Category: Blueprints

Welcome to our new Blueprints series discussing production computers (buying, building, etc). Awhile back, last year in fact, when I first started Studio.Stage.Live I did a small post on production computers (you can find it at this link) and ever since then I have spent quite a bit of time talking with techs across the country on the merits of building vs buying and how that all fits into church budgets. This series aims to expand on that post and include my learnings over the last year or so. This first week I wanted to spend some time on standardization and what that means for your purchasing habits and the decision process I go through when designing a new machine for production use. Next week, I’ll be discussing what it looks like to buy a pre-built machine and/or re-purposing older machines for re-use. Than in the third week we’ll discuss actually buying and building the machine and the process I go through to prep it for production use. I also wanted to say this, I work at a larger church with a larger budget, that means we may have more money than folks at a for profit studio, smaller churches, etc. I am going to do my best to draw out the fundamentals here to provide a framework for your decisions. This is the kind of thing I go through when designing each machine. My hope, like always, is that you can glean basic principles and apply them to your process, whatever that looks like. 

Now for the good stuff. Whether you are a studio, a live venue, a touring group, or just a house of worship, if you are running sound, you likely have at least one computer running and doing something for your setup (if not 3 or 4 as in my setup). Sooner or later, you’re going to need to replace it or upgrade it, so then you’re going to need to decide: what is my budget and what are my needs? The first question you should answer is that second question. To do so, ask these questions: what are you going to use it for? What are the hardware requirements for the apps I’d like to run? Is it a critical machine handling audio recording or video playback or just a computer to play spotify from? After you have those questions answered you’ll be talking to your supervisor or looking at your budgets to see what you can afford. If in the case your budget doesn’t support your needs, you have a decision to make, adjust your needs or adjust your budget (if you just can’t change either of those, you’ll be changing your risk tolerance). This is where I’d like to step in and make a suggestion. Come up with a basic budget for your machines that serves as a guideline for discussion and planning. Do a fair amount of research into parts (I’ll discuss parts in the last week of this series) and decide what is a reasonable amount to pay for a machine. It’s likely you’ll have to stretch your budget and just as likely that you won’t be able to buy everything you’d like to. There will always be a tension here, be OK with that. Where I work, the budget for the basic setup is $1000. This covers a reasonably powerful machine, built by us, and usually includes one monitor and back-lit keyboard and mouse (don’t downplay buying the back-lit keyboards, we all work in the dark so it’s always helpful). Mission critical or specifically designed machines can run up to around $1500 (extra monitors, GPUs, faster hard drives all add to the cost). We have a slew of older machines (desktops and laptops alike) we also use to supplement projects that don’t have the budget for a new machine but aren’t doing anything complicated (stop throwing away decent machines!). On the whole, we use that budget number to do lots of things, primarily to say that if you want to do this thing, we know just about how much that will cost, which helps our supervisors make decisions faster. 

So how did I come to that number. Well it’s a complicated process that took some trial and error. A few projects I way overbid for the comp and a few I was a bit short. But after a few years of building the machines this is where the average lies. The biggest advantage to this system is standardization. Because we have a minimum spec and a set price for the most part, all of our machines can be easily re-purposed if their current purpose is removed or re-worked. That also allows them to be work like the interchangeable parts on a car. I have a few non-critical machines we spent a bit of extra money on so that if one of our critical machines has a failure, we can swap some parts around and while we lose that non-critical machine, we get to get our main computers back up and running very quickly. In order to achieve that you need to pick some lanes to stay within when it comes to parts. That means always buying either an AMD or Intel CPU (unless the purpose of the machine dictates otherwise, I almost always buy AMD over intel because of the price point). Always buying Nvidia or AMD GPUs (again, mostly AMD). It means buying stronger power supplies than you may need. I’ve chosen to only buy 1000w PSUs when I’m buying a new PSU. That is often overkill but when you cross that threshold you get better quality components, more efficient and higher quality supplies (they are on 24/7 so it matters here), and knowing that no matter what you throw at it, that supply will likely never be deficient. To the exclusion of critical machines (I usually by faster RAM for those machines) I will always buy the same type (speed is determined by motherboard capabilities) and layout of RAM for all of our machines and buy the same motherboard if I can. Usually I end up with MSI or Gigabyte branded boards. They are usually fully featured and have BIOS that are frequently updated and patched. 

Probably the only other thing to consider is whether or not you should invest in a 10G network card. Only the high end motherboards offer this option but you can get a PCIe card that will give you that functionality if you have both the network architecture and the need to support this extra feature. Most people probably don’t need this option but as technology progresses, if transfer speeds to and from network drives is something you do a lot and your network supports it, consider picking up this faster interface. 

The biggest thing I want you to come away with is to standardize your machines (whether buying, purchasing, or re-purposing). Your computers will at some point fail or have a major issue. Having similarly spec’d machines around can help you get back up and running faster. On that same point, don’t cheap out. With electronics, the difference in price is almost always quality of components or manufacturing process. Decide on a budget for new machines and do your best to stick to it. As I mentioned before, next week we’ll discuss purchasing machines (i.e. HP/Dell workstations, used laptops, etc) and then the week after that I’ll walk you through my process in buying and building production machines and discuss any tricks I’ve learned along the way. If you have any questions or thoughts, don’t hesitate to comment below, leave a message on Facebook, or email me at daniel@studiostagelive.com (feel free to email about build details if you are in the market). If you want to get a notification when new content is posted please subscribe to this blog at this link and you’ll get an email when something new goes online. See you all next week!

This last week of this Blueprints series is going to focus on what our FOH/Studio booths look like. Sometimes we get so focused on system tuning, mic placement, battery checks, FX processing, etc, that we forget to make sure our workspace has everything we need setup and ready to go so we can be as prepared as we need our artists to be. This list isn’t meant to be an end-all be-all but rather a checklist, a brainstorming, or even just a suggestion of ways you can arrange your space to set yourself up for a win during the event/recording. The biggest thing I want you to remember is that this is only a list of recommendations based on my experience. We all use different tools and need to see different things, the key however is to get setup so that you have the ability to see clearly the information that you need the most in order to effectively mix.

The first thing may seem obvious but get your console setup with plenty of space. Try not to pin it in the corner or a room or right up against another member of the tech room.  Doing this ensures that you have plenty of room for your FOH/Studio computer and controls and gives you plenty of room to move around during your event/recording. No one likes to feel cramped anyway right? Check to make sure that it is also at a height that is comfortable for you to mix so your wrists don’t get strained and so that you can clearly see what meters are reading and what may be on the screen of your console.  I’d highly recommend an adjustable height desk (similar to this one), just make sure that it can hold the weight you plan to put on it!

While we are on that topic I wanted to bring up the FOH/Studio computer topic. In the studio you’ll probably always have a computer but at FOH having a computer there isn’t default yet. For me it’s essential, primarily because we multi-track all worship but also because I can put all my system control software on there, load up planningcenter during services, and just have access to Teamviewer which we use for just about everything. If you don’t know what Teamviewer is check out this post I wrote awhile back where I discussed how we use it! If you don’t have a computer maybe consider at least getting an old laptop you can use if only to play your walk-in and walk-out music from or be able to load up planningcenter live or pull up RTA to help find those troublesome frequencies better.

Speaking of which if you don’t have an RTA like Smaart7 or a program like Trend or at least a handheld db meter, please consider getting one of these three options. Having at least a meter accessible helps to keep you accountable to your mix. It is extremely easy to just mix, make it sound awesome, and not know how loud it is, but unless you are on tour this is never a good idea (even in the studio you need to be aware of the volume you are mixing at to help prevent ear fatigue). Now you might have that job where it doesnt matter but that’s likely not the case as sometimes even on tours there are restrictions and local laws to abide by. Having a more advanced meter like Trend can show you those averages over time and help  you better understand where your mix is sitting but something like Smaart does all that but also provides a reliable RTA that is extremely useful finding those feedback frequencies and noticing acoustic trends or a build-ups. Regardless of the solution you choose, please make sure it’s calibrated! Follow up with us at engineers@studiostagelive.com and we will help you with that!

These next tools I would consider optional but definitely a bonus. The first of those tools is Shure Wireless Workbench/Sennheiser Wireless Systems Manager/etc. A tool like this is great to help monitor your wireless mics. In so many systems today the wireless receivers aren’t kept at FOH anymore because of reception issues or just a want to make things as clean as possible. To that end it’s always neat to utilize those network jacks on the back of your wireless receivers and monitor them remotely.  Many times these systems also have a way to scan the area for RF interference and pick the best channels for your area. With both Shure and Sennheiser these tools are free to use with their hardware to download and install them today!

Next is the console external monitor.  While definitely  not required, if your console supports using an external monitor, plug it in and at least check it out. With digital consoles, it’s amazing that they are able to pack so many things in a small form factor but it is often at the expense of being able to see everying at the same time. So having that external monitor will allow you to see more information from your console and informing decisions you are making in regards to your mix.

This next tool isn’t always available to everyone but could be with some effort. That is the A2. Yep, having a second tech available.  Whether that is a monitor tech or someone who just helps check batteries or dole out microphones, having help is always great. In any situation, having just that one extra hand is more than twice as helpful. I love to use that guy/girl that wants to get involved but isn’t as knowledgeable. They can see and learn a lot standing right next to you or running the monitor console. In the studio world this person could be the tech that runs in the booth to make that mic placement change or who sits and watches the recording software to make sure it’s running while freeing you up to do what you do best, mix. At Christ Community we have a monitor engineer who is backstage with the band taking care of everything they need and also keeping an eye on batteries and headsets so that whoever is FOH can focus on that task completely. We are very fortunate to have an awesome team of monitor guys (one of which who also mixes FOH) who help every week taking care of the things that are easy to forget about from FOH. If you aren’t recruiting volunteers or thinking about bringing someone in to help with the little things, start now!

This last tool is sometimes controversial. For some engineers, headphones are tool of choice and for others it’s near field monitors. For a few, they have both options available. Here is where I land. I prefer, with prejudice, near field monitors and this is why….whenever you cover up an ear, you lose touch with what’s going on in the room you are mixing within (obviously this discussion doesn’t apply to those of us in the studio, but you recording engineers can still weigh in). I’ve used both, by themselves, in the past but it wasn’t until I had a good set of near fields to use that I learned how valuable they actually are to aid in locking in a good mix. There are many times in which I have felt that having headphones available would be helpful but if I put on that set of headphones I am no longer hearing what’s going on in my room and making decisions for the room but rather for my ears.  I find that near fields can be very helpful, when setup correctly (delayed to the PA so there aren’t timing or phase issues) in hearing intricacies and bringing issues right to your ears during rehearsals. The key for me is to always be listening the same way as the audience will be listening.  Simply googling this issue will expose quite a few conversations on the topic!

Lastly I just wanted to show you a picture of my office that I get to mix from on a weekly basis.

The list of tools we have just gone through, I am very blessed to have each of these items. I even have a few extras. I have audio and multi-track playback computer monitors to my left and a stage display monitor (something I didn’t talk about but that I use a lot as it shows me video countdowns, and helps me keep track of where we are in a particular element). Below that monitor is just an extra monitor I use for planningcenter and have our patch list loaded up.  Just above the board on the left is Smaart and the SSL console’s external monitor right next to it.  Then the two vertical monitors on the right are our Waves plugin rig and Shure Wireless workbench.  We also have that pair of near field monitors woven in there. Looks like a space ship I know but to be honest, the only extra expense here was buying the monitor mounts as all the monitors were just extras we had sitting around from retired computers. All of which are mounted to an adjustable desk so I can sit or stand when I mix.  Having all of these tools readily accessible and extremely visible helps me track a long pretty cleanly and provide me with all the information I need to create an excellent mix not only quickly and efficiently, but also consistently from week to week.

If you have any questions just leave a note in the comments!

P.S. – Happy Easter! Stay tuned, next week, if all goes well I’ll have another episode of From the Booth showing the worship from our Easter services. Be sure to stop by. If you’d like, click that subscribe button at the top and sign up to receive an email with a link to each new post published here!

 

 

This week in our blueprints series we are going to talk about production computers and how I go about designing them so that they are both extremely reliable, have plenty of power, and budget friendly.

As we continue to progress into this new age of technology, church and studio technology will continue to progress with it (whether or not you decide to join that trend). Because of that the need for reliable, reasonably priced, computers for production use has risen. Many of us have gone the route of self-designed, self-built machines, but still several of us are still buying pre-made macs/pcs because of a fear of things breaking or money lost from design mistakes, or simply a lack of knowledge to get the job done. This is one area that we all could use some additional knowledge. To that end here is a quick tutorial/video about building computers from a great youtuber Linus TechTips. I don’t like re-inventing the wheel and repeating what’s already been said and he does a great job explaining the entire process and set the tone for our conversation here. Here is that link!

To that end, it has been one of my responsibilities recently to design a framework and hardware direction for our computers at my work. I had a few requirements if I was going to get into building and maintaining not just one computer but several mission-critical machines and several more that are just used in our facility for production support and it’s that idea that I think might apply to most studios/tours/churches etc. The first requirement I wanted to discuss was budget.  For those of us in the non-profit world this is a completely different ballgame than those in the for-profit world but both need the same computer, the computer that gives the most bang for the least amount of money. So the idea is to find the amount of money that allows for the purchase of quality components without spending so much that you haven’t saved any money from buying a pre-built machine from HP or DELL (notice I didn’t once mention Best Buy or Walmart or any big box store, it is my distinct experience that buying computers from any in-person store, barring any amazing sale of last years premo model, is rarely a great choice financially). This number will vary with your budget or expense allowance but a great guideline with any form of electronics is that you get what you pay for with a second guideline being that no matter how great your software is, if it isn’t running on a capable machine, it’s going to not work well. Right now at CCC and for a few of the side gigs I’ve designed for I try to build the basic production machine to be $1000 – $1200.  That sounds like a lot of money but if we think about that computer lasting 4-5 years that’s a reasonable price for a computer. If that machine has a specific purpose like multi-track recording or audio/video editing than we always plan for more. I know I know, you are saying that is more expensive than computers I can buy…this isn’t any cheaper! Well below you will see…

The second requirement was just that whatever computer I end up with needs to be reliably awesome.  Yes, I said reliably awesome.  I want to be able to sit down at whatever computer this is, be able to effectively do whatever I need to do and do whatever it is quickly and efficiently. Also, reliably awesome means that I can do that whenever I want. To put it another way, these computers need to run 24/7 and be distinctly overpowered for today’s ordinary tasks yet strong enough to last 4 or 5 years in order to keep up with the pace of software development and potential hardware upgrades. This means a few things, first is that the power supply purchased needs to be able to power whatever I put in that machine for next 10 years or so and be efficient enough that I’m not paying out the teeth to be running it for 24 hours a day for ten years. This usually means buying 80 Plus Gold certified power supplies (link explaining a few things to look for in computer power supplies). Doing this also usually gets you a better power supply made from better components as the certification process inspects everything from actual output to the quality of power coming from the supply itself. I often buy a power supply capable of 25%-50% more than I need as well so that I have room to expand internally by adding a new GPU, more RAM, more HDDs, etc without worrying about needing to buy a new PSU. Yes you can save a few dollars (it’s really not that much) and buy a weaker PSU but the odds are if you get a good PSU you won’t have to buy another one for as long as you are using the case you put it in….I’m speaking from experience here. Next I make sure to have plenty of RAM. This usually means 16gb of RAM. Yes that is a lot but two 8 GB sticks leaves room for RAM should you need it and gives the OS plenty of breathing room when it comes to running all the applications you’re going to run as well as having plenty of browser windows open and running. Lastly, when it comes to CPU and GPU choice, it’s all about matching them up to your budget but also together. Think of it like your home garden hose. If you have a small spicket, you aren’t going to fit a 4″ hose to it….you are going to fit a small hose. The same applies to your CPU and GPU. Start by figuring out how much of your budget is left for these two items, divide that in half, and that’s how much you have to spend on each.  9 times out of 10, it’ll all work out just fine. The only exception I’d say is if you plan on upgrading quickly than buy a better CPU. GPUs are easy to upgrade, CPUs are not. You get a new CPU and you are likely getting a new motherboard and you have to think about cooling, etc. Just trust me on this one. Believe it or not if you build a PC that is reliable, it will also be awesome. The components you’ll end up with will be better rated, have a history of working well and will help to extend the life of the computer you built to sometimes be twice or three times that of a lesser PC, saving you money. Please don’t cheap out…you’ll regret it.

The last thing I wanted to bring up was my philosophy of interchangeable parts. Yep, computers can be like cars and have interchangeable parts. You accomplish this by spending more time in the beginning picking gear that is universally available.  Don’t buy niche motherboards or used stock on Ebay. Yes these options will likely save you here and there but they will not offer the availability of stuff on Amazon Prime. You won’t be able to get them in two days after something goes bad. Next it’s about designing computers with identical parts.  For me this really comes into play with motherboard and CPU combinations. So far I’ve built around 10 production machines, there is only two kinds of CPU connectors but from the same manufacturer. That means if any of our critical machines goes down, I can take parts from any of our not as critical machines and put it into that critical machine so that regardless of when parts arrive, I can get through the event. That means also that my power supplies are all identical for the most part, they are all overpowered so I can take any power supply from any machine and put it in another one in no time flat. This is also the reason why I load up our computers with RAM so that I don’t have to worry about needing to take some out and put it in another machine, I can just do it. I haven’t had too many failures but when I have, they have been easy fixes and parts came quickly. For me, this is the best way to maintain a fleet of computers, build them all as close to identical as you can.

If you would like me to forward you a list of specs or parts that I use just email me at daniel@studiostagelive.com and I’ll follow up with you as soon as I can. Hopefully the discussion here helped you think differently when it comes to production computers and inspire you to start building your own machines!