Low Budget? No Budget?

Here’s How to Get Started.

Many of our readers know Doug Gould because they’ve seen him at coast-to-coast worship events, including The Quiet Stage “tour” last year with Yamaha and AVIOM.

What is The Quiet Stage

Anyway?

It’s not a product. It’s a mindset. It’s simply the practice of doing anything and everything possible to lower the volume on the stage so that everybody in the sanctuary is hearing what he or she needs to hear. Not too loud, not too soft, but just right.

Mike Overlin, Worship Resources Manager for Yamaha Corp. of America, Craig Sibley of AVIOM and I travel all across the country to every worship and technical conference we can to teach the concepts behind The Quiet Stage.

At it’s simplest it’s showing how to eliminate or lower the levels of loud sources on the stage/platform. Typically this involves floor monitors, guitar and bass amps and acoustic drums.

Monitors

Floor monitors can be replaced with personal monitors as has been discussed in depth in this issue. That’s fine for a church that can afford it but what about the small church that can’t?

We start with teaching the team how to mix monitors.

When a singer says ” I can’t hear myself in my monitor”, don’t automatically reach for the fader and turn it up. Turn other things down in that mix to achieve the same result. It’s the same as when you want to get more oomph from the bass. Don’t turn the bass up; turn other frequencies down to bring the bass frequencies into focus. Think subtractively!

Position

Maybe move a monitor closer to the talent. This is the Inverse Square Law. Doug’s definition: Get closer to the speaker and it gets louder - a lot louder. The same with a microphone: get closer to the mic and it will get louder.

This is especially true with guitar amps. You’ve all seen the guitar player on the platform with the amp, gain set fully clockwise, aimed at the congregation. He can’t hear it, but he’s blowing the pastor’s wife out of her seat.

Get the guitarist to tilt the amp back facing him. I can guarantee it won’t stay on 10 for long. If this doesn’t work, get the amp turned around, cover it with a heavy moving blanket and mic it; then send this signal through an personal monitor or similar device. Get it off the stage if you have the room.

Modelers & Digital Instruments

This is where modelers like Yamaha Magic Stomp or Line 6 POD come in. They emulate the classic amp sound without generating any sound pressure on stage. In other words, a modeler can sound just like an amped up speaker with a great mic on it.

This applies to many other types of instruments. Instead of playing a grand piano with mics inside a closed lid (which really doesn’t sound like a piano), get a digital piano. It sounds like a grand with the lid open. Why does the lid have to be closed? The open lid will act as a trap for every sound on the platform (drums, monitors and guitar amps) and bleed into the piano mics.

Acoustic drums are a constant fight with the house sound, especially in a small church. One thing I’ve noticed is that many of the drum sets are of the big drum/rock variety. If possible, use smaller shell studio kits. They won’t project as far or as loudly.

You can use shields if they are a proper design (that’s a whole issue in itself) to isolate the drums from being picked up by other stage mics or from being heard in the house. Electronic drums come in a variety of price levels and flavors. Yamaha makes some of the best acoustic drums and pianos in the world, so it just makes sense that their electronic cousins would sound true to the original. Again it’s a budget issue, and something that you have to get used to playing, but it is definitely worth the effort.

Bass Guitars

Bass guitars go direct using a DI box. But how does the bass player hear himself? If there’s only one monitor for the whole band, give it to the bass player. His big bass amp will be off the stage and the personal monitor will let him hear perfectly.

Now, what about everyone else? What do they need to hear in their mix? Bass may be necessary for the drummer to hear, but everyone else needs to hear an instrument that supplies pitch (piano or guitar) and timing (snare drum, hat or loop).

We know that the bass player needs to hear the drummer. But is he right next to the drummer (where he should be, so he can watch his foot)? Or is he 30 feet away? Where band members are positioned can make a difference.

Monitor Mixers

Most churches don’t have the luxury of a monitor board or someone who can even do a monitor mix. It’s difficult to set individual mixes for all the vocalists and band members even with the right talent and equipment. Like most churches, you are probably doing it from the FOH position week in and week out.

How long does it take to do a sound check for the house on Sunday morning? 15 minutes? How long does it take to set your monitors? Thirty minutes? Wouldn’t it be great if the musicians could do their own monitors the way they like without asking you to do them ever again?

Now they can. They are called personal monitor mixers and the best ones I’ve seen are made by AVIOM. They can be used with our wireless systems for mobility or if you’re a keyboard player, drummer or maybe just a lethargic bass player, just plug a pair of nifty Shure earphones into them and get a great stereo mix that you can control and save.