MUSICARTA MEDIA

SOUND CONSULTANCY
Christ Church Highbury, 28th October 2018

XLR WALL SOCKETS

With enough appropriate-length XLR cable, the number of XLR wall sockets currently
installed in the church is enough to provide a professional level of sound reinforcement
for the Jazz Vespers service (currently the most complex and demanding service).
However, to achieve this, all available XLR wall sockets were used apart from the two at
the back of the church (near the sound desk) which are inconvenient and difficult to use.
This is because long cables would have to run through the congregation or around the
perimeter of the church across fire exits. Therefore, all accessible XLR wall sockets were
used (8 in total) resulting in no redundancy. According to Rachel’s previous experiences,
XLR socket no. 7 is intermittent. I was able to use it successfully throughout the Jazz
Vespers service, but it should be noted that this may not always be the case.

Despite this, I do not advise rewiring/adding to the XLR sockets in the church as it is an
expensive and disruptive upgrade to deploy. Instead, in the event of an issue with an XLR
wall socket, the number of microphones for the piano can be reduced from 2 to 1 (a mono
technique instead of stereo - see next section for Jazz Vespers sound plan). For the 9am
and 11am services, there are plenty of XLR wall sockets available, even if socket 7 is
intermittent. To make use of the XLR sockets at the left of the church, 15m XLR cables
can be run from left pillar to right pillar safely and easily along the base of the lowest step.

Below are things to note pertaining to specific inputs and outputs of the sound desk:

• Input 2: There are two XLR wall sockets that both connect to channel 2 on the
sound desk, both of which are stage right (one currently used as the default lectern
mic). Only one of these can be used effectively at any given time.
• Input 4: There are three XLR wall sockets that all connect to channel 4 on the
sound desk, all stage left: downstage, mid stage and upstage. Only one of these
can be used effectively at any given time.
• Input 7: This socket is apparently intermittent according to Rachel’s previous
experiences, but it worked fine during my visit. It is possible that it is in fact a
separate issue that has caused a problem in the past, such as a faulty XLR cable
or microphone. Further monitoring and investigation is required.
• Monitor: There are two Male XLR sockets upstage, left and right. These are not
for microphones, they are for sending audio back to the stage from the sound desk,
e.g. for a monitor speaker wedge for the band. The mix sent to these speakers can
be controlled by the “pre” dials on each channel of the sound desk.
• All other XLR wall sockets are fully functioning and self-explanatory (with clear
labels on the sound desk).

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 JAZZ VESPERS SOUND PLAN
Instrument Microphone / Device Placement / Operation Channel
Bass guitarist plugs his/her
standard jack cable into the DI
box. An additional jack cable is
1
Bass Radial ProDI Passive DI Box used to connect the DI box to the
Pulpit
amp. An XLR cable is plugged
into the DI box and wall socket to
send bass signal to desk.
ORTF stereo technique (two
mics 17cm apart, 110°). Piano
5+6
Piano L+R Pair of Rode NT5 Mics on half stick, with microphones
Left Pillar
pointing at hammers as high as
the lid allows.
3
High, pointing down towards
Choir Left Rode NT5 Mic
sopranos (see images).
Centre
Stage
Just above music folder height 7
Choir Centre Rode NT5 Mic and pointing towards the mouths Right
of altos (see images). Pillar
8
High, pointing down towards
Choir Right Rode NT5 Mic Right
tenors and basses (see images).
Pillar
11
Solo Voice Sennheiser Wireless Handheld, very close to mouth,
Default
Wireless Handheld Mic just below it.
Wiring
2
Solo Voice Shure SM58 Handheld Handheld, very close to mouth,
Left
Wired Wired Mic just below it.
On Stage
4
Lectern Default Lectern Mic Inside hole in wooden lectern. Right
On Stage

In the “Microphone / Device” column, bold indicates equipment the church already owns.
Non-bold indicates equipment of my own that I used on 28 th October 2018 to improve the
sound. When using my own equipment, I did my best to choose affordable microphones
and devices such that they may be considered by the church for future investment.
Equipment purchasing advice and links can be found in the next section of this document.

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3
 EQUIPMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
These recommendations are presented in order of greatest importance to lowest
importance. The XLR cables are listed first as many of the cables currently owned by the
church are old, unreliable and have lower sound quality. Two XLR cables were completely
faulty and were thrown away. On 28th October 2018, I felt the need to use almost all my
own cables to ensure a professional and reliable sound.

Necessities
• Professional-grade 15m XLR cables: These can be used to effectively ‘move’
XLR wall sockets to new locations in the church (e.g. the two on the left pillar over
to the right pillar – this is what I did in the 11am service). I would recommend
buying two. They are relatively inexpensive and will ensure that you will always
have enough XLR sockets where you need them.
https://www.studiospares.com/Cables-Leads/Leads-XLR/Pro-Neutrik-XLR-Cable-
15m-Black_593040.htm
• Professional-grade 10m XLR cables: These would be your go-to cables for
connecting microphones to most wall sockets (optimum length calculated by using
my own cables on 28th October 2018). This is a 5-pack, resulting in a lower price
per unit.
https://www.studiospares.com/Cables-Leads/Leads-XLR/Pro-Neutrik-XLR-
Cables-10m-Black-5-Pack_595610.htm
• Professional-grade 5m XLR cables: These would be used for short cable runs
when connecting to XLR sockets on stage (including replacing the lectern cable as
these cables are higher quality than the one currently being used). These shorter
cables would keep the stage tidy and safe. This is a 5-pack, resulting in a lower
price per unit.
https://www.studiospares.com/Cables-Leads/Leads-XLR/Pro-Neutrik-XLR-
Cables-5m-Black-5-Pack_595600.htm
• Planet Waves 10 feet Custom Series Instrument / Guitar Cable: This is the kind
of cable that connects a guitar or keyboard to an amp. Most instrumentalists will
bring their own cables, especially guitarists, but it is always a good idea for a sound
engineer to have their own as a backup in case the musician’s cable breaks or is
forgotten. In addition, to use the Radial ProDI recommended in the “Luxuries”
section below, two jack cables are needed in total (and musicians rarely bring two).
I would recommend purchasing a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 2.
https://amzn.to/2yG4Fzw
• Pair of Rode NT5 Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphones: The church
already owns a pair of these microphones. Buying another pair would allow my
sound plan for the Jazz Vespers to be deployed successfully by others (one
microphone and DI box would be missing to replicate it perfectly, but it would be
close). This pair of microphones is essential to get equal coverage of the choir and
control over the piano’s balance and tone. In my Jazz Vespers sound plan, one of
these mics would be the “Choir Centre” mic, the other a mono piano mic.
https://amzn.to/2OXRO5H

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 Luxuries
• Radial ProDI Passive Mono DI Box: Although listed as a luxury, this is top of the
luxury list, as it is such a versatile device. This device allows you to duplicate a
signal over unbalanced jack cable such that it can be connected to both an amp
and a sound desk. For Jazz Vespers, this means that an 100% clean bass signal
with nothing else on it can be connected not only to the amp, but also to the sound
desk and therefore the speakers. This gives full control over the level of the bass
in the room and often means that the volume of the amp itself can be lowered. This
makes it easier to get an isolated sound on other microphones, especially the choir
microphones, as there is less bass spill on stage. This box can be used for any
signal over jack cable, including bass, electric guitar and keyboard.
https://amzn.to/2yFGS2A
• Alesis NanoVerb 2 Digital Effects Processor: The Soundcraft desk currently
owned by the church is a great desk, but unfortunately, it does not come with any
reverb built-in. As a result, when close-micing (most notably when singing into a
handheld microphone) the sound is not as natural and sweet as it would be with
reverb applied. Advanced multi-channel reverb units are expensive, but this is the
one reverb unit I know that is affordable and aimed at users who don’t want/need
advanced customisation. It is also much smaller than any other reverb unit, so it
will fit on the same table as the sound desk to the right, without the need for an
additional rack mounted solution.
https://amzn.to/2JrDY5G
• Thomann the box MA120 MKII Active 2-way Monitor Speaker: Although the
band seemed to cope well with self-balancing on 28th October 2018, it would be
beneficial for them if they were given a monitor speaker wedge. The speaker would
be connected to the “Monitor” wall socket and then the sound engineer could
choose what sound to send to the speaker. Sending the choir and solo voice
microphones to the speaker wedge would mean that the band get a better idea of
the overall balance of the ensemble – this encourages them to play within the limits
of the room and get a better idea of what the audience are hearing. This makes
self-balancing easier, and in turn, makes it easier for the sound engineer to control
levels and create a great mix over the PA speakers.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_box_ma120_mk_ii.htm?sid=434b64690599f3ea4
e7681e6efee88bd
• Pair of Rode NT5 Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphones: This is an
intended duplicate recommendation, such that the church would own three pairs
of these microphones in total. This would allow the piano to be reinforced with a
better sounding stereo technique (as I did on 28 th October 2018) and would make
available a spare microphone for backup purposes and for any other instrument
that may perform in the future.
https://amzn.to/2OXRO5H