The Prayer Room Gets A New Stage!

Christmas comes early for the musicians and singers in the Prayer Room at the International House of Prayer this year! The Prayer Room just updated the stage and sound tech with a complete upgrade! This comes shortly after realizing that the old stage was actually a fire-hazard due to failing cables and old systems. So now, if you look at the prayer room web stream, you'll see a completely new layout on stage! And when I say "new stage," this is much less of a facelift and much more of a completely new bone structure (sound system).

What is the process of upgrading the stage in a 24/7 prayer room? Well, the announcement came that the old system had to go, so this became an opportunity to try out some new technology and try for an upgrade in our system. Of course, this is a HUGE deal. There are dozens of channels, the in-ear monitor setup through the Aviom system, the drum cage, the repositioning of all of the musicians and singers, and structural changes to the stage itself. The prayer room is for sure one of the most advanced sound systems on the earth, making it a big deal to alter.

But it had to be done, so what we had to do was close the location. One day, at the end of the 4 PM set in the "Global Prayer Room" (GPR, where the usual prayer room resides), an announcement was made that we were moving locations. The "Global Prayer Room" location closed as the music and prayer continued seamlessly at another location, the church building. So for one week the prayer room was held 24/7 in the church building to "keep the fire burning," while at the GPR, massive changes were underway. This means that when I went to play guitar, I had to show up at the church building all week and play on the church stage while the sound guys worked in the normal prayer room.

The sound team was able to install the new system in on week! Worship teams were invited in to take a look at the new setup and get used to the new gear the day before launch. The Aviom monitor system was gone, and we had upgraded to Roland RSS-M48 personal mixing units, which I like very much! New microphones, new cables, new everything. Not only that but the sound engineers got a new sound board that they affectionately call the "Death Star" because of all the lights and screens. This was a complete upgrade that hopefully has less chance of combusting under our feet (surely).

Other changes included new positions for all of the different members of the worship teams on stage. My electric guitar position has changed, the drums have changed, the singers changed, and all of these changes are on a trial basis to be sure that it is the most effective setup. One thing that is sure to change is the new temporary drum cage. Previously, the drummer had his own isolation room where the sound was very much contained. Right now the drummer is in a temporary sound cage that bleeds a lot of sound onto the stage, causing lots of the drummer's sound to end up in the microphones. So the sound isolation room is probably going to be reinstated, but still in the new position on stage.

All in all, this was a huge upgrade to an extent I don't even fully understand. I am very thankful to all of the sound engineers who have been working all week to put this thing together. I like the refresh. It got us out of the routine : ) Praise God!