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10 Audio Essentials for Church Sound

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Once the initial excitement of working in church audio production wears off, it leaves one with a few unfortunate realizations. I’m not saying audio work stops being fun. I’ve been doing this for a long time and I still have fun. I only wish someone would have cracked open the secret envelope of audio essentials for church sound and let me see the truth before being up to my knees in XLR cables.

10 Audio Essentials for Church Sound

1. Worst-case scenarios really do happen.

If it can break, blow up, catch fire, power down or in any way outright fail at the worst time possible, it will. I’ve had a mixer blow a fuse. Just last week, a wireless mic battery failed mid-service for no apparent reason. Green light to DEAD—no red warning light in between.

Worst-case scenarios can force the tech to learn parts of the church audio system normally left untouched. Mix engine reboots, digital mixer configuration settings, understage cabling, whatever is normally taken for granted will eventually fail—usually during the church service.

2. Church audio production is hard work, and mixing is only part of it.

For some, this is a big revelation. Mixing is only one part of audio essentials for church sound. Stage setup, battery replacement and cable maintenance are all part of the job. And if that’s not enough, see point #1. Oh, did I mention it requires working with people!?! (Only sort of a joke for some of us.)

Mixing isn’t always easy. For example, the church has two guitarists and a singer. That’s all they’ve had for years. Next weekend, they will have their first full-size worship team. Time for a new mixing strategy. This isn’t impossible, but it does require learning amp miking, drum miking and a new way of mixing.

3. It requires your A-game, AND there are distractions.

Live church audio is no place for slacking. Once, from the pulpit, a pastor called my name TWICE before I snapped out of a daydream. Talk about embarrassing. Focus is crucial.

Distractions will come. During a service, I’ve have congregants ask me questions. I’ve had to fix a video-production issue. I even had someone complain about the volume DURING a worship set. The sound booth is not a place free from distractions.

4. Great mixing doesn’t guarantee great worship.

There are days when the band is great and the mix is great and everything seems perfect. Yet, not everyone is worshiping and praising God. Audio essentials for church sound helps create an environment conducive for worship. That’s all it can do.

5. Converting the worship leader’s vision to a mix is crazy important.

The worship leader (and the team) spends time picking songs and setting the arrangement. Many times, they have a vision for a song’s style or keep to their own style. They set a vision for what the congregation should experience, and the sound tech has the final control over that vision.