Running Sound for Houses of Worship: Keep It Simple!

If you are someone who is involved with running sound for your church then you know how hectic and chaotic it can be when several people have their hands on the sound board. Many churches have to rely on volunteers to handle this responsibility and while these folks truly have a desire to serve, they lack the basic fundamental skills required by sound technician to adequately provide quality service. And of course everyone has their own opinions about how to do things. So when you have 6 different people taking turns at the sound board, it can only lead to disaster!

But, it doesn't have to be that bad. With a little bit of time and attention to setting up the board correctly, you can greatly simplify things so that sound can be consistent from week to week. Here are a few tips that might save you some time and aggravation.

1. Set all channel volumes with the faders at Unity (0)
2. Turn up the Trim (Gain) until feedback and then back down to comfortable level
3. Make slight volume adjustments with fader if needed and then return to Unity
4. When system is sounding great, take pictures to record all parameters

Let me explain how this works and how it can save you some headaches. Setting all the channel volumes at Unity (the little 0 on the fader line) can be beneficial in a number of ways. First of all, having all the faders at one level is far less distracting to the engineer than looking at a board where the faders are all over the place. Second, it keeps things consistent from one engineer to the next because everyone will know that the level is where it should be. Third, it will eliminate a lot of confusion and expose those people who tend to get trigger happy with playing with the settings.

If the faders are at Unity, then adjusting the volume with the Trim (Gain) knob until the channel feeds back will let you know where your limit is. You never want to have to guess how much louder you can make the Pastor during their sermon. Once you get feedback and then back it down to a comfortable listening level, you now will the have the confidence that you can raise the fader to get more volume if you absolutely need it without making the congregation wrench in pain from the horrible squealing of feedback. This will help to keep things simpler for those at the board.

If some minor volume adjustments need to be made to mix some channels for any reason, do that with the faders and then return them to Unity. For example, if several handheld mics are being used for a music performance, you may need to adjust volumes to mix the sound well. That would mainly be because you would want harmonies to blend together well under the lead voice. But don't leave those channel faders there, put them back to Unity because that may not be the place for those channels every time they are used. Again, this keeps everything consistent from engineer to engineer, week to week. The less knobs and buttons have to be touched, the better off everyone will be.

Finally, if the system is sounding the way you want it and you are using an analog board that can't save settings, take some pictures that will show where everything is set. Its not a bad idea to print them out and have them somewhere that engineers can access them. Pictures don't lie and if the system sounded great with those settings, then it should continue to sound great without any changes.

As a sound engineer, I want to keep things as simple as I can. The less I have to think about something, the better. I use these methods every time I run sound and encourage others to do the same or something similar. Taking some time to set up your system this way will make everyone's job much easier and more enjoyable and allow the congregation to enjoy the service the way it was intended. Isn't that what we all want anyway?

Check us out on the web at www.goodsoundstudio.com for more ways to help your sound sound Good!

And remember:
If it can't be heard, it can't be Good!