“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...
Ron Cochran
What Audio Engineers Need Drummers to Understand
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...
Does Your PA Need a Tune-Up?
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...
How to Keep Fresh Ears, Fresh Eyes, and Fresh Hearts, Week After Week
One of the first pastors I worked with used to say, “serving in church is a grind, and it's not for everybody”. As we recover from the post-Easter-hangover, I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on the grind and discuss how we can protect ourselves from two of...
Broadcast Audio vs Auditorium Audio: Allocating Resources Wisely
Recently Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, announced that going forward they were only going to stream the teaching portion of their services. I respect their decision. I believe every church should be intentional with their use of technology as a reflection of...
The Lonely Life of Worship Musicians
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...
Church Audio… Any complaints?
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...
Hey Pastors, Can You Help Us to Help You?
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...
How to Improve Your Church’s Audio Presentation in 30 Minutes
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...
The Scariest Moment in My Audio Career
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...
What in the Name of Bono are Churches Doing with In-Ear-Monitor Systems?
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...
Church Drummers: Caged, Free-range, or Synthetic?
The challenges drums create on the worship platform manifest themselves in multiple areas; sound quality, musical technique, stage space, the visual aspect, and most prominently, loudness. As someone who has been helping churches with audio for decades and a former...
Does Your Church Have a Mix Philosophy?
One of my favorite things to do is train church audio people. Most of the time, it’s on the heels of a recent equipment upgrade — a new console, PA, or an entirely new system in a brand-new building. These are exciting times, and it’s a great time for a church to...
Welcome to Audio Connections!
I would like to personally welcome everyone to Worship Facility's Audio Connections, a new monthly email newsletter dedicated to Church Audio. Our goal is to provide helpful content designed to maximize the impact of your audio ministry. We'll be digging into every...
Your Church AVL Equipment, How Much is too Much?
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should", Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park. Just before Christmas of 2022, a video of a tech rehearsal at a large church circulated throughout the church AVL...
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