Mercury Sound and Lighting

Professional Audio, Lighting, Staging and Video

event design

Wedding Lighting Michigan

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Palazzo Grande- Backdrop Uplight and SpotWedding Lighting has become increasingly popular over the past few years.  While Mercury Sound and Lighting is a full production company, no event is too large or too small.  We have a wide range of rental products including both high end and budget fixtures for wedding lighting.  We are located in Novi, Michigan but we service all of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio with wedding lighting rentals.  Our services include uplighting, pin spots, custom monograms, intelligent lighting, and pattern lighting.

Uplighting is the most popular lighting effect used for weddings today.  It is a simple and cost effective way to transform any space.  We use several different fixtures to accomplish our uplighting. These range from conventional fixture’s to LED washes.  We offer uplighting packages that start at $250 for the budget conscious couple all the way to high end uplighting packages.  With LED lighting, we can accomplish millions of color options including the option to have the room change colors throughout the wedding. Our trained technician can stay throughout your big night to make sure you don’t have any worries.  They can definitely create the mood you are looking for.

If you’ve ever eaten at a nice Italian Restaurant or a restaurant like J. Alexander’s or PF Changs then you’ve noticed how lighting can be dim and set a mood without loosing lighting where you need it.  This method is called pin spotting.  We can create this same mood at your wedding.  Our trained professionals can mount pin spots to spot all of the things that are important to you such as center pieces, the wedding cake, head table, card table and so many other areas.  This allows us to dim the natural lighting in the room, but not loose light where we need it thus creating a more “romantic” feel and much more of a glow from your wall washes.

Pin Spotting and Wall Washes are definitely our most common lighting options; however, we offer so much more.  Please check through our web page to see our other options including truss, movers, pattern lighting and custom monograms.  Mercury Sound & Lighting is your premiere wedding lighting company here in Michigan.  Contact one of our sales reps today to discuss how Mercury Weddings can make your dream wedding come true!

www.mercurysl.com

Audio Visual Rental- Michigan
Jacob’s Fight Presents “Rockin’ the D on the Runway!”
Audio Visual Rental Equipment

Audio Visual Rental- Michigan

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Audio Visual is a very important aspect for any business, non-profit, or House of Worship.  Company training, business meetings, conventions and special events are crucial to a thriving business.  It is important that you choose the right a/v equipment and rental company to make these events a success.  There are many markets in need of these equipment rentals such as entertainment, education, or religious organizations.  It is important that your information is seen and your message is being heard.

Mercury-Corporate-AV-Logo

Audio visual equipment has come a long way in the past decade.  The times of using an overhead projector and writing on transparencies have come and gone.  Today, technology is so much greater.  Your corporate event presentation or church sound system should also evolve with the changes in new technology.  Your company may have some in-house audio visual equipment, but when planning a larger scale event it may be necessary to out-source your A/V needs. This is where a company like Mercury Sound & Lighting can team up with your organization and help make your event flawless.  An audio visual company will have all of the equipment that you need that is up to date and on the edge of new technology.  Mercury will also have the trained staff and technicians to set this equipment up for you and operate it throughout your event.

It doesn’t matter how large or small your event or building is.  We have the right equipment and techs to serve meetings as small as 5 and as large as thousands.  You can rent a laptop and projector or have MSL put together a full blown production for you.  Our equipment rentals and staff will exceed your expectations and take your worry away.

Located in Novi, Michigan Mercury Sound & Lighting offer’s thousands of products to help make your event something special.  From Projectors and Screens, to Audio and Lighting, Mercury has you covered.  Even though we are located near Detroit, we serve the entire state of Michigan and nationwide.  Give us a call and let us start planning your next corporate event!

www.mercurysl.com

Michigan Sound System Installation

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AMX Touch Panels - Touch Screens installation serviceProfessional audio system’s are used today in a variety of applications. Some of these applications include Houses of Worship, Schools, Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, and Corporate Environments. Whichever your application, it is important to choose the right audio solution and products to fit your environment. A professional sound company assists in customizing an audio system to meet these needs. Mercury Sound & Lighting provides its clients with a professional design unique to their situation as we have worked within Michigan sound system installation service. It is not as simple as throwing a couple of speakers on the wall and calling it a day. It is important for an audio company to take the time to measure the space and design a system that will create even coverage and an SPL that is sufficient for the type of application the system is being designed for.

Often times, we find that our clients have had previous experiences where the end result and needs of the system were not researched well enough by the “installer” (specifically Houses of Worship). We have a saying here that most House’s of Worship will experience 4 audio systems for their auditorium, gospel choir, and band. The first system always goes to the lowest bidder. Of course, this is understandable. While we breath and live audio, it is not always the most important factor when a new House of Worship is going up and we understand that.

[Read more…] about Michigan Sound System Installation

Worship Audio – 5 Ways to Evaluate Your Mix

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An audio engineer should constantly be critiquing his mix. A mix may be perfect, but worship is constantly flowing and a simple changing of songs could require your mix to change. It is important that you take these factors into account when you are on your instrument, the sound board!

1. Can you hear all of the instruments and singers?

I often find worship services tobe a bit frustrating when I’m visiting, helping the audio team, and I cannot hear all ofthe different elements that I see on the stage. As a worship leader myself, Iunderstand how hard our team works to get everything right and the last thing I’dwant is for one of our team members to not be heard. The best way for you tocritique your mix is to close your eyes and see if you can point out each instrumentand singer in the mix. If you can’t hear a certain piece, is it because the level is toolow or is it competing with another instrument or singer?

2. Can you hear the Worship Leader or is he buried in the mix?

The Worship Leader is the most important piece to your puzzle. It is absolutely essential that hestands out in your mix and that his voice is clear and intelligible. The congregation is listening for the lead and this is what they follow. A good trick that I like to use is tweaking the treble a bit on this channel. You won’t have to turn him/her up too loud toget it to punch through. Brightening up the lead vocal will help it cut through andstand out in the mix.

3. Do I hear more sound coming from the House or from the Stage?

Stage volumeis a constant problem in many churches. Personal Monitor Mixing and In-Ears havehelped this quite a bit, but not every house of worship is using in-ears as their monitoring solution. If your stage volume is louder than your house volume then youmight as well kiss that great mix good-bye! Often, churches do not want the soundpassing a certain decibel rating. If this is the case, then you and your worship bandhave to find that middle ground that will create balance in your mix. There are severalways to help keep your stage volume down, but we’ll save that for another blog.

4. Does the mix sound like it has layers?

Many churches suffer from a mediocre mix caused by all of the inputs being run at a similar level. If it sounds like your inputs are running at the same level then you need to create layers to your mix. This will create depth and energy to your mix. The best way for you to create a mix with energy and layers is to start out piece by piece and work your way to it. Start with your drum mix.Set the levels to a point that are comfortable for the room you are in. Then you can add in each instrument one at a time, allowing the lead instruments to be last and a bit louder than the others. Mix the vocals the same way. Mix each vocal and then add one at a time to make them sound like one large voice singing together. Finally, add in the lead vocal last. This vocal should be a bit louder and cut through the rest of the mix. Do not let your mix lack energy!

5. Are you playing your instrument!?

So many volunteer technicians find a mix that sounds “ok” and then leave it. I cannot express this last point enough. The audio engineer is as much a part of the band as the lead guitar player or even the worship leader. The sound board is your instrument! Imagine what worship would sound like if the guitar player played one chord through an entire song or set?! It is important that you learn the songs as a member of the worship team. Learn what the lead instruments, who the lead vocal is, if there is a guitar solo or an instrument that comes in with a key part during the song. There is nothing worse than a guitar solo buried in the mix.Turn that guitar up! I always joke with my musician and worship leader friends telling them that they really aren’t that important and the audio engineer really hands out the solo’s. This is very true. The band will learn to follow your mix and you will learn to follow them. Make sure you serve them well.

Overall, I hope you’ve learn how important your role is to the worship experience and what an effect you have. The worship leader depends on you to make sure the mix is providing energy and emotion. Keep following our Blogs. I’m optimistic they will help you. You can always email or call us here at Mercury if you have any questions or need some advice with your mix. We do offer on-site training as well.

Why should I hire a Professional Lighting Company?

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profesisonal-lighting-company-mercury-slWe often get this question.  “My DJ offers uplighting. Why should we choose Mercury?”  We are glad you asked.

Over the years, there have been many DJ’s, florists, decorators and party rental companies here in Michigan that have added uplighting to their service’s list.  To make this plain and clear, they are not production companies and can not offer you the same service or equipment that we can.  We’ve all heard the expression “A Jack of All Trades” and have heard or experienced horror stories of what choosing the wrong company or vendor can cause.  This is why it is important to hire a company that specializes in the service or product you are looking for.  You wouldn’t hire an electrician to do your plumbing work, would you!? Why not? They are both in the construction business?

Make sure that you ask the proper questions while choosing the right company for your wedding lighting needs.  We often hear a client tell us that their DJ or florist is offerring them uplighting for the fraction of the cost, but what type of lighting are they giving you?  There are hundreds of different lighting fixtures on the market (the same as there are automobiles).  Your DJ may be offering you a much cheaper lighting fixture than what Mercury can offer you.  You might say, “An Uplight is an Uplight!”, but this simply isn’t true.  Photo’s are always a great reference to use when looking at different lighting options.  You will realize how much of a broad wash our lighting fixtures give after looking through our wedding lighting photos. An LED uplight that costs $100 does not even come close the intensity, color or beam spread of a $1500 fixture.  This is why there is a cost difference.  It’s ok if you are on a tight budget and can only spend a small amount on lighting. This is why MSL offers a wide selection of wall wash fixtures and packages starting at only $250.

Aside from uplighting and wall washes, there are several other important lighting component’s to making your wedding day shine! Mercury has the tools and expert’s to make your wedding beautiful.  Please contact us today to discuss how we can provide you with the look you want.  Be sure to check out our wedding lighting photo’s from venues across Michigan and the Midwest!

Case Study – Pace Academy

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pace_academyMercury was asked to install and integrate 40 projectors in classrooms throughout Pace Academy.  Our experts found a way to meet a tight budget and timeline to accomplish for the school. MSL finished the task in a matter of a week and a half for the school.  Our job included everything from mounting the projector, to running all electrical, to VGA wall plates for the teachers to plug into.

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