Making a Concert: Part 1

Next week we will be having another Night of Worship concert we’re recording for a future CD release. North Point previously did this about a year ago just before I came on staff. The result was North Point Live. I started working on pre-production for the night a couple weeks ago and I’m going to try and keep a running log of what’s happening.

About two weeks ago I had my first meeting for the night. When they recorded last year and at the night of worship we did in May, we had one band with worship leaders that rotated in and out. This night is going to be a little different. Instead of one band, we’re going to have three. Several of our worship leaders have their own bands that they play with on a regular basis so the thinking this year is to have them play with their regular guys.

This is going to pose a few challenges that we’re working through. Typically three bands in a night wouldn’t be a big deal especially since we’re digital at FOH; it’s routine in the rock club world to have 3 bands or more a night so we could work through this. However, since we’re recording the night for release, everything pretty much needs its own input so that they can get the sounds set in the studio. We’ll be spending a little more time than usual on getting some of the mic placements just right instead of a typical “throw a 57 on an amp” and eyeball it with a little tweak here or there if something sounds goofy at FOH.

Beyond all that, the next big issue for me is going to be how to lay my console out. Last week I found out there won’t be any set breaks; there will be some transition elements, but the show will be non-stop once it gets rolling. My big hope right now is that I can get the announced upcoming version of the D-Show software by next week because I’ve been waiting for the new channel blank feature just for a night like this–on a side note, I think that one new feature is going to have a huge impact on how I do things on the console. I should have more on all this later this week as I wrap up my pre-production for the start of rehearsals next Monday.