Sound Sanctuary

Since I have been writing Sound Sanctuary, I have spent a lot of time in houses of worship, mixing live sound, installing sound systems, tuning up systems and interacting with the people that operate and volunteer at worship houses. The one theme that seems to be common among the different houses that I have visited is the lack of volunteer training.

Over the last two months, we have spent time exploring the variety of microphones and the importance of having your ears as sharp as possible. This month, I would like to talk about basic stage setups and EQ scenarios.  I know a lot of you have a basic idea of how to make your pastor, choir or worship band sound good. However, some of you don't, and we can always use a little tune-up, especially me. So, here we go.

I realize the title of this month’s piece is not all that witty. In fact, it simply states what I will be discussing. I don’t need to tell you the importance of our ears. Without them we can’t do our jobs as house-of-worship techs, or any sound mixing job for that matter. Nonetheless, the question that comes to mind to me, and hopefully to you, is where can we go to get good ear training? I have no idea. So, this month I will tell you my beliefs and experiences in training ears. 

I know it may seem a little over the top to spend an entire article on microphones, but these are probably the most important tools you have, especially in a house-of-worship setting. We will be covering the three popular types of pickup or polar patterns and dynamic microphones versus condenser microphones.

I will not be discussing brands and models of mics, as there are just too many to touch on. If you are a hired gun, meaning you do not belong to a particular congregation but you work as a mixer, you should have a selection of mics with you every time you mix. If you are part of the church membership and are either paid for your services or you volunteer your skills, you probably use the mics that are already at your house of worship. Unless your particular house has a vast selection of microphones, I would encourage you to pick up some of your own. Good mics are always a valuable commodity in any sound reinforcement setting.

As many of you know, I work in both the worship sound world and in the secular sound world. I am always looking for ways to improve my abilities as a technician and mixer in both of these worlds. And, of course, at the same time earn more money. Very often, the subjects that I discuss in this forum can be mirrored in the secular sound arena. My most recent income stream has been through renting gear to churches and worship events. As a rule, I always bring a few mics, stands, direct boxes and cables to any of my house-of-worship gigs. Being prepared for just about any eventuality has always seemed to be a good motto and, by the way, I am a former Boy Scout.

As I sit here writing this piece, it occurs to me that I really should be writing an article like this prior to the holiday onslaught. By the time you read this it will be spring and most of us will be looking forward to the busy summer season. But it wasn’t until this past Christmas/Hanukkah season that I had the types of experiences I will be sharing with you here.

Hello my friends. As I go through my daily work with houses of worship, I am always looking for something meaningful and helpful to write about. My recent experiences with a couple of churches may appear to be unique individually, but I think the theme has much wider implications. Let’s talk about “discovering” the sound level that is acceptable to a particular house of worship. 

When I think of worship sound, I generally put this end of the biz into two categories. First, there is the owner-operator guy like me, who installs systems in small churches and mixing services during the week or on the weekends. Then there is the large regional or national company that has the resources and ability to install large complex systems into any church or large venue.

Along with my writing efforts for FOH, I work with a variety of houses of worship. I guess that is more than obvious, since I am the guy who writes Sound Sanctuary. Well, I also own and operate a secular (nonreligious) regional sound company that designs and installs residential and commercial sound systems.

Generally speaking, I will hire anywhere from one to six techs for my secular or worship gigs. They are actually independent contractors. But rather than get into the legal qualifications of my employees, I will tell you what I need in terms of technical skill and physical attributes. Qualifying as a Rio Deluxe (my company) tech is pretty easy. You need to understand live audio setup (lift speakers and plug in the right wires), signal flow, EQ, compression, etc., and be strong enough to handle the big stuff, but smart enough to position the small stuff. Shower regularly and wear the company shirt. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?   

Over the last 10 years, we all have seen the market for self-powered speakers grow to the point where they are now at least as popular as nonpowered speakers. For someone like me, who has a small regional company and a relatively limited crew, using powered speakers makes my setup faster, easier and requires less thinking than a traditional passive speaker, amps and crossover system (the less-thinking part is very important for me and my crew). So, the next obvious question is: Why not use this self-powered speaker technology in a permanent house of worship installation?

The simple answer is that you can permanently mount self-powered speakers in any location where you would install nonpowered speakers (given that you have available Edison plugs). But why would you?

Are you familiar with the term outreach? If you work in the worship business, especially the Christian end of this business, you will recognize the aforementioned term as a description of reaching out into the local community, professing and often demonstrating the teachings of God. This outreach can take many forms. The act of taking meals to elderly folks or helping someone in the community (regardless of their religious beliefs) with the most basic aspects of living is a popular charitable act and sponsored by many churches.

Making good on all those promises

Since I began writing Sound Sanctuary, I often claim that I will get back to you on the results or the effect of a particular plan or project. Well, my friends, this is the month that I will make good on all my promises and catch you up on all the things I have written about. There is one small thing, in order for you to get the most out of this article, you will have to be familiar with the subjects I have been covering over these last months here at FOH. If you are not, you can check out the archive of issues at fohonline.com.