Mike Smith: Immersive Mixing & Flying Drummers + Live NAMM Segments

About this episode

This episode features insights on immersive mixing and leadership in church tech from Mike Smith and Dave Hatmaker, recorded live at NAMM 2026.

The Tech Arts Podcast – Live at NAMM 2026 We’re coming to you from NAMM 2026, packed with insight, innovation, and real-world leadership for church tech teams. This episode features Audio Engineer Mike Smith from Prestonwood Church, breaking down how he approaches immersive mixing in a live worship environment—including the strategy, execution, and what it really takes to pull off high-impact moments like the flying drummers with excellence. We’re also joined by Guest Dave Hatmaker, bringing decades of experience in technical direction, leadership, and the power of building strong teams. Alongside him, Mike Dias shares insight on creativity, storytelling, and why this industry is ultimately about people—not just tech. Featured Segments Include: Spotlight on Sound Devices and how their tools continue to elevate production quality DiGiCo Quantum 112 segment, exploring a compact console built for serious power and flexibility KLANG immersive audio segment, showing how 3D in-ear mixing is changing the way musicians hear and perform Special segment from Resi explaining how to take your streaming to the next level. Bonus segment from The Paragon Angle — designed to help tech teams…

People in this episode

Host: David Leuschner

Guests: Mike Smith, Dave Hatmaker

Topics covered

• immersive mixing
• live worship
• audio engineering
• team leadership
• streaming technology

Keywords

• immersive mixing
• live worship
• audio engineering
• NAMM 2026
• team leadership
• streaming technology
• 3D in-ear mixing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Prestonwood Church, Sound Devices, DiGiCo, KLANG, Resi, The Paragon Angle

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