being able to use compression! If I have a console that will allow me to, I like to do two stages of compression. For the first stage, I like to use compression as more of a soft limiter (somewhere in the 7:1-10:1 ratio) with a pretty high threshold. Most of the purpose of that compressor is to trim the loudest part of the vocal. Then I use a second compressor to “squish” the rest of the vocal a little bit (Ratio 2:1-3:1, a medium threshold (3-6db) ) and to make-up a little bit of gain to keep my gain structure correct. My main goal, as with any compression is to try and get the vocal more consistently coming out of a PA or on a stream. But, this doesn’t mean that it’s always the right choice! Sometimes adding a compressor to a singing vocal or adding too much compression can make a vocal feel un-natural or thin. So, use with caution and always mix with your ears and not your eyes!
Trevor- Lambda Audio Visual Sound Engineer What is it? How and When Do You Use it?Welcome to Trevor’s Audio Master class. I will be your guide to the wonderful world of Compression. The definition of a compressor is, “An audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds, thus reducing or compressing an audio signal's dynamic range.” I’m sure that cleared up any confusion on compressors. Any questions??  Ok, but seriously. These are questions that we often get when we are doing sound training. What is a compressor? How do you use it? When should you use it?
Easter is just around the corner and it’s a good time to talk about making AV Goals. Audio Visual systems are an investment for your business, but sometimes it can be hard to make the final decision on when or how to invest in new equipment. How do you know which areas to invest in your AV system and what things can wait? This is where a little careful planning can take you a long way.
 In the middle of the pandemic, we all suddenly learned how good our video systems were or, in a lot of cases, were not. For New Life Church, a large multi-site church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the video demands of a pandemic were high. A church of five separate locations citywide, with a moderate streaming presence, suddenly became a church with one location broadcasting five services. Along with the five services and all their other events turned virtual, they were broadcasting almost around the clock.
 Centerpoint Community Church realized at the beginning of Covid they would need to take their services online to continue engaging and supporting their congregation. The good news for Centerpoint was that their existing system was capable and would only need a few small additions to begin their own streaming. As they continued to adapt, learn and improve their online streaming experience, Centerpoint identified a few areas in their current AV system that would need to upgrade to create a better end result.
We’ve been looking at a series of cable and equipment testers recently. These tools help give us ideas when troubleshooting systems and how to proceed. If you know a cable is bad it is much easier to replace it than your other pieces of equipment. So, here’s another cable tester we use and love!
You simply plug each end of your cable into the appropriate connections and turn the knob to check each pin connection. LED's confirm each conductor continuity and connection status of each wire. This is such a useful tool for us! It allows us to check every connection we terminate before we install that cable on any job site. If we are having an issue with a cable this is a quick and simple way to check and make sure that the cable is not the problem.
It can be really helpful to have cable testers as part of your toolbox. They can save you so much time and sometimes turn a seemingly big problem into a simple fix. Centerpoint Community Church realized at the beginning of Covid they would need to take their services online to continue engaging and supporting their congregation. The good news for Centerpoint was that their existing system was capable and would only need a few small additions to begin their own streaming. As they continued to adapt, learn and improve their online streaming experience, Centerpoint identified a few areas in their current AV system that would need to upgrade to create a better end result.
You know the rule about sequels…They’re never as good as the original. But we are hoping this can be closer to “The Dark Night” and less of “Jaws 2”.
We love getting new tools in our pelicans, so we wanted to share what’s new in our toolbox.
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Keyword: LAMBDA AuthorsAll of the Lambda Staff contribute to the Blog. If you have any questions about the info we provide, please don't hesitate to ask! ResourcesCheck out our resources page for FREE checklists and tools we mention in articles! We are here to help you improve and maintain your Audio Visual Systems!
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