Nuts and Bolts
Some practical observations on the Website and Sound Reinforcement
Sections:
The Website
Sound Reinforcement
The Website
Markup Language (HTML)
In programming this site I have avoided the use of a web page generator such as FrontPage or DreamWeaver. These programs tend to be expensive and to generate bulky code. Instead, following the lead of the book, 'Build Your Own Website the Right Way Using HTML and CSS' by Ian Lloyd (Sitepoint), I have chosen to write the HTML code by hand using a programmer's text editor. I use the excellent BBEdit (Macintosh only), which colour codes the markup language, and can check code syntax and links. These features make writing the code far less daunting.
Style Sheets
Using a style sheet (the CSS component) ensures that formatting is determined by the style sheet, so changes can be made to the appearance of every page merely by changing a line or so in the style sheet. Very efficient! If you compare the source code of a page on this site with that of a typical modern web site, you will notice how compact the code is. When re-coding the web site after abandoning FrontPage, there was an enormous reduction in page code size. This should result in speedier page loading.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer has always been slow to embrace modern web design standards, and the problem is especially noticeable with IE6 and earlier versions. Rather than use JavaScript to produce pop-up menus in IE6, I have circumvented the problem by using a separate style sheet for this and earlier browsers. If your favourite browser makes mess of displaying this site, blame the browser! All the pages have been checked with the official W3C markup and CSS syntax checkers, and errors corrected.
Web Browsers
If you examine different browsers, you will quickly discover they all render the same HTML and CSS somewhat differently. These pages are reviewed with the current version of Safari and Firefox running under OS X on a Macintosh Mini computer, with occasional checks with Firefox and Google Chrome on a Linux machine. Safari, Chrome and Firefox 3.x render the HTML code well. Since some old, non-compliant versions of Internet Explorer are still in use, I have arranged for IE 5, 6, and 7 to display an alternative navigation menu. I am, however, no longer checking these pages with these outdated browsers, as I no longer run a Windows machine.
Dynamic Pages
In March 2011 I converted the site from static HTML pages to pages generated by the web-server as and when a browser calls for them. Since the pages are generated on the fly, segments of code common to all of the pages are kept in separate files, and the various components of an individual page are assembled when requested. This makes site maintenance and development very much easier, as there are fewer files to change.
JavaScript
Because of my concern over the potential security weaknesses offered by JavaScript, I disable it by default on my own browser, and enable it only for selected, trusted sites. To be consistent, I have therefore used no JavaScript when coding this site. Everything is achieved, by standard HTML and stylesheets. Again, this site does not place cookies on your machine, nor does it attempt to track visits.
HTML 5
May 2011 - there is now a newer version of the WWW markup language, HTML5. It offers a slightly simpler syntax, and additional features that should minimise the need for browser add-ins. In the long term it should make sites easier to develop and to maintain. It will, however, be a long time before the majority of browsers support the newer features; so adoption of the new standard will be slow.
Sound Reinforcement
Why can't I hear the preacher?
One of my tasks is to supervise the church audio-visual equipment. Because we have preachers who drop the voice, and because increasing the gain of the sound reinforcement system produces feedback resulting in 'ringing' and squealing, I have endeavoured to understand the scientific basis of our task. The outcome is that there are clear theoretical limits on the amount of amplification we can get without problems; and reverberation compounds the problems. I have prepared two brief papers on the subject: Why can't I hear the preacher? is longer and more detailed, and Why can't folk hear me is shorter and simpler.
The take-home message is this: The loudspeakers cannot deliver a louder or a clearer sound to the back of the church than the talker/preacher delivers to the microphone. In fact, because of technological and acoustical issues, there will always be loss of volume and clarity.
Quality Church Sound Starts With The “Talkers” - The People At The Microphone
This is the name of an article I came across recently about the importance of clear speaking when it comes to addressing a church congregation (or any other group, for that matter). Here is the link to the article.
Graphic Equaliser
We have recently installed a graphic equaliser into the chain between the mixer and the power amplifier in the chapel. Using a Real Time Analyser I have identified the primary feedback frequencies and reduced the gain in the appropriate third of an octave bands. This has reduced the tendency to feedback without seriously impacting sound quality.
Recording the Sermon
Sound level: There are various problems in the recording of sermons, and not all of them technical. Some preachers exhibit such a dynamic range that the quiet passages are inaudible and the loud passages overload the system, and cause distortion. A compressor has helped by reducing the amplification of the loud parts and leaving the quiet parts untouched; but very quiet parts can still be lost amid the background noise of the chapel and the electronic systems. The answer to the problems lies with the human talkers.
Noise: The microphone picks up unwanted noises as well as speech. Our lapel radio microphones, especially the UHF systems, pick up electrical interference and the occasional unwanted radio message; and the microphone and its lead are are easily knocked or scraped, thus introducing unwanted noises. The lectern microphone picks up thuds and bangs when folk caress or thump the lectern.
Operating Manuals and Hints for the Audio-visual Team
I have placed a number of equipment operating manuals and some user guides of my own on an A-V Information page.
Tim Mimpriss
Webmaster