When we're tackling a subject as important as this one, we call on experts who have hands-on experience working with volunteer teams at churches large, or better still, small. These are not men or women who sit in a cubicle or occupy a corner office. They're out in the field, solving problems.

Lucky for us, we caught up with John Chevalier, pastor and worship leader at large in Sonoma County, California. A music and multimedia advisor for Technologies for Worship magazine, John is a member of the teaching team for Heartfelt Music's Christian Guitar and Bass Conference and speaks at various worship, leadership and tech conferences nationwide.

One of his Technologies for Worship articles caught our eye. He and TFWM graciously agreed to allow us to adapt it.







I'm the music and tech guy's biggest nightmare. Here's why: Along with being a worship leader and musician, I mixed for several rock bands in Upstate New York long before coming to the church. Since then, I've been involved with worship and tech ministries and watched as many audio teams and music directors struggled with the sound-check at rehearsals and on Sunday morning.

With that said, let's walk – step by step - through a process I've developed that will produce audible results.


I spent a few years working for a major commercial airline and did quite a bit or traveling. One thing that always interested me was watching the captain walk around the plane doing his pre-flight inspection.

I don't pretend to know what he is actually looking for, but the point is that he does this himself. It's his plane to pilot and lives are in his hands.

I wonder how often we approach our task this way? We are helping to deliver a message of hope and people's lives are in our hands. Buzzing, popping, mics not turned on and poorly mixed services can easily turn people away from our ministry. Conducting the sound-check is like doing a pre-flight inspection.

Let's make sure that everything's in order so that we don't experience a disaster.


There are things to consider before you even power up the board:

The first question that applies to most every service that you will mix is: "What dB level am I shooting for?" What is the composition of your church and where is the "MUSIC IS TOO LOUD!" tipping point?

If you have a young congregation and are doing an alternative rock service, your levels are obviously going to be higher than that of a church with a choir and a small praise team. It's better to know these things up front so that you can eliminate some issues ahead of time. If you don't own a dB meter, get one.

Secondly, as an audio tech, you want to know WHO is playing on the team this week. This is really important, especially if you have a mix of different musicians and different audio techs who work with different teams.

Some musicians have heavy hands on their instruments and some do not. Some vocalists are overpowering while some are very soft. If I know who our people are this week, it helps me to go into the rehearsal and sound check with an idea of what to expect ahead of time.


Third, Replace the Ready-Aim-Fire Method with the Ready-Fire-Aim Method. Of course, we need to be ready, but I've seen too many teams struggle to get good sound by employing methods that just work against them.

The ready-aim-fire idea comes from a time when missiles had to be aimed to hit their targets. Now, we can launch a missile from anywhere and steer it to where we want it to go. The same is true in how we process our sound-check.


Getting ready is basic and comes in two parts. The first part is accomplished before the worship team arrives and the second happens when everyone is together.

Before the worship team arrives
Begin by KNOWING YOUR TEAM and KNOWING WHO IS PLAYING.

Then, you'll know what to expect at launch. Know what your worship leader wants this week. Talk through the service with the worship leader. Try to get a like mindset with the leader.

Now, on to the tech stuff. Do a line-check on everything - every time. Don't wait until the vocal team starts to sing to find out you have a bad cable. A line-check confirms that you have a signal to the board from every instrument and every mic that is plugged in.

When the team is assembled
Set the Input Levels or Gain Structure. You need to do this every week. You can't set your gains when you install the board and then leave them be.

This is the most common error that churches make. Getting input levels set properly will affect all of your other settings. Remember, even if you have the same musician in the same channel as last week, take the time to get a read on his/her playing and input level.

Next is the monitor mix. For this discussion, we'll assume you not on individual mixers with in-ears but are using conventional stage monitors.


In mixing monitors, a simple rule applies: "Less is more".
Let's take a look at who needs to hear what.

WORSHIP LEADER:
The worship leader should get whatever he needs to be able to lead worship. This will vary depending on the skill level of the worship leader and the way he leads.

When I lead worship, I use a guitar and also function as the bandleader. That means I have to hear a little of everything, but mostly I want to hear my guitar, my vocal, other vocalists and the kick drum. If I don't have my guitar, or have a band director, I'll want to hear my vocal, the other vocalists and the lead instrument. I trust that the band director will keep everything together. Since I'm not leading the band, I don't need to hear the kick.

VOCALISTS:
Your vocal team needs to hear the lead instrument, the worship leader and one another. The problem that some teams face is that they mix everyone's monitor like they're mixing a CD, so it "sounds good" and they can hear everything.


I have had vocalists say that they want the lead guitar in their mix so that they can hear his solo. This is just going to make everything less clear. You have to be able to say "No" to those requests, but also explain why. The more stage volume that you have, the harder it is to mix the mains.

BAND MEMBERS:
Band members need to hear themselves, the worship leader and the kick drum. You can mix other instruments in as needed, but remember that the more you have coming through your monitors, the harder it will be for the musician to hear himself. Only have what is absolutely needed to perform as a team.


When you are mixing monitors, remember this: every person only gets to hear what they need to hear to play or sing their best. Understanding this will go a long way to not only having a good monitor mix, but lowering stage volume.


OK, now, we're ready to roll.

Instead of having every person play or say "Check 1-2-3" into their mics, it's time for a sound-check song.

The sound-check song is one that your team can play from memory and know really well. A song like this guarantees that your team will be playing confidently and singing loudly.

During this song, you'll be able to recheck and reset your input levels and tweak the monitors. (By the way, you'll need to get used to walking up on the platform and hearing what the team is hearing when you do this.)

Set each vocalist's and instrumentalist's EQ setting here. Yes, the team may have to play through this song a few times, but if you take 3-7 minutes to do this at the beginning, you'll save yourself a lot of time and grief in the long run.

We haven't even talked about the mains yet. I never have the mains on during the GET READY or FIRE stages of my sound check. This allows me to keep an ear on the stage volume, as well as making sure that the monitors are set right without distractions.


Now the fun begins.

At this point the team can go into their rehearsal or pre-service warm up songs and you can get the mains dialed in. You will have an occasional request from the worship team to make a monitor change, but for the most part that's over and done with.

Let's address some things to consider while finishing up the sound check

• First of all, the sound check doesn't stop when the rehearsal or service begins. We need to be aiming and making those mid course corrections all the time.
• Don't simply set everything and walk away. Your audio console is your instrument, just as a guitar may be the worship leader's instrument. Don't stop playing!
• Can you hear every instrument on the platform? If you cannot, make the right decision. Ask yourself "Is that instrument too soft, or is everything else too loud?"
• Use a dB meter and be familiar with your room and what you are listening for. A simple way to think about this is to ask yourself; "Do your ears hear what your eyes see?" This is a great way to train yourself to listen correctly.

Having clear mixes is a goal that the audio guy and music guy need to share. If you don't give your sound techs something that sounds like music in the first place, it's hard for them to make it sound like music out of the mains. It's the old "Garbage-In/Garbage-Out" Principle.

I've been to many churches where the general complaint is: "The music is too loud!" When I hear this, I like to evaluate what I hear and check the sound levels in the room. Many times the volume level is just fine, but the complaint remains.



Here's what I think: It has more to do with the musicians' ability to play "together" than the audio tech's ability to mix. Working with an all-volunteer team, it's rare that the musicians instinctively know how to play together. Sometimes there's more sound coming off the platform than is needed for a quality mix.

Instrumentalists need to learn how to evaluate what they and their fellow musicians are playing - and adjust as necessary.

Consider (and implement) some of the tips in this article and you'll not only be able to do a better sound check, but you'll do it in less time. And your overall mixes will be much better.

Shure Notes thanks John for allowing us to reprise and edit the content of his fine TFW article. Readers can stay in touch with John by visiting his website and reading his thought-provoking blog at www.johnchevalier.com.

Technologies for Worship online content is available at www.tfwm.com