I went to school for Recording Arts and Music Business. I’ve led worship for a long time, but I am not a great sound person. But one of the things I have realized as a worship leader is that sound falls under my umbrella of responsibility, whether I am serving with a highly-trained, paid sound person, or an untrained volunteer, I cannot be hands-off with sound. Sound is critical to a service.
Like many things, sound has best practices: how to set up a system, the levels of volume needed in a space, and the kinds of equipment needed for a specific context. There are a myriad of resources available online for technical aspects of running sound that I have found helpful. Besides general training and knowledge of a particular soundboard, I have found the most helpful aspect of equipping sound people is setting sound standards.
Setting up sound standards feels like trying to help people live by the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. Because sound is as artistic as it is technical, I want to make space for our sound guys to bring a level of artistry to their craft, knowing that our musicians rotate and therefore the sound is produced with in itself never be ‘standard.’ Sound standards also allow space for a specific congregation and the direction of the church as a whole. A few of my sound standards:
I want the volume loud enough that people need to sing out to be able to hear themselves sing, but not so loud they cannot hear one another.
I want the vocalist leading a song to be the loudest in the mix.
I want the instruments to be defined, but well-balanced without one being louder than any other through the entirety of a set.
The instrument driving a song needs to be what is heard most clearly.
I want the sound to serve the song and the people, that might mean it needs to be louder or quieter depending on the tone of the service, the size, and make-up of the band, or the size of the congregation.
We are aiming for consistency over individuality when it comes to the mix.
Whether on a platform or behind a soundboard, we are on the same team. One of the ways I have learned to push toward unity, and toward collaboration has been spending time with a sound person before rehearsal to walk through the order of service, the dynamics I am hoping to create, who is on the team, and any pieces I would like them to be aware of moving into the service.
What would you add?