Last year those of us involved in Easter musicals were scrambling to finish performance preparations as Easter approached earlier than normal. Increased planning was necessary. Without it, frustration loomed on the horizon. Thank God for teamwork enabling the accomplishment of vision. Another important area of ministry where planning is necessary is sound reinforcement. What a blessing and challenge this area of ministry produces. Unfortunately, those involved are often noticed only when something goes wrong. So Pastor, take time to invest in those with control over your communication effectiveness. Make sure there is open and honest dialogue. But also, remember misunderstandings arise from a lack of knowledge. Help your sound techs to arrive at a destination of proficiency. Case in point. Probably every church worship team has endured the frustration of having a sound check before service only to step back onto the platform with a monitor mix nothing like what was there minutes ago! What’s up with that?! What’s even more frustrating is the dialogue that follows. No one seems to know what happened. Those involved in leadership are convinced it must be the SOUND MAN! Ha! Let’s go into the service. When God’s people come into the sanctuary, they naturally absorb sound. So each week when the sound man compensates with the faders, he / she could (unknowingly) be changing the mix in the monitor. How? you ask. You say, “I asked the tech what he / she did”, they said, “I did what I always do.” When asked, “did you change the monitor mix”? They will say “no” every time because they don’t know they’re changing the monitor mix with... the fader. There is a button on most boards that has the potential of being a true blessing and answer to this difficulty. But if overlooked the same button produces the scenario we just described. It’s the “pre” button usually located near the Send Section of each channel. This wonderful button when engaged properly allows faders to be moved without effecting the monitor send. And all those on the platform shout HALLELUJAH! So lets go back to our sound check 30 minutes before service starts. The pre-button is engaged. This means all sound going to the Sends (platform mix) are tapped off the board before the fader. So no matter what the sound man / woman does with the fader, the platform mix remains the same. Oh yeah. Check out your mixing board if the monitor mix changes for “no reason”. Eliminate potential frustration.
God is good,
Tim Covert
Tags: Christian Music, Devotional, Worship
