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| The Ultimate Church Sound Operator's Handbook (Hal Leonard Music Pro Guides) (Hal Leonard Music Pro Guides) | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Gibson
Publisher: Hal Leonard - Music Pro Guides
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $24.78
You Save: $15.17 (38%)
New (23) Used (8) Collectible (1) from $24.78
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 88885
Media: Paperback
Edition: Pap/DVD
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 440
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 1423419707
Dewey Decimal Number: 781
UPC: 884088106751
EAN: 9781423419709
ASIN: 1423419707
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent resource book December 3, 2007
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
I recommend this book to anyone involved in church sound operation. It is not an "engineering" book for designing a sound system, but it contains so much helpful information about assembling and operating a sound system that it is mandantory for any operator.
Another Great Book By Bill Gibson November 23, 2007
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
This Book is full of Great information on church sound which makes things sound good, not look good. These designers and installers need to get a grip. It's plain to see that they did not play music back in the 60's when you would get a blue flash between your mic and your lip when you played a guitar and sang. Those were some very special days in music! Great Book Bill!
Great Church Resource November 19, 2007
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book is excellent for training church sound volunteers. The accompanying DVD was very helpful. I found that by using this book and the Down to Earth Live Audio Basics DVD my training needs are entirely met.
 Read Negative Reviews and Comments to Positive Ones October 14, 2007
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
In the authors words, "the purpose of this publication is to help you operate and understand the equipment used in a modern day church service". It is a 400+ page book filled with stylized graphics and sidebars to help illustrate the "points" It s too bad that the publication misses so many key points - starting with the fact that this mission statement is found on page 256 under the heading of "Basic Equipment Needs". This "Ultimate" book contains few, if any, references to audio requirements for traditional worship, and is instead myopically focused on the rock music portion of contemporary worship service, and accompanying "stage-tech".
It draws heavily on what appears to be the firsthand experience of the author; who has apparently worked both in churches that have a contemporary worship style, and in addition, has some experience in recording facilities. The real problem is that all of the pretty pictures are supported by information that is sometimes misleading at best, often times factually inaccurate, and is at its worst, life threatening.
If you are looking to get a better understanding of audio basics, this book may ultimately set you back, as many of the descriptions it provides about fundamental concepts are incorrect. The list of errors that I have compiled is approaching six pages. Chapters on Sound Theory and Acoustics, which are relevant to the operation of any electro-acoustic system, are separated and placed at opposite ends of the book. The chapter on Acoustic Considerations contains a considerable amount of text written about acoustic anomalies and geometry that apply primarily to small rooms like recording studios and home theatres. At the same time, this chapter is devoid of any references to important factors in almost any sanctuary - such as an explanation of the Mean Free Path, Cubic Volume, Reverberation Time, and Critical Distance - or how these factors combined with surface treatments influence sound system design and operation. It also lacks any useful information about the interaction of direct and reflected energy with differing room geometries, or expectations for acoustical conditions with varying styles of worship. Furthermore, there is no mention of the often conflicting requirements for speech clarity and musical envelopment.
While the author states that "the purpose of this book is not to teach you to be a master system designer", the book includes a chapter on System Design and Layout. This chapter contains misinformation about time alignment, critical distance, and provides directions for operating a rack mounted real time analyzer that instructs the user to generate pink noise at 100dB SPL - C weighted - without any consideration of the system under test, or placement of the test microphone. The book also contains a chapter on Basic Equipment Needs where the author makes equipment recommendations in a vacuum - without knowing anything about the acoustical environment these systems might be placed in.
Most troubling are the authors incorrect assumptions regarding professional help or advice. He suggests that the reader have "a "qualified electrician" rewire the power at your church"....such that "outlets should be connected "to the exact same perfect ground." First, there is no such thing as "the exact same perfect ground". A licensed electrician is qualified to run wire and make terminations to electrical wiring according to National Electrical Code. Very few electricians are qualified to engineer a power distribution system. Doing this incorrectly can have serious negative ramifications.
The author also indicates that the reader should seek the assistance of "pro audio dealers" when professional help is required, stating that "after all, service is what they are really selling.". Entities that sell audio equipment have an inherent bias toward the merchandise that they offer and profit directly from sales of this equipment Therefore, they are not acting as independent agents on behalf of the church. Professional audio dealers can be a good source for portable sound systems, and accessories. Any system involving permanent installation should involve an independent design firm and possibly a qualified professional acoustical consultant, along with a qualified systems installer. This will help to insure that the acoustics of the venue and the electro-acoustic system operate in unison, and that the design and integration of the both the sound system and acoustical conditions will meet the long term goals for the church. [...]
In conclusion, I urge anyone reading this review to look at both the other negative reviews that are listed, and in addition, to look at the replies to the positive reviews for this book. There is a website that has been created by the chair of the Audio Engineering Society Standards Subcommittee for Interconnection that lists several of the more egregious errors contained in chapter nine alone. [...]
While maybe not the "ultimate" in publications, there are others which are readily available that at the very least provide factual information based on good physics. For those interested in continuing to work with sound, they provide a substantially better foundation to build from.
Definitely Not Recommended September 28, 2007
12 out of 17 found this review helpful
With 12 of 22 chapters directly addressing technical topics and a chapter entitled "System Design and Layout", it is diffcult to see how the author can claim that this book was not intended to address audio technicians or system designers. And I do not understand how the intended audience being less technically knowledgeable makes presenting technical inaccuracies and misconceptions acceptable. The issues surrounding the technical aspects presented in this book have been noted by others and techncial errors, inaccuracies and misconceptions are indeed prevalent throughout the book, so I will not dwell on those aspects any further.
Many of the discussions and techniques presented in the book represent the author's personal opinion and preferences, unfortunately these personal perspectives seem to be presented as generally accepted practices. Alternative approaches and perspectives are rarely presented or discussed. Numerous times the author acknowledges that many churches may not be able to implement the suggestions presented, but then fails to offer any alternatives or further discussion. It should also be noted that many of the views offered in this book differ from those expressed by numerous church sound operators and leaders, including those presented in several very popular church sound forums in which the author apparently does not participate. I found that this book generally exhibits a very exclusive perspective and believe that the value of what is presented would be greatly enhanced if there was more time spent on discussion of alternative perspectives and how the topics could be applied to different churches and applications.
The absence of alternative perspectives and the limited applications discussed combined with the information presented in the book are perhaps representative of a limited exposure to many of the subjects presented. The author's background seems to be primarily in studio production rather than live sound and this really does seem to affect what is presented, including the detail in which different subjects are covered and the accuracy of what is presented. There are also notable gaps in the content for a book intended to address the general subject of live sound for churches.
Personally, I found this book rather confusing and difficult to read. There is no obvious overall flow or organization to the presentation. Topics seem to jump around and discussions started in one chapter are randomly continued many pages later. The discussions and information presented often seem incomplete or unrelated to the headings under which they are presented. In some cases the information presented even directly contradicts itself. Too much of the technical information seems to be presented to try to impress rather than to directly support the operational topics discussed.
In summary, this book is an excellent compendium of the author's personal perspective based on their seemingly rather limited experience. It would benefit greatly by eliminating the questionable technical content that makes up over half the book and focusing more on a much more inclusive scope of applications and situations. Overall, it is far from being the authoritative and encompassing reference source that one would expect of an "Ultimate" guide to any subject.
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