Internship:

Crossroads Church

Joel Minnich

Introduction
I started with learning the specifics of the Crossroads system and how everything is run with
the church. Prior to becoming an intern at Crossroads I had only attended a few services.
My fianc and her family had attended the church for several years prior to me attending a
service. After attending and seeing the quality of production that went into every service, I
knew that I had to be a part of it.
I reached out to the Director of Audio Production, Brian Stritenberger, to gain some
information and find out if they accepted interns. Brian agreed that they would like to have
me as an intern and had me meet the Front of House a Engineer for their main campus, Tye
VonAllmen, who would be the person I would report to directly for the entirety of my
internship.
Crossroads has invested a lot of money (and I mean A LOT of money) on creating the
best experience for the people that attend their services. This investment is most evident
during worship. The sound board at front of house is a DigiCo SD7 with a full array of Waves
plugins on board to increase the quality of the audio pumped through the impressively large,
custom made, Meier system.
The 3,800 seat auditorium, acoustically speaking, feels closer to the size of a living room.
The reverberation time of the room is about half a second. The room was created,
strategically, with a short reverberation time so that it could utilize a Variable Room Acoustics
System (VRAS). The VRAS is a series of about 60 microphones that hang from the ceiling
in various places at various distances from the top of the ceiling. The VRAS can be engaged
and adjusted to adjust the reverb time of a room; taking it from the feeling of a living all the
way to what could only be described as a cave.

The auditorium is not the only place where music is created. Crossroads also has an
in-house studio sporting all of the best vintage analog equipment. The studio uses Pro Tools
11 as their Digital Audio Workstation with Yamaha DM2000 as their control surface. The the
left and right of the control surface are the racks of analog gear that includes API preamps
and Chandler compressors, just to name a few.

Crossroads studio control room with Yamaha DM2000 and Outboard analog gear

The Day-to-day
Learning all of this was definitely a bit overwhelming at first. Before I would be able to run a
weekend on my own at Front of House I would have to not only learn the equipment inside
and out including shadowing for several weeks and eventually running weekends that would
be supervised by Tye.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
My first week in the internship was mainly in the studio. We recorded several backing tracks
for the weekend including some synth loops, some percussion loops, and background vocals.
The tracks that we recorded would be used during a special event on Saturday called Go

Cincinnati, where thousands of people from around the city get together for a day of service
projects throughout the city. Before people go out to serve, there is a huge party with a giant
concert.
Saturday & Sunday, May 19 & 20, 2012
Go Cincinnati launched this morning. Even though the majority of my internship will be
at the main campus in Oakley, Tye sent me up to Mason (a suburb of Cincinnati) to one of
their other campuses that is in a rented middle school to assist the front of house engineer,
Dan, with setting up and running the service there.
Since the facility is a rented middle school we are very limited on when we are allowed
to go in and set up equipment like props and the set for each weekend. We are also limited
on when we can set up audio equipment and have rehearsals. This particular Saturday was
an especially early one. Report time for load in was 3am. We began to load in and set up
audio equipment and get set built in time for the 6am rehearsal for the band. 6am arrived far
too quickly and we were scrambling around finishing up the set up of the wireless in-ear
monitor system. With the start of rehearsal meant the we could breathe a bit easier now that
the hardest work was over.
The system in the Mason campus is a Yamaha M7CL which helped because the rest
of the system was just the PA that was already installed. The Yamaha was especially helpful
because when it came to adjusting levels throughout different parts of the school, we could
control it from an iPad. This was my job during the day. I walked around different sections of
the school adjusting the levels to make sure that the services were able to be heard by
people that were volunteering in the 'first impressions' or in 'Kids' Club' could all either hear

the service if they wanted to or make sure that it didn't impede with what was going on, as
with the Kids' Club section.
May 21-27, 2012
This week was spent mostly learning how the DigiCo SD7 operated. This was quite a
big transition for me. Prior to learning the DigiCo I had only worked on analog consoles
including the 32 channel Mackie from the early 90s at Reardon and the 24 channel
Soundcraft in Mocha Joe's. Needless to say, this transition was quite daunting. But after
learning the basic workflow of the DigiCo, in theory the digital console worked very similarly
to the analog consoles that I had worked on prior. It all came back to signal flow and what
the board was doing more internally than I would have done with the analog boards in the
past.
During the weekend, for all of the services, I watched Tye run audio. With several
different working parts to a service (worship, speaking during worship, people giving
announcements, and the message from the pastor) Tye mainly wanted me to learn the
importance of good transitions early on. Transitioning well from one thing to the next made
the entire service flow smoothly and helped people attending have an overall better
experience. His most important point was that you need to be thinking three moves ahead.
Instead of being completely focused on mixing the audio during worship, you have to be
doing that but also anticipating when the worship leader is going to speak, and also
anticipating when you should start bringing the band back in after they finish speaking and
getting ready for someone to come up to give announcements and have their mic open and
fade the band out at the same time. If it seems chaotic, it definitely is. So the main thing
learned this week, obviously, is the importance of transitions.

One feature that is extremely useful on the DigiCo SD7 is that you can create what are
called 'snapshots'. Snapshots help when there are several moves happening at once. With
snapshots you can create scenes that will automate different changes to happen when you
fire the next scene. For example, when the leader of the band is going to speak, you could
fire the next scene which is automated to have the band come down a bit and the verb and
delay that is on the voice of the speaker to mute off so that the leader can be heard clearly
with music clearly underneath them. The scene after that would bring the band back up and
allow them to continue singing with effects engaged on their voice once again. This is a
powerful tool, however, I was not allowed to use it. The reason is because Tye believed that
it was much more important for me to learn how to 'mix on the fly'. By learning to anticipate
things happening and know what needed to be done in the moment he believed that it would
make me a much stronger engineer, overall, rather than just learning to use the technology in
front of me.
Tuesday & Wednesday, May 29 & 30, 2012
This week began with helping to construct the set for the weekend experience. The
construction team had built a large thrust off of the stage so that the band can be closer to the
crowd. Most of my day was spent crawling under the stage running audio snakes under and
up through a small openings at various points. This had to be done because the services are
broadcast not only to three different campuses but also broadcast online. Hiding as many
cables as possible is a must so that cables are not cluttering up the stage and distracting
people that are trying to watch.
Wednesday was a half day at Crossroads. My time was spent with Tye one-on-one
going over several concepts. I had indicated to him that I struggled a lot with EQ and how to

tell which frequencies affect which part of the sound that an instrument or voice makes. He
explained how different parts of the frequency spectrum act differently than other parts and
how different frequencies can even evoke different emotions.
His breakdown went like this:
50-60 Hz
Thump in a kick drum
Boom in a bassline
Essential in dub, dubstep and reggae !
Too much and youll have flapping speakers and a flabby mix
Too little, and the mix will never have enough weight or depth
100-200 Hz
This EQ band adds punch in a snare
Gives richness or bloom to almost anything
Too much makes things boomy or woolly
Too little sounds thin and cold
200-500 Hz
Crucial for warmth and weight in guitars, piano and vocals
Too much makes things sound muddy or congested
Too little makes them thin and weak
500-1000 Hz
One of the trickiest areas
Gives body and tone to many instruments
Too much sounds hollow, nasal or honky

Too little sounds thin and harsh

2 kHz
Gives edge and bite to guitars and vocals
Adds aggression and clarity
Too much is painful!
Too little will sound soft or muted
5-10 kHz
Adds clarity, open-ness and life
Important for the top end of drums, especially snare
Too much sounds gritty or scratchy
Too little will lack presence and energy
16 kHz
Can add air, space or sparkle
Almost too high to hear
Too much will sound artificial, hyped or fizzy
Too little will sound dull and stifled

Thursday, May 31, 2012

This is my first week running a rehearsal by myself. Tye attended the rehearsal just to
supervise. The console was set up for me (for the most part) so that I could hop on and just
mix. Tye wanted to mainly see "how good my ear was" for the mix and how I worked when
mixing. This would be my first weekend going through transitions as well and running the
entire service.

Crossroads, being an extremely large church, has to have several times for people to
attend services. Their current count for normal attendance for weekends is about 18,000
spread across three different campuses. One of the campuses is in Mason, OH which is
considered the northern-most suburb of Cincinnati; in Florence, KY (this campus has a
completion date at the end of June) which is about 25 minutes from downtown Cincinnati;
and Oakley which is about 5 minutes or so from downtown Cincinnati (their largest campus).
Services are held at the Oakley campus 5 times during any given weekend. There are two
Saturday services (with a full service run through prior to the first service starting) and three
services that are held on Sunday.
Saturday & Sunday, June 2 & 3, 2012
Report time on Saturday was 1pm. We arrived and got the system fired up and ready
for the band to arrive at 1:30. The band arrives and gets set up quickly to immediately start
the run through of the service. The first service on Saturdays is at 4pm which would seem
like plenty of time but the full run through is closer to the length of two services. The band will
play through once entirely and run the transitions between videos, set levels and EQ for the
videos, and the speaker during the weekend runs through their transitions, then gives their
message, then a full run through commences after that.
Report time for Sunday was 7am to give us enough time to get the system running for
band to arrive at 7:30. On Sundays, the mornings are little les hectic. Since the service has
already been run through a total of three times, the morning just starts with the band running
through music one last time and running any additional transition changes that may have
been made during the 6:30pm service on Saturday. After the band runs through music they

have to hurry back to the green room before doors open at 7:50. First service starts at 8am
with the second service at 10:30 and the third at 11:45.
Tuesday & Wednesday, June 5 & 6, 2012
This week have started holding auditions for Crossroads' Christmas show called
Awaited. Every year Crossroads puts on this Christmas show that is considered to be just
short of a broadway performance. This show includes professional dancers and professional
musicians that help tell the Christmas story in a more modern way. During the first week of
auditions we are in the studio hearing people sing different parts that they are trying out for. I
ran the board and punched in different parts for the recording while Tye and the Director of
the show, Pat, ran the ins and outs of the auditions; helping people with their places for where
they would start and also moving people along as the finished to let the next person in to
audition. We recorded everything so that we can play it back later and consider the people
and decide who would be chosen from there.
Normal setup of the console had to happen on Wednesday as well. Just because
Awaited auditions are happening doesn't keep the normal weekend services from
commencing. So I also had the opportunity of setting up the console for the first time. I
began by labeling channels and then went back stage to the patch bays to patch the correct
channels from where mics and instruments were plugged in on the wall pockets and floor
boxes to their correct channels that would run to the board.
I had worked with patch bays at Reardon but on a much smaller scale. At Reardon,
there are only two patch bays that route all of the audio. At Crossroads, there are two large
rackets, each about 6 feet tall that the correct channels have to be routed from. A bit
overwhelming at first, but pretty easy once you understand that for the majority of the

channels, you aren't really moving anything. These patch bays are considered 'normaled'
which just means that the top channel in the patch section is linked with the bottom channel if
nothing is inserted into the top plug. Once the plug is inserted into the top and into another
plug in the bottom row, that completes a patch and the channel is now located where it would
need to be.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
This weekend, June 9 & 10, begins the Crossroads' summer series which is typically
the longest series of the year. This series is called 'Good Life' and will be a total of eight
weeks. When Crossroads starts a series they usually are pretty over the top to try and reel
people in. The stage crew has gone a step higher this time and built an extremely elaborate
set. During the week the crew had been building the set and it was not finished until this
afternoon for rehearsal. The stage crew extended the stage and on it has built a house! An
actual house!
This house will surely cause a bit of trouble for the audio team. The house, being
made of wood, isn't the material you necessarily want directly behind your band. The sound
coming from the band would slap off of the house that is directly behind them which could
cause some problems and have some less desirable effects on the fidelity of the
performance. We came up with a few solutions though. O the back of the house the stage
crew had built a full size deck so that the band could have a place to stand. Leading up the
deck to the back of the house is a sliding glass door also as a way to entering and exit the
stage. On the deck we decided to offset the drums and put the lead vocalist at an angle from
the drums so that any slap-back from the drums would not be directly picked up be the lead
microphone. We also decided that the guitar amps on the wooden deck would actually

amplify the stage volume significantly. So, our solution was to place the guitar amps inside
the sliding glass doors against the wall, and facing the interior of the house. The amp volume
would flood the house instead of the stage and since the amp is miked then it won't effect our
end goal.

Oakley FOH: Yamaha PM1D

With the stage set, we are ready for the band to arrive. The band arrives by 6pm and
practice gets started by 6:30pm after everyone had a chance to eat. This weekend will
require six wireless microphones. The service will start with one ukulele player on stage and
singers walking in sporadically.
The point is to make it feel like people are showing up to a cookout in someone's back
yard. This is supposed to show that Crossroads is a welcoming place where people can feel
like they are coming to a cookout in their friend's backyard. Where they can feel free to ask
tough questions and feel comfortable asking them.

Wednesday, June 13
During this time everyone has been gearing up for the launch of the third Crossroads
site in Florence, KY. This Wednesday is the dedication service for the new site. Each time
the Crossroads opens a new site they hold a dedication service. This service is to dedicate
the building to God and to reaching people that havent heard Jesus message in a way that
is relevant to them. Tye wanted me to attend this dedication, not as an intern, but as another
person that would experience it from the community. I had obviously never been a part of a
Crossroads dedication so I was excited to attend. Of course, in typical Crossroads fashion,
they made this event as over-the-top as possible, as well. One feature that was particularly
cool was the use of these wrist bands called Xylobands. Xylobands were originally made
popular at concerts for artists such as Coldplay. These bands are programmed so that they
pulse with the music that is being played. The different colored bands would pulse at
different times during the song. Crossroads had flown in the programmers for the Xylobands
so that they could be rented and used during the dedication.
The Florence campus, itself, is impressive; Sporting a Crossroads rust wall and even
the longest fireplace in the country. Yes, the longest fireplace in the United States. Again,
proving that Crossroads will always go big with anything that they do!
At this new Crossroads site is a new sound board as well. This one is different than
any board that I had seen before. This board is called a DigiCo SD10. The DigiCo company
is based in the UK and is considered one of the most forward thinking companies in the audio
industry. This board enables the user to do many things that could not have been done in the
past with other boards. One of the most incredible things is that it has onboard digital effects
racks - 16 to be exact. But that isnt the amazing thing. What is more awesome is that each

rack has access to a full array of Waves plugins. The same Waves plugins that are used by
the most revered audio engineers and producers in the studio.

Florence FOH: DigiCo SD10

Again, Crossroads used a custom made Meier system. This time they used a different
technique with their speaker setup. This room is much smaller than the Oakley campus.
Because it is smaller the system needs to be able to fill the room but not overpower the
musicians on the stage (which is a common problem). Brian helped design a way to arrange
the subs on the stage so that the volume being projected forward would not bleed behind the
speaker cabinets. This was dont by arranging one cabinet with two 15 inch speakers directly
behind another identical speaker cabinet. The one behind would have the phase reversed so
that the waves would cancel each other. What this does when opposite sound waves hit
together is, well, nothing. Behind and to the side of the speakers the stage is nearly silent.
No sound from the cabinets at all. In front of the cabinets, you could be blown away by the
power of the bass that is being fired. This was truly a game changing idea.

By this time my internship was starting to wind down. I had now been running the
weekends on my own (with the help of the other volunteers for set ups and tear downs, etc.)
It was now my responsibility to go to the production meetings, work through that weekend's
run down of what was planned, coordinate with the producer, lighting, and set design crew for
not only ho, but when things could be completed.
I went in on Mondays and attended the production meeting and also helped track all of
the loops that are going to be used for the weekend. I would go in on Tuesdays in the
morning to coordinate and plan out the stage plots. Thursdays were the days where I would
go in and set up the rest of the stage audio. Thursday evening was the night for rehearsal.
Saturdays and Sundays were game days - going in to the church in the morning for run
through of the services and then the actual services themselves. Two services on Saturday
and three on Sunday.

Oakley FOH with Stage lighting and set design

Looking back on my experience at Crossroads I can say that I truly learned a lot. I learned a
great deal about audio. I also learned a great deal about my leadership abilities.
After the internship, I moved to Cincinnati and began working for an investment firm
but continued to volunteer with Crossroads about once a month. After a few months,
Crossroads contacted me about helping them start their new campus. This campus would be
on the West Side of Cincinnati and would be a much smaller venue - about 800 seats.
In the several months following I would help with getting the campus started.
Crossroads had purchased a middle school that had been abandoned for a little more than a
year and began to renovate the campus. The biggest challenge was to make the auditorium
(that had previously been used for 400 middle schoolers to attend convocations) a worthy
space to have services for the newest Crossroads campus.
The auditorium took a lot of renovation dollars/ First was the decision to raise the
ceiling three feet. Next was to have the walls covered in tectum panels (a kind of fiberglass,
noise canceling solution) that is used in studios. Since the ceiling was raised a few feet there
was also the problem of all of the air ducts being in the way. Not only were they in the way
but since they were now exposed air circulation would be much louder as well. Switching out
all of the metal air ducts for "duct socks" would make a big difference to make the air
circulation much, much quieter.
We decided to take the DigiCo SD10 sound board from the Florence campus and
move it to the new West Side campus. The decision was made because it is a smaller board
with less features going into a smaller room that didn't really need a ton of bells and whistles

anyways. Crossroads decided that the replacement for the SD10 in Florence would be the
DigiCo SD5. Top of the line and top notch - this board could do it all!

DigiCo SD5 (New Console for Florence FOH)

After the install of the system we had a sound company, ProSound, come and install
the Meyer system that was created for the West Side auditorium. Creating a space for
enough people to be a part of the experience was a challenge. The 400 seat auditorium did
not have enough space for our anticipated demand for the services. Because we would have
enough space in the one room, we needed a separate space for "overflow". Next to the
auditorium was a gymnasium. If we could find a way to add sound reinforcement to a section
of the gymnasium then we could have a viable "overflow" space for more guests. By hanging
one inch thick curtain around the entire space we could deaden the sound a fair amount.
Next we could lay some dense industrial carpet that would help to lessen any "slap-back"
effect that would be caused from the sound bouncing off of the wood floor.

After installing, testing, and finishing with all of the renovations it was time to start with
the soft launch that would help us to prep for the grand opening of the campus. The soft
launch allows us to find any issues that may happen before they would become a problem
during the normal weekend services.
Soft launch weekends began in February and the building had now major issues. The
campus is now fully operational and making a huge impact on the West Side of Cincinnati. I
have continued to remain engaged in the operations of the West Side campus with my main
function now shifting to training more volunteers so that I can move back to one of the main
campuses to assist with audio needs there.
All in all, the internship and time after has been a real journey that I have learned so
much from. Learning more about audio, about myself, and how I can best facilitate the
spiritual growth of those that attend Crossroads.