Church Sound Tech Instruction
Training Services for church sound techs
Welcome to my page detailing the services I offer in training church sound operators to be their best even though they're not necessarily professionals in the field and are probably volunteers.
There are very few volunteer positions amongst the church staff that affect every parishoner in such a direct way as much as the person operating the mixing console during services. From the tones of the individual instruments and voices in the worship band to the sound quality of the voice of the pastor; it all filters through the sound technician.
As I travel around the low-country in my capacity as both a musician and audio engineer I see that quite a number of people who are responsible for sound at their churches are not working from a standpoint of knowledge and skill but rather a learned set of rote motions without understanding why those actions are appropriate and when another course of action would lead to better results because of some change to the overall situation that moment.
A skilled operator can make things sound fantastic and solve problems fast while sound mixers that don’t have real understanding of what they’re doing can commit multiple layers of sabotage without even knowing they’re doing so!
I've been doing live sound for my entire professional life and have taught entry-level live sound at the collegiate level for eleven years to great effect, based upon the comments I get years later from my graduates. I want to offer these concepts and skills as a service to the church sound community so that Praise bands sound better and parishioners have a better experience while they worship.
Services
I can provide a wide range of services from a simple site visit to touch up your current system settings all the way to a custom multi-week training session similar to a college ‘mini-semester’ for your entire team.
- Focus is on essential knowledge that’s immediately useful
- Topics are presented in a non-technical way
- Fundamental knowledge combined with useful techniques allow effective responses to problem situations
- Printed materials will accompany each session reinforcing the topics covered and provide a future reference source
- Topics cover both the operational techniques of systems and the creative concepts that allow your team to artfully present your worship group at its most inspiring.
- We will spend time building listening skills for better mixing
- Custom designed training packages available
- Extremely high return on investment when you consider that a great sounding worship band will have an affect on attendance and all of the downstream benefits from that.
Topics addressed in the sessions
- Feedback Control–why it happens and how to get rid of it
- Hums and buzzes–how to get rid of them
- Tone control–how to get each instrument and voice sounding their best
- Dynamics control–how to get the music sounding powerful without being too loud
- Microphone Technique–choice and placement
- How to properly combine instruments together for a good mix
- Use of Effects to create width and breadth to your mix
- Monitors: how to set up mixes and control them
Portfolio
Since moving to the Lowcountry two years ago in 2015 I've been working as a sound technician at both campuses of the Church of the Cross in Bluffton. During my tenure there we underwent a major upgrade to our live performance situation and the results we're getting now are nothing short of spectacular, giving service attendees an inspiring, concert quality worship experience.
I rolled a recorder on Easter Sunday and this is one song from the worship set. Please check out "God's Not Dead (Like a Lion)"
If you would like to see about getting similar results at your location please contact me to set up a free consultation so we can discuss what kind of training would be right for your situation and budget.