Whether you're a church audio engineer—Broadcast, Front of House, professional, or volunteer—this article is for you. I know my content occasionally stirs up controversy; after all, I’m just one voice sharing my experience. Disagreement is fine, but here’s one thing...
Over the years, I’ve worked with countless churches, and one trend that keeps catching my eye is the tendency to overcomplicate the audio mixing process. It’s all too easy to get swept up in the latest gear, shiny new plugins, and rigid methodologies promoted by...
As a follow-up to my previous feature, What Audio Engineers Need Drummers to Understand, I would be remiss if I didn’t address an even more important topic: vocals. As audio engineers, we obsess over creating great sounds – the perfect snare, full, wide mixes, just...
Most modern churches invest substantially in creating welcoming lobby or foyer environments. Spacious layouts, lots of seating options, coffee bars, or cafes are all designed to make guests and regular attenders feel at home. This has almost become the standard over...
“Old drummers never die, they just become audio engineers,that mix really loud.”-Anonymous. I grew up in an environment almost predestined to produce a musician with a passion for audio engineering and production. My mother was a self-taught musician with a beautiful...
For good or bad, audio engineers typically judge each other based on their drum sounds. It just comes with the territory. When I'm at an event I rarely think to myself, “Wow, that guy is really bringing the thunder with that mandolin tone.” If I find myself having to...
Not long ago, I had a conversation with a young church Tech Director. He said their auditorium had some audio issues, mostly dead spots in the coverage, so they scheduled a contractor to re-tune the PA and remedy the issue. This brief discussion reminded me that there...
Recently I polled a number of church production forums with the question: Who uses the scene function on your digital audio consoles, versus those who mix their entire service manually? For the uninitiated, scenes, (also called snapshots by some manufacturers) are...
Everyone knows as we age it's natural to lose some hearing. Those of us who rely on our ears for a living, or for our service to the church, think about this a lot once the mirror starts reflecting more salt than pepper. Like most audio engineers and musicians, I am...
When it comes to church PA systems there are several commonly used designs and multiple variations within those designs. Engineers and audio experts all have their individual preferences. As with so many issues we discuss here, there are always proponents of one side...
We've all experienced attending a group event when someone is taking photos. After the event when you see the pictures, what's the first thing you look for? Yourself, of course. We all want to feel good about our presence in photographs. Some want to blend in, others...
If you've spent any time on social media lately, I'm sure you've seen lots of content created by worship musicians. Typically these are short clips with a POV camera showing the musicians doing their job. Sometimes we get a glimpse of their equipment, but for the most...
It's quite possible that the majority of complaints received by the modern church, that aren't directed specifically to the pastor, are about the audio presentation. They come in various forms, from the carefully crafted email, to the brief hand-written...
Considering all the things pastors and staff do regarding sermon preparation, I'm constantly surprised how little effort goes into making sure spoken-word content is presented well from the platform. While some churches meticulously manage every technical detail of...
In the course of working with church audio engineers for many years, I like to ask, “What's the one thing, aside from equipment upgrades, you want from leadership that you're not currently getting? The answer is almost always, "more time". Since the implementation of...
Many years ago, I was working with a church that hosted a large conference with some very high-profile guest speakers. Along with the team, we presented multiple worship sets in the main auditorium. We were organized and well-rehearsed, everything looked and sounded...
I love it when great technology becomes accessible to almost everyone. Such is the case with In-Ear-Monitor systems, commonly referred to as IEMs. Thanks to technical innovation and market competition, even churches with extremely modest budgets can take advantage of...
In our previous feature “The Ethics of Pre-recorded Tracks in Worship” we discussed why you should examine the use of backing tracks and the potential effects on your team and overall worship presentation. I am grateful for the many responses from a variety of sizes...
When considering what makes a great church audio engineer for your team, what qualities are most important? Everybody loves a good snare sound. Showing up early and prepared is always good. Mixing for First-Baptist “Mega-town” looks nice on a resume. Formally...
There was a time when being exposed for using backing tracks in a live performance was a career ending event. In 1989 Milli Vanilli's hard-drive “skip heard around the world” became the source of industry and public ridicule. We didn't use the term “cancel” in the...
I have some exciting news to share: Due to the overwhelming response to this newsletter, starting this month we’ll be doing 2 issues each month! As always all of our content will be directly aimed at the audio aspects of producing your worship service. Thank you for...
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