Sound Sanctuary

Roughly a year ago, I started writing this monthly House of Worship column for FRONT of HOUSE. One of the first articles I wrote was about wireless, so it only stands to reason that coincidentally, a year later, I’m revisiting the subject to provide some additional insights that will hopefully improve your wireless operation.

When it comes to creating show paperwork and documentation, there are two types of people. First, there are those who view paperwork as the bane of their existence. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, some people’s brains just aren’t wired for doing tedious, repetitive tasks like creating diagrams or spreadsheets. Then, there are people like me — people who see creating paperwork as a labor of love. Some sick part of me really enjoys creating documentation like input lists and stage plots, and personally, I especially love creating wiring diagrams. I know, call me crazy, but it’s something that I’ve grown to really enjoy.

What is the most important thing you do as a church audio engineer? I think all of us would agree that having the message heard clearly by each and every individual is the single most important thing we do. With a properly designed sound system, the average person should be able to hear the message without any problem, but what about those in our congregation who are hearing impaired? What can we do to make their experience better and ensure that they hear just as well as everyone else?

It’s an age-old question, and it’s one of the most common questions that I get from audio students. “Do you use VCAs or subgroups? How are they different, and what are they used for?” I usually try to start right off by answering that it’s a false question. VCAs and subgroups (often referred to simply as “groups”) are two totally different tools, and they shouldn’t be compared to one another. For the most part, that’s a true statement, but like anything about audio, the real, in-depth answer is nuanced.

The single most difficult part of being a church technical director is recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers. The technical part is easy, and if I could hire paid people to fill all of the different roles and responsibilities, the job would be a breeze. The church environment has changed dramatically over the past 10 years, and paid technical staff is more the rule than the exception. Nevertheless, from the largest church to the smallest church, volunteers are still a big part of what we do.

Sound system purchasing decisions are among the largest financial decisions a church has to make. Depending on the size of your worship venue, a new sound system can exceed $100,000 or even $200,000. Even if you’re working at a smaller church that is only in a position to spend $10,000 or $20,000 on a new system, that’s a major expense. As a church technical director, I feel I have a responsibility to spend the church’s money wisely, because let’s face it, we are ultimately spending the hard-earned money of our congregants.

In 2015, it’s a seemingly age-old question: Wedges or in-ears? Having been around for decades, and having been embraced by the world’s most popular artists, it almost seems like in-ear monitors are a foregone conclusion. They are the standard for onstage monitoring. Or are they? It’s still a question that a lot of churches wrestle with, and I for one have not transitioned 100 percent of our monitor mixes over to IEM’s. There are still some situations where wedges excel over IEM’s, and not everyone’s console is capable of generating 24 auxes worth of stereo ear mixes.

I started off my house of worship technical career almost a decade ago as a FOH audio engineer at the same church I still work at today. At the time, there was a different technical director, and I would simply walk in on Sunday mornings, mix and go home. It was an enjoyable, low-stress gig.

Let’s face it — most of us work in less-than-ideal acoustic environments. The main sanctuary at our church has a primarily wood interior, and while it is aesthetically beautiful, it can be an acoustical challenge. Our main sanctuary is used for traditional worship, so the longer decay time is acceptable for the typical choral and orchestra performances we do in that space. Our “Contemporary Worship Space” is another story — it’s a gymnasium. Sound familiar?

Many of today’s churches are struggling with how to best utilize technology, and are wrestling with how to best deliver their message via broadcast or Internet streaming. My church is going through many of these technological growing pains right now. Sure, we have digital consoles, a line array and LED lighting, but we have yet to make the leap into multi-camera video streaming of full services. Most of our discussions about delivering content online have centered on the video production aspects, such as cameras, switchers, graphics and recording.

I’m a technology fanatic. I love checking out A/V technologies. Looking at pictures of huge line arrays and big lighting rigs is a favorite pastime. I’m sure many of you would agree. Some co-workers make fun of me for constantly reading equipment manuals, and I’m sure my wife also has a few opinions on the topic.