Overview

We will go through the general walkthrough of setting up and packing down our Audio System for our Sunday Services.

Click on the corresponding Chapters to get to a specific section, or just scroll through the whole thing for a comprehensive guide through the whole process.

Setting Up

Setting up for our church services can be broken down into several intervals/steps.
By breaking it down, we can focus on the tasks that are at hand and optimize the time that we have as well as be detailed in our setup process and not miss important steps.
This can be boiled down to :

#1. Positioning/Placement
#2. Cabling/Connecting
#3. Configuration
#4. Operation

1. Positioning/Placement

We begin the setup by getting all our equipment out of storage, and place them in their respective position. This helps us by getting the base infrastructure in place and allows others to get started with step 2, which is cabling and connecting. The sooner we get this step done, the faster the rest of it all goes.

This includes (but is not limited to) :

2. Cabling/Connecting

After we have positioned all of our equipment, we can start by connecting it all together.
This is pretty self explanatory, and we should ensure that we plug everything in correctly and double check every connection.

Do your best to use the appropriate length of cables, a little bit of excess is preferred, so that IF anything needs to move a meter or two, it can move. However it is quite messy to have a 20 meter cable used for just a 5 meter run. This can lead to trouble and slowdowns during the pack up or when trying to find a specific cable to fix or replace.

Check power and volume!

Whenever connecting speakers and mixers, ensure that the XLR or audio cable is plugged in the correct ports, but also that if the equipment needs power, ensure that the switch is turned on at the wall point as well as the equipment AFTER the power cable is plugged in.

There's few things more annoying when you think a speaker is not working but it's just a power switch not turned on after plugging it in during setup.

Once all the equipment has been plugged in and powered on, we can move on to the next step!

3. Configuration

4. Operation

Packing Down

In the same manner, packing down after church services can be broken down into similar steps

These include :

  1. Powering down (important!)
  2. Cable rolling
  3. Consolidating / Packing Up
  4. Storage

During pack down, there is not necessarily an order in which the above takes place, as many of these can happen over the same period.
It is advised that expensive, small items or "walkables" - named aptly so due to the attractive nature of said items to be "walked" away by a motivated individual, be packed and stored promptly whilst the other steps are commenced.

Lets explore some of the basics of setting up with some principles in mind...

The Key to a good Set Up

What is a "good" setup? Objectively, it is one that meets all the below criteria, and then some.

  1. It is neat, safe, and organized
    1. This ensures safety (no trip hazards) and the ability to quickly troubleshoot in the event something stops working
    2. Organization is key, as the whole system can be quite a challenge to grasp hold of when there is an issue.
  2. Simple, robust solutions
    1. Are the connections not solid? Will a twist or a small tug cause an issue to anyone?
    2. Are all settings and configurations understood by all members of the team? If its too complicated, create simple diagrams or minimal configuration in those aspects of the setups.
  3. It is easy to pack up.
    1. We always want to think about the pack up, WHEN we are still setting up.
    2. Are we laying all our cables in one place to get tangled? Future you will not enjoy that. Is there a better way of running our cables that may be out of the way of passerby's during the pack down? How can we be more efficient with our runs?

These are all broad-thinking principles, but they all work to one common goal.
You will find that a good setup will look different for any different team, but there is always one that is optimal in the current situation, and we want to aim for THAT.

We will look at some diagrams and pictures to further expand on some of these setup principles and guides.