To really answer our questions about sound, we need to do some tests; take some measurements. We should choose some pieces of music we already know sound good (or at least unobjectionable) and perform them in front of every microphone we possibly can. We should consider every instrument we are likely to encounter and can easily test:

• Piano
• Organ
• Harpsichord - This is a whole separate topic
• Digital Keyboard - This is a whole separate topic
• Choir
• Any and all instrumentalists who might be appearing this year…?!

Ideally, this should be soon after a piano tuning. The rest of this section should go on its own page once the party is scheduled. (The fact that the organ pipes don't sound isn't really relevant. When they work, they will blend with the sounds we currently have.)

Harpsichords are quiet. They are so quiet that it's basically impossible to balance them against anything else. We should consider (and by that I mean “attempt”) amplification.

Running the harpsichord through the house system is fundamentally the wrong approach. We need to make the instrument itself louder. There are several sets of speakers in the A/V room that currently do not see use. We may be able to repurpose them into a stage amplifier for the harpsichord that keeps all the qualities of the sound the same but just makes it louder. If that's not desirable for whatever reason, maybe a dedicated keyboard amplifier.

I recommend a pair of microphones under the sound board, pointing up in an X/Y configuration. We will set up two special feeds from the mixer and play them back through stage monitors. We need to consider the physics involved; the sound board has a specific area, and speakers have much less; there's also baffle step to consider. Levels and equalizers need to be configured carefully.

Resist the temptation to mic the top of the instrument. Yes, the sound is more authentic; yes, listening from the bottom misses out on some of the plectrum sound. But if the microphone is under the harpsichord, there is zero chance of the microphone falling onto the strings. We'll make A/B recordings so everybody can hear how subtle the difference actually is.

For recording sessions, we may decide the risk is worth the difference in sound, but in any live performance context, we can't risk having a mic fall on the strings.

The digital piano has a similar problem to the harpsichord. Because of complicated physics, a digital piano of that size can be loud enough for a small group of people in a medium sized room, but on a stage, for a congregation, it can't be adequate. There's no way for it to radiate bass energy and have it propagate far enough. To most of the congregation, if they can hear it at all, it will sound tinny.

A stage amplifier that's appropriate for the harpsichord would no doubt be superior for the digital piano as well. Practically speaking, I think we would be better served with a single amplifier designed for stereo content, shared between the keyboard and harpsichord, rather than two mono amplifiers. I'm getting out into the weeds now.

• Organ by itself (Does anybody other than Nap want to play?)
  • Songs: one hymn with varied registration can be enough; I'll think about it.
• Piano by itself
  • Microphones: (yes, all of them)
  • MXL 990's flanking the pedal hardware
  • GAD picking up middle bottom of the sound board
  • MXL 991's over the hammers
  • MXL 4000 or another large-diaphragm condenser over the string crossing
  • songs: two or three solo numbers in different moods
• Harpsichord by itself
  • two Baroque numbers, one slow, one fast. I would love it if one could be Bach's Two Part Invention #13.

(Put the choir on the risers)

• Choir with piano
• Choir with organ
• Choir by itself

(Send the choir to lunch and bring in the instrumentalists)

• Lots of time with the instrumentalists

Intermission

• instrumentalists + choir, singing different hymns from what we sang earlier
• anthems are the hardest thing to schedule, but they go here if we record any

(Put the choir on the pulpit side of the chancel)

• Track the choir over themselves without instrumentation

(Put the piano behind the pulpit and put the choir in the middle of the chancel)

• Track the choir over themselves without instrumentation

• It would be nice if we could have acoustic treatment in place first but that's probably impossible.
• Choose a calibration level. Probably 0dB on the mixer == comfortable listening level.
• The amplifiers need to be set much lower than their current level.
• We need to make sure studio recordings sound good. We can't dry out the room enough for pop or alternative, but we should be able to play back classical recordings and have it sound fantastic.
• The lav, head-worn, handheld, pulpit, and lectern mics all need to be calibrated against each other. Someone needs to be using as many of them as possible simultaneously so someone with can use a spectrogram later to come up with an equalizer curve that works.