The importance of sound engineers on Sunday mornings cannot be overstated. You, your team, your choir, your musicians, your pastors, and your pet turtles can rehearse every day of the week, but if your church sound guy falls asleep on Sunday morning or decides to blast the congregation with 15 seconds of screaming feedback, nothing else can matter. So then it’s important not to annoy him. You want to be on the same team, striving for the same goal, building one another up in love, and not harboring resentment or frustration. An annoyed church sound guy will either (a) quit, (b) not care, or (c) both. Some worship leaders might not realize how they’re annoying their sound engineer.
10 Ways to Annoy the Church Sound Guy
1. Unplug your guitar without making sure the channel is muted first.
News flash: your church sound guy often has 89 things on his mind. Catch his eye and make sure he’s muted your guitar before you unplug it and make all the old ladies jump out of their skin.
2. Look at your sound engineer like it’s his fault when you do something stupid.
I’ve mastered the art of this one. Let’s say I unplug my guitar before the channel is muted. Old ladies then jump out of their skin, and parents throw themselves on top of their children to protect them from the sounds of gunfire. What do I do? I look at the sound engineer like he should be ashamed of himself. For some reason this annoys them…
3. Always ask for more.
I need a little bit more of my voice. OK now I need less Susan. And can I have more of my guitar? OK, now I need a lot more of my voice. I’m still hearing too much keyboard. Can you turn my guitar up please? Now I could use less electric. I can’t hear my voice. Is my guitar in this thing? (kneel down and put your ear to the monitor) I don’t think this monitor is on. Can you turn me up in it? I just need a lot less of everybody else and a whole lot more of me. Yes, just turn me up. Turn the rest of the band down. I could still use a lot more of my guitar. Can you give me some reverb please?
4. Assume that your request is the most important thing in the whole wide world.
News flash: your church sound guy often is having to deal with burned out batteries, bad cables, setting gain structures, EQ, feedback, running monitors, recording the sermon, making sure the preacher has a mic, fixing the projector, dealing with complaints, and guitarists who are unplugging their guitar before the channel is muted. Just because you’re the worship leader and your guitar is too loud at the moment doesn’t mean he can drop all those things to attend to you.
