Hot Tips for Church Sound Operators

Back in 2002 I wrote an article about doing live sound in church for a really cool online magazine of Christian articles . The website was gracenotworks.com, which you can still find, but hasn't been updated for many years. It had some great design features, like the little pixelated sheep up the top which wiggles when you move your mouse over it. Plenty of things to click on. Anyway, I came up with some simple tips for chuch sound operators which I still advocate...

.: Be one step ahead of everything at all times. The sound operator must be continually on the ball. Always watch what’s going on up front and be ready for it. Having someone talk into a microphone which isn’t on should NEVER happen.

.: Be listening at all times. This sounds obvious, but needs to be said. Is the speaker clearly audible? Can all of the instruments be heard in a pleasing balance? (It is hard to hear what is going on if you sing while mixing.)

.: Practice mixing. Take some time to experiment outside the service. Get your church band to come and jam so that you can practice. Try things that you are too scared to try in a service.

.: Familiarise yourself with equalisation (tone controls). Play a CD or sermon tape over the system and hear what boosting or cutting different frequencies sounds like.

.: Familiarise yourself with the sound of the room. Play a CD and walk around. Is what you hear at the mix position similar to what the congregation hear? Do you need to compensate for this in your mixing?

.: If your system sounds like it has gremlins in it, get your church to spend some money getting it fixed up. It is important to have a system which works properly.

.: Having said this, you need to know how to use your system. Know how it is set up so that if anything goes wrong you can get around it.

.: Communicate well with the musicians and speakers about their sound requirements. Aim to make everyone comfortable, and this will result in a much smoother service.