Front of House - Standard Operating Procedure
Welcome to the FOH SOP at Biltmore Church!
Table Of Contents
Service Prep
- When you arrive at your campus, uncover and power on the console
- Load Scene No. 1
- Use "Store As" to save to a new scene. Rename that scene with:
- The current Sunday's date as the scene name
- Your name in the comment section
It is very important to never save over the Start Scene. Any adjustments needed please communicate to Central Production using Slack, or your Campus Worship Director.
- On the VSC computer, open the following applications
- Dante Controller for audio network error logs
- ProdCom for live talkback transcription
- REW or Smaart SPL for RTA and SPL metering
- LiveTrax for VSC recording
- Please refer to the Virtual Soundcheck User Guide and the VSC Computer User Guide for any setup questions
- Check Announcement and Pastor mics
- If the Pastor Headset mic is being used, make sure it is placed properly near the corner mouth when they smile, and about 2 finger-lengths out from touching their lips.
- Test input to ensure you're receiving signal from GFX and RESI channels
- GFX will be fired by your graphics operator, and RESI will be fired by your PM
Rehearsal and Run-Through
- On the VSC computer Planning Center Online page (PCO)
- For your personal workflow preference; if you would like to change the channel names of Vox 1-4 to the names of the vocalists leading worship you may do so. Coordinate with your campus Worship Director for where this information is stored in PCO
- Check Vocal mics levels
- You can request a check of just the vocal mics or do this during soundcheck and adjust gain accordingly
- While they are singing, you should be metering at the top of the green between -18 and -12dB
Most of your band levels should be set from the start scene for the instruments that never leave the stage, but some personal instruments brought in by volunteers may need to be adjusted the same way as the vocals. Please use Audio 101 if you have any questions on how to properly meter gain.
Pre-Service
- Open the FOH Music Player and select Biltmore Worship
- Choose the most recent Worship Pre/Post playlist and press play
- If you have issues with the FOH Music Player, reference the FOH Music Player User Guide
- Pull the GFX fader up to a healthy service volume level
- Begin VSC recording around the last 20-30 seconds of the countdown. You don't need to record the entire countdown
- When the countdown is nearing the end, ensure Vox Band, and KickBass DCAs are up and unmuted
- Your Vox DCA should sit at or around zero/unity when looking at the fader.
- Your Band DCA should ride between -3 and -5 when looking at the fader.
- Your KickBass DCA is specifically for additional low end control to tailor the energy to the song or service element.
The band will perform a crash-in with the end of the countdown to go into Song 1. There will usually also be a call to worship over the intro of song 1. Make sure the vocalist's mic performing this is on top of the mix.
Service
- WORSHIP and MIX!
- Follow PCO for order of songs and assigned lead vocalist(s)
At Biltmore Church, 94 dBa peak is our preferred volume ceiling during worship. Utilize your SPL measurement tools to aim for a range of 86-90 dBa during worship, but you should never be surpassing 94 dBa from front of house. This usually means that the front rows are in the low 100s dBa, which is beginning to enter the threshold of pain. If you find that you are consistently having to surpass 94dB during worship to keep your mix on top of the stage noise, please have a conversation with your Campus Worship Director to see if any adjustments can be made from the stage.
- As Welcome and Generosity Moment begins fade out VOX DCA
- You can press stop or the spacebar again to stop VSC recording at some point during this moment
- As Welcome and Generosity ends fade out band as you fade in Announcement Mic
- Sermon: Pull up RESI fader for bumper video and stream to a healthy service volume
66-70 dBa is the range Pastor Bruce, or any other speaker should be metering in during the sermon for both the stream and in-person speakers.
- As Pastor begins response make sure Band DCA is up and unmuted
Tracks and/or Keys will be played as the sermon finishes. Mix these in like background music, very soft but tangible using your Band DCA.
- When stream ends fade out RESI and bring up Vox DCA to unity and Band DCA to -3 to -5, using the KickBass DCA to attenuate your low end to taste.
- After “You are loved and sent” fade out Vox DCA while band plays out
- As band finishes, fade out band DCA and bring up the FOH Player until worship center is empty
Breakdown/ EOD
- Save and close LiveTrax
- Make sure it is titled with the date and your name (i.e. 122125 WSchultz)
- Stop Dante Virtual Sound Card
- Close all applications except Dante Controller
- Put VSC Computer to sleep
Please DO NOT shut down the VSC computer. Once you have closed the applications, then put the computer to sleep only
- Make sure the all mics and packs are returned to chargers and the headset mic is put away
- Fade out player and perform final update of Sunday's scene
- Turn off console and cover
Covering your console helps protect fader and knob function, if you do not have a cover for your console please reach out to Central Production and we will provide you one.
Thank you for serving!!!
Make sure any issues have been reported to your PM so they can be put into the Multi-Site Service Notes.