This kind of technical education is aimed at only a relative handful of people, but it’s their expertise—or lack thereof—that can affect the effectiveness of a pastor’s message [and ultimately the equipment specified on a given project]. For the past 15 years, Hector La Torre, managing partner in Fits & Starts Productions, has been bringing a self-contained curriculum that teaches sound mixing and other media-technology skills to churches either for private instruction or for groups of churches. In either case, though, La Torre says he needs a basic AV infrastructure available at any church they teach in.
For the past 15 years, Hector La Torre, managing partner in Fits & Starts Productions, has been bringing a self-contained curriculum that teaches sound mixing and other media-technology skills to churches either for private instruction or for groups.
“When we’re doing one-on-one instruction for a particular church, we’ll use their systems in their sanctuary, but for group instruction, we’re usually working in the fellowship hall or other large space,” La Torre says. There, he’ll deploy as many as 30 small 8- and 12-channel mixers for students to use for hands-on learning. But he does ask that the church provide a projection screen and a back-up projector, in case the three he travels with fail.
“We need a minimal AV infrastructure at the church,” he notes. “Spaces like fellowship halls increasingly have good AV, so that’s good news.” But, he adds, both church AV and educational technology are increasingly converging in wireless ways. His classes are beginning to use wireless tablets and smartphones to manage the audio, echoing the trend in the larger education market.
