Room Tuning. Noise Generator + RTA.

[rhillParticipant]

where do you set up a reference mic. where band is located or in audience area?

[volounteerParticipant]

@rhill

I would set it up where the mikes are.
Not sure what the official theory is as the dealer did it (or didnt?) when he installed our Qu.
I have suggested to the MD that we do it again, but he was not interested in making that a priority.

We have one very bad problem at one small location in space, where the pastor stands at the podium mike.
We have to keep the pastors gain down to avoid feedback which makes it hard to hear him.
And we have a modest ringing not feedback squealing at another location on stage with a specific mike.
Again keeping that mike gain lower but it is just adequate.

We had a guest performance by a group and they had kids moving mikes up and down to match their height as they moved around during their performance.
One tall kid raised the mike that is where the pastor would stand and caused instant terrible loud feedback.
That tells me we have a standing wave and need to fix that spot.
The MD is going to get paneling to stop echo and reverb in the room as his answer.

Until we ring out the room with the mike at his height (and he is tall) and location we will have feedback problems.
[Or we someday get the paneling to lower echo and reverb in the room]

Or we could ring out the room in general and then EQ separate mikes if there were still problems with them.
But seems better to first remove any feedback issues due to the room which means where the mikes are, not the audience.

Now some may say to ring it out in the audience so they can hear ‘better’; but then you would still have to EQ the mikes so what the audience hears will still be changed just from a different path through the mixer.

[volounteerParticipant]

@rhill

I found this guide at

How to Easily Ring Out Your Room

The nine steps to ringing out the system on your own
Set up your board for a proper master volume level.
Set up a microphone on the stage for a person to use for speaking.
Have the person talk into the microphone and set up the proper gain structure for their channel.
Turn up the master fader until you begin to hear feedback as a slight ringing.
Identify the frequency by ear or use a spectrum analyzer. Only use a spec analyzer if you know how to properly use it.
Cut that frequency in the multi-band house EQ until it goes away.
Repeat steps 4 through 6 until many frequencies tend to feed back at the same time. Then….
Reduce the master volume back to the normal level. The person’s voice should still sound natural. If it doesn’t, tweak your house EQ changes appropriately by giving a little boost to those frequency bands you cut.

Another method
https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-peak-out-a-room–cms-21228

And this factoid which indicates to have the mikes on stage when ringing out:

Ringing out is particularly important when mixing monitors, or foldback. As the performer or musician is usually behind the main PA system, the monitors are so they can hear themselves. As such, a microphone is much more likely to feedback through the monitor loudspeakers than the main PA. Ringing out can become quite complex when working with a large number of microphones and monitors. Indeed, with larger touring acts, one of the major advantages of the rise in use of in-ear monitors is the minimal ringing out that needs to be done.

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